Quick turnaround not a problem
With five horses from the Kentucky Derby running in the Preakness on Saturday — including three of the first four finishers — there will be a lot of talk about the two-week turnaround between races, much shorter than usual for the modern thoroughbred.
Grecian Fire and More Power to Him faced the same situation in Sunday’s $75,675 Alcatraz Stakes at Golden Gate Fields, and their 1-2 finish was a substantial improvement over their 4-6 results from the Silky Sullivan Stakes on April 30.
Both races for 3-year-olds
“My horse was running in spots in the last race, so I felt OK coming back in two weeks.” Jerry Hollendorfer, who trains Grecian Fire
were at 1 mile on the grass, but the Silky Sullivan Stakes was restricted to California-breds.
“My horse was running in spots in the last race, so I felt OK coming back in two weeks,” said Jerry Hollendorfer, who trains Grecian Fire.
“When he ran in the other stakes, he had 50 days off before that, so I was very happy that this race came up in two weeks,” said Brett Mason, who owns More Power to Him.
Harvest a Storm set the pace Sunday, with Grecian Fire 1 length back after a quarter-mile in a solid 23.61 seconds. The pace slowed to 48.46 seconds after a half-mile, with Grecian Fire a half-length behind Harvest a Storm.
Grecian Fire gained the lead leaving the second turn, briefly relinquished it to 3-2 favorite Anyportinastorm in midstretch, then rallied to finish 1¼ lengths ahead of late-closing More Power to Him in 1:37.81. Anyportinastorm finished a head behind More Power to Him.
It was the second win in six starts for Grecian Fire, who raced in blinkers for the first time.
“The last time he won, he was right up on the lead,” winning jockey William Antongeorgi III said. “Jerry put blinkers on him, so we wanted to get him out on his way. The one (Harvest a Storm) went, so we sat off him, then the horse on the outside (Anyportinastorm) headed us and I got into him left-handed and he responded for me and kicked back on. He was on his toes in the paddock and the post parade, so I knew he would be alive out there.”
We’ll see in the Preakness how Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Looking At Lee, Classic Empire, Gunnevera and Hence handle their condensed schedule. Briefly: Golden Gate Fieldsbased Code Warrior finished third in the $91,163 Ballade Stakes for Canadian-bred or -sired fillies and mares Sunday at Woodbine. She ran second in the Camilla Urso Stakes on March 18.