by Ben Massam
Trainer George Weaver is perenially a prominent name on the East Coast racing scene, but this spring is a bit busier than usual for the Louisville native.
With a number of intriguing 3-year-old prospects divided between three strings, the trainer acknowledged that he has much to look forward to in the coming months. He already received a fair dose of excitement Saturday when Tencendur(Warrior's Reward) took control of Aqueduct's GI Twinspires.com Wood Memorial S. entering the stretch and held on to be second behind Frosted (Tapit) at odds of 21-1. Weaver said he was thrilled–but not entirely surprised–by the effort from his New York-bred charge, who is a homebred for owner Philip Birsh.
“We were really excited about the performance,” said Weaver. “He had been running in the series up at Aqueduct, and we had been thinking all along that he was capable of better.”
Now that Tencendur has demonstrated that he can compete at a high level and has qualified for the GI Kentucky Derby, Weaver revealed that he intends to bring the colt to Churchill Downs for the May 2 event.
“If he continues to do well–and it looks like he came out of it well–we'll probably take him to the Derby,” he noted. “It's an exciting thing for the whole barn, in general.”
Meanwhile, Weaver also has a number of runners who demonstrated considerable talent during their juvenile campaigns nearing a return to the races.
Matthew Schera's Cyclogenisis (Stormy Atlantic) is unbeaten in two starts, having annexed a pair of 5 1/2-furlong turf events in 2014. Sidelined since a dominant win in the Sept. 27 Laurel Futurity, the grey posted his first official workout Monday morning at Palm Beach Downs–a three-furlong move in :37.19.
“He had a couple of works in Ocala and [Monday] was the first work I had with him,” said the trainer. “Obviously, we want to build on what he did as a 2-year-old. Unless he jumps up and looks like he wants to run on the dirt, we'll probably try to sprint him on the turf first time back. If we get back on a winning schedule and go from there, maybe we can branch out and try him on a different surface after that. The horse looks like he came back well.”
Like his stablemate, Requite (Warrior's Reward) has not raced since last September. The colt, owned by Bermuda Limestone Thoroughbreds, won at first asking at Saratoga Aug. 9 and wrapped up his two-start campaign with a fourth-place finish in the GI Hopeful S. Sept. 1. The bay has posted four recent workouts at Palm Beach Downs.
“He's coming back well,” Weaver explained. “He was a little slow to come back to where we want him, but his last couple weeks have been his best couple of weeks. I'm going to work him [Tuesday] and he should be coming up to a start fairly quickly as well.”
Weaver added that he also has lofty hopes for another sophomore in his barn, High Noon Rider (Distorted Humor). Well-beaten in the GII Holy Bull S. and Islamorada H. on dirt earlier in the Gulfstream Park meet, the colt recently showed marked improvement with a second-place run in that venue's Cutler Bay S. over one mile on the turf Apr. 1.
“He just didn't like the 1 1/8 miles on the dirt–we were trying to see if he could lead us to the Derby trail and be that type of horse,” Weaver admitted. “We put him back on the grass recently, and I do like [him] quite a bit. It would not surprise me if he jumped up later in the year and did something.”
While Weaver currently has strings based at Palm Beach Downs, Keeneland and Belmont Park, the conditioner noted that his runners will return to New York by mid-May.
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