Jacks or Better Farm's Awesome Banner (Awesome of Course) looks to remain perfect in Saturday's GII Swale S. at Gulfstream. Romping by 9 3/4 lengths in Hallandale June 5, the Stanley Gold trainee wired the field next out in the six-panel GIII Hutcheson S. here Jan. 2. Pace pressure could be the main thing standing between him and three-for-three.
“He handled the pressure pretty good. I don't think that is going to be an issue,” Gold said. “He had two of them breathing down his back and he wasn't unmanageable. It wasn't like, 'I had to let him go because he was pulling too hard,' or 'I had to get after him.' He went along with him and when it was time, he responded. Hopefully, it will be the same thing this time.”
Hutcheson runner-up Noholdingback Bear (Put It Back) takes another shot at the likely favorite in this spot. A first-out winner on the Woodbine synthetic Sept. 27, the Bear Stables colorbearer finished second in the Juvenile Dirt Sprint at Keeneland Oct. 31 and was given the rest of the season off. The Michael DePaulo charge breezed a best-of-31 five panels in :58 4/5 here Jan. 24.
“His last race was good,” DePaulo said. “I thought he'd run a little better. When he came back from Kentucky, he had a shin that was bugging him a little, so he had a little time off. Then he shipped here. Maybe he wasn't as tight as he could have been. Hopefully, he'll be a little better this time. The one positive, he's going to give us six pounds, being a graded-stakes winner. Hopefully, that will help. Maybe there'll be other speed in the race. Hopefully, we can sit off them a little.”
Richies Usual Suspects' Richie the Bull (Benny the Bull) makes his first start since transferring from Larry Rivelli to Joan Scott. Capturing his state-bred unveiling on the Arlington synthetic, the bay won a Keeneland allowance next out Oct. 8 and was third in the Juvenile Dirt Sprint. He was last seen wiring Hawthorne's state-bred Futurity S. by 9 1/4 lengths last time Dec. 12.
A pair of maiden winners jump up to graded company here in Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Economic Model (Flatter) and Everest Stables' Cardio Cowboy (Petionville). Trained by Chad Brown, the former scored in his career bow at Saratoga Aug. 8 and makes his return here. The Edward Coletti-trained Cardio Cowboy also won his debut at Parx Dec. 12. Rounding out the field is Lets Go Stable's Ready Dancer (More Than Ready), who finished fourth in the GII Futurity S. Oct. 17 and was last seen checking in 10th in a turf test here Dec. 13.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
