December 22, 2023
TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon
Keep on Truckin’
Seven years in and former NFL running back Frank Gore’s favorite horse (maybe?) Greeley and Ben is still teaching the young bucks a lesson.
The 9-year-old gelding will participate in career race number 42 this upcoming Saturday at Laurel Park, where he can score a second straight victory and 25th overall in the $100,000 Dave’s Friend.
Sitting at 12-1 on the opening line, the odds aren’t exactly in the Kentucky-bred’s favor but it’s hard to imagine there’s much that bothers him at this stage of his career. After all, this is the same horse who rattled off a 13-2-1 line in 16 races between April 24, 2021, and June 4, 2022.
The graded stakes winner (Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap) clearly loves the game, and that alone gives him a chance every time out.
Riding into the Florida Sunset
After spending three years travelling across the United States in search of high-level competition, My Destiny is returning to her most traversed venue for one final run before calling it a career.
The 6-year-old mare will take to the Gulfstream dirt on Saturday afternoon for the $125,000 Sugar Swirl Stakes (G3). The 6-furlong affair will mark My Destiny’s 27th career attempt altogether and first at Gulfstream since June 26, 2022.
She’s gone 10-3-3 in her 26 runs to date, headlined by a 1 ¾-length triumph in the Orleans Stakes earlier this year.
The Herman Wilensky trainee enters the field of eight tied with Olivia Darling for the fifth-best odds, at 6-1.
Competitive Consortium
Graded stakes regular Cairo Consort is stepping down a level for a romp in the $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks at Gulfstream on Saturday.
Backed by a Hall of Fame trainer and jockey duo in Todd Pletcher and Irad Ortiz Jr., Cairo Consort will try to replicate the glory she found on the Gulfstream Turf in February’s Sweetest Chant Stakes (G3T).
It won’t be easy, however, as she’ll have to contend with 7-2 challenger Implicated. The Tyler Gaffalione mount is coming off her first career graded stakes victory, which she scored in the Pebbles Stakes (G3T) on November 11 at Aqueduct.
Riding in at 3-1, Cairo Consort still holds the top spot on the opening line.
Heating Up
Ontario-bred Armstrong will follow in the path of most Canadians this winter and flock down to Florida for some time away from the cold… and to race.
The 3-year-old gelding, who already has one stakes victory to his name (2022 Clarendon), can add another this upcoming Saturday in the $125,000 Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream.
Armstrong will try to avenge a disappointing sixth-place finish in January’s Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay. At 12-1 on the opening line, oddsmakers aren’t expecting a result much different than his previous attempt on the Sunshine State’s circuit.
That said, the Mark Casse trainee has begun to hit his stride lately, finishing second and first in his two most recent starts.
Jekyll and Hyde
It’s been a while between wins for 4-year-old filly Hidden Connection, who enters Saturday’s $100,000 Joseph E. “Spanky” Broussard Memorial Stakes at Fairgrounds as the 5-2 favorite despite last finding the winner’s circle a little over 12 months ago.
Trained by Bret Calhoun, the competitor with a 3-5-1 line through 16 career starts has come close since then, but not enough to capture the top prize.
Strong second-place finishes in the Groupie Doll and Locust Grove (G3) Stakes offered some hope that she was turning a corner. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed after a puzzling eighth place draw in last month’s Chilukki (G3) at Churchill Downs.
The story of Hidden Connection’s career has been a tale of two horses. The question is which one will show up on the weekend.
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