Trainer Chad Brown said Klaravich Stables' Gerrymander, last-out winner of the Tempted, is getting a brief break and will be targeted toward a spring 2022 campaign.
The juvenile daughter of Into Mischief commanded the field through every point of call in the one-turn mile event, laying down easy fractions with Magic Circle tracking to her inside. When Magic Circle switched leads around the far turn and inched her way to even terms, Gerrymander shook off her foe and extended her advantage en route to a half-length victory.
“She's down at Payson Park getting a break right now,” Brown said. “She's been in training for quite a while since we broke her, so I'm going to give her a little break and point her toward a spring campaign.”
Gerrymander, a $375,000 purchase at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, broke her maiden at second asking on August 29 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., going six furlongs ahead of a distant second to likely Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Echo Zulu in the Grade 1 Frizette on October 3 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
Peter Brant's Serve the King and Klaravich Stables' Value Engineering went five furlongs in company in 1:04.01 Sunday over the Belmont inner turf in preparation for the $200,000 Grade 2 Red Smith, an 11-furlong turf test for 3-year-olds and up on November 20.
“He's been doing well,” Brown said of Serve the King, a last out runner-up in the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. “He had an easy breeze this morning and looks fine. The Red Smith is shaping up to be a solid race.”
Prior to his last effort, Serve the King, a lightly-raced 5-year-old son of Kingman, captured the restricted John's Call on August 25 at Saratoga following a troubled fourth in the Grade 1 United Nations on July 17 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.
Value Engineering, winner of a nine-furlong optional-claiming tilt last out on October 21 at Belmont, will make his stakes debut in the Red Smith. The son of Lemon Drop Kid has never finished out of the money in 11 lifetime starts, narrowly beaten by stakes winners Hard Love, Temple, and Say the Word at allowance level.
“He'll have to step up, but I thought his last effort was a breakthrough win so we're giving it a shot,” Brown said.
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