After more than six months on the sidelines, Grade 1 winner There Goes Harvard makes his return to the races Saturday in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes going a mile on turf at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
There Goes Harvard has been off since a last-place finish in the G2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 30. In his race prior to that, the 5-year-old horse by Will Take Charge jumped up to win the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup going 1 ¼ miles on dirt at Santa Anita.
“He got real sick after the San Diego,” McCarthy said of the layoff. “Something didn't seem right. He ran too bad to be true. A couple days after that, he didn't seem like himself and was getting worse. We gave him multiple months off and he's come back and trained well.”
There Goes Harvard returned to the work tab Dec. 15 at Santa Anita and has drilled seven times for his comeback. He worked a quick five furlongs in 59.80 seconds on Jan. 21 and came back with another five-furlong move in 1:00 last Saturday, which was the third-fastest of 62 works at the distance that day.
“We're looking to use this as a steppingstone to something bigger in the spring hopefully. A mile might be too sharp for him,” McCarthy said.
The versatile There Goes Harvard has won two of three starts on turf including at a mile in a second-level allowance in the race prior to his Hollywood Gold Cup score.
“I thought this was a good spot to get him started, a mile on the grass,” McCarthy said. “It's a pretty salty group, but this fits in my plans operation wise.”
With the early scratch of long shot Beaudacious, a wide-open field of 11 is set to go postward in the Thunder Road. There Goes Harvard is the co-fifth choice at 8-1 on the morning line.
The field in post position order:
- Earls Rock, Flavien Prat, 5-1;
- Du Jour, Umberto Rispoli, 15-1;
- Anaconda, Edwin Maldonado, 6-1;
- Bob and Jackie, Jose Valdivia Jr., 15-1;
- Kiss Today Goodbye, Kyle Frey, 30-1;
- Irideo, Hector Berrios, 15-1;
- There Goes Harvard, John Velazquez, 8-1;
- Air Force Red, Juan Hernandez, 3-1;
- Hit the Road, Kazushi Kimura, 5-1;
- Dark Shift, Frankie Dettori, 8-1;
- Cabo Spirit, Joe Bravo, 6-1.
The post Grade 1 Winner There Goes Harvard Returns From Illness, Six-Month Layoff In Thunder Road appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
