Palm Beach Racing Partnership's stakes winner Hot Blooded, once under consideration for the Breeders' Cup, ends a 12-week gap between starts when he makes his return in Saturday's $60,000 Juvenile Turf at Gulfstream Park West.
By Declaration of War, Hot Blooded has raced exclusively at Gulfstream Park in three starts. He debuted running fourth against fellow Florida-breds June 24 after bobbling and having to steady at the start, returning four weeks later to graduate in a seven-furlong maiden special weight that was rained off the grass.
Hot Blooded was then stepped up into stakes company in the one-mile Proud Man Aug. 29. Under Emisael Jaramillo, who rides back from outside Post 10, Hot Blooded settled off the early pace before tipping outside to take a short lead into the stretch, drawing clear to win by 2 1/4 lengths.
Trainer Carlos David said the connections thought enough of Hot Blooded to plot out a course to the Breeders' Cup that included a start in the Oct. 4 Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes, which offered the winner automatic entry to the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, both races at Keeneland.
A minor mishap at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County where David is based, nixed the idea.
“We had a little hiccup with him,” David said. “He needed to go to Keeneland the first week of October and he got loose and just got scraped and banged up a little bit so we had to pass on the Breeders' Cup. Obviously, the Bourbon was a 'Win and You're In' but, unfortunately, we couldn't do it. We decided to just stay here and train him toward this race. He's doing really good, really good.”
Hot Blooded has worked twice at Palm Meadows since overcoming his setback, half-mile breezes in 49.80 second Oct. 24 and 49.30 seconds Nov. 1.
“Since he got loose and got banged up just days before he would have gone out [to Kentucky], we had to just take it easy with him and try to get him back to his form,” David said. “He's had a couple of good workouts. This seems like a logical spot. It's a good race for him to come back.”
Stonehedge's Seazan is entered to make his turf debut after finishing third in the final two legs of the Florida Sire Stakes, the Aug. 29 Affirmed and the Sept. 26 In Reality. The son of Khozan has yet to finish worse than third in four starts, including a maiden special weight triumph Aug. 1 and more than $118,000 in purse earnings.
Jerry Campbell's Castle King is also multiple stakes-placed, having run third in the Proud Man behind Hot Blooded and seven-furlong Armed Forces Sept. 26. Most recently, the Verrazano gelding was second in an optional claiming allowance Oct. 26 over the Gulfstream West turf.
Armed Forces runner-up Fulmini, Catching Fish, Chess's Dream, El Sicario, Light Us Up and Toretto complete the field. Big Thorn is entered for main track only.
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