Trainer Horacio DePaz said Barry Schwartz's Sharp Starr, winner of the Grade 3 Go for Wand in December at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, N.Y., is enjoying some well deserved time off after a productive winter campaign.
The New York homebred, a 4-year-old dark bay filly by Munnings out of the A.P. Indy mare Mindy Gold, romped to a 15 3/4-length state-bred allowance win in November at the Big A that garnered a career-best 101 Beyer ahead of her Go for Wand score.
Sharp Starr followed that effort with a good second in the La Verdad in January on a muddy Aqueduct main track before a sixth-place effort in the Grade 3 Barbara Fritchie in February at Laurel Park.
Last out, Sharp Starr finished a distant third to Water White in a one-mile optional-claiming event on April 1 at Aqueduct.
“I think she was a tired horse. She tried but there's really no excuses,” said DePaz. “We looked her over and everything was fine, so we turned her out at the farm. I think she just needed a break and to put some weight on her.
“She deserves the time off and she's been running pretty consistent all last year,” he added. “We'll bring her back fresh.”
DePaz said he is looking forward to the start of the Belmont spring/summer meet which begins on Thursday.
“I've got 23 horses at the moment and more coming,” said DePaz, who expects his barn to expand to 30. “The purse money is good, we just need the right horses to be able to chase it. It gets much deeper when everyone comes back, but it's exciting.”
The conditioner will send out a pair of starters on the Opening Day card including Whispering Pines in a featured allowance sprint in Race 7 and Fed Funds in Race 4, a seven-furlong $50,000 open-claiming sprint. DePaz said Fed Funds, a four-time winner from 10 starts, should appreciate the company following a pair of off-the-board efforts in strong optional-claiming sprints.
“The distance sets up perfect for him,” said DePaz. “There's some pretty salty horses in there, but he's a hard-trying horse. He likes to show up. Hopefully he's on top of his game. He's been very consistent for us.”
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