Sporting a four-race winning streak, Arkansas-bred standout Gar Hole returned to the work tab Saturday morning, covering a half-mile in :48.60 for trainer John Ortiz and breeder/owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs. The track was fast.
Gar Hole was breezing for the first time since a powerful five-length victory March 5 in the Nodouble Breeders' Stakes for state-bred sprinters. Ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., Gar Hole ran six furlongs in a meet-best 1:09.06. The 4-year-old gelded son of Tekton also became the meet's first four-time winner.
Ortiz and John Gasper, Anthony's racing manager, said next-race plans are pending for Gar Hole, but the gelding is under consideration to face open company for the first time in the $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older runners at six furlongs April 16.
“Gar Hole is doing great,” Ortiz said. “Right now, just eating and training very well. Happy has can be in the barn. Right now, just sitting tight. Right now, the Count Fleet is probably going to be a targeted race. That's most likely where we'll head, but we have no rush to get him into open stake company.”
Ortiz entered March with several candidates for the Count Fleet, but that list has been trimmed in recent weeks.
Ortiz said sharp Dec. 18 allowance winner Mucho is receiving a break at WinStar Farm in Kentucky and could resurface this summer at Saratoga. Hollis, who set Oaklawn's 5 ½-furlong track record (1:02.17) in a Dec. 10 allowance race, finished a weakening fourth as the favorite in Saturday's $200,000 Whitmore Stakes (G3) at six furlongs. Sandwiched around the track record and another powerful 5 ½-furlong allowance victory was a fifth-place finish in the $150,000 King Cotton Stakes for older horses at six furlongs Jan. 29.
“The Count Fleet's still not out of the question and he's got to keep competing in here if we want to win it,” Ortiz said.
Top Gunner, a Dec. 5 allowance winner, is scheduled to return in Friday's eighth race, but Ortiz said he doubts he'll be ready for the Count Fleet.
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