Kant Hurry Love wins the Dancin Renee last June at Belmont Park (Chelsea Durand)
Sunday Girl, Lisa’s Vision Target New York Showcase Day
NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— Ken Wheeler, Jr.’s stakes-winner Kant Hurry Love worked Thursday at Belmont Park, covering a half-mile in 50.29 seconds over the dirt training track. The New York-bred Kantharos bay will contest the inaugural running of the six-furlong Rehoboth on June 5 at Delaware Park as a prep for the six-furlong state-bred Dancin Renee on June 23 at Belmont at the Big A.
Trainer David Duggan said he was pleased with the work from Kant Hurry Love, who added blinkers for the effort and will wear them in the Rehoboth.
“She went good,” said Duggan. “We are prepping her in Delaware so we’re not going into the Dancin Renee as ring rusty. We feel this is a nice move. If we win there, we get her an open company stakes, and then can parlay that into being ready for the Dancin Renee. Hopefully, the blinkers help sustain her run a little more. We’ve breezed her with them a couple times, and if it bombs in the race, we’ll just take them off in the next race.”
Kant Hurry Love has not raced since being defeated a nose by graded stakes-placed Hot Fudge in the six-furlong Correction facing open company on March 9 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The consistent mare has hit the board in 9-of-10 outings for Duggan, including a win in last year’s Dancin Renee at Belmont Park, scoring by a nose over Grannys Connection.
“That was a war last time,” Duggan said of the Correction. “We’re picking our spots right now and hopefully they’re the right ones. She’s a different type of filly and has a real sprinter way about her, and coming off a layoff, you’re always worried about tightness – but she’s done very well and I think she’s doing good enough to run a very good race at Delaware,” said Duggan. “There’s more benefit rather than negative.”
Bred in the Empire State by Dr. John McDermott and Laura McDermott, Kant Hurry Love has banked $456,850 through a consistent lifetime ledger of 21-5-8-5.
Duggan will likely have two contenders at the upcoming Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course, with both horses slated for races on the final day of the four-day event – the June 9 New York Showcase Card.
Mitre Box Stable, Clear Stars Stable and Eighth Note Stable’s stakes-winner Sunday Girl looks to the $125,000 Bouwerie, while Anthony Pettograsso’s homebred Lisa’s Vision is likely to make her first start for Duggan in the one-mile Mount Vernon over the inner turf.
Sunday Girl is undefeated through two lifetime starts, winning impressively on debut by 7 1/4 lengths sprinting six furlongs in February at the Big A, and following with a successful stakes debut in the restricted 6 1/2-furlong NYSSS Park Avenue in April at the same oval. She will stretch out to seven furlongs in the Bouwerie.
“We tested the waters the last few times and they were good preparations, so it’s time to test this,” said Duggan. “The only question mark I have is the seven-eighths, but it’s not a huge one. It’s a new variant, and she’s going to meet some tougher horses, but I think she’s ready. She works Saturday and then we will be on the road.”
Lisa’s Vision made her first 14 starts for trainer Jorge Abreu and recently moved to the Duggan barn after a five-month layoff. The Laoban 5-year-old made 10 of her first 12 starts on turf before moving to the main track in her last two appearances, finishing third in the seven-furlong NYSSS Staten Island and an even sixth in an open-company allowance on December 31 ahead of her respite.
Lisa’s Vision would stretch out to one mile for the first time since October should she contest the Mount Vernon.
“She’s out of conditions, so you have to take a chance somewhere,” said Duggan. “If she works well Sunday, we’ll trend in that direction [to the Mount Vernon]. Going a mile off the layoff is a concern against those kinds of horses, but it’s a place to start. She’s a sweetheart. He [Abreu] did a fantastic job with her, so I just want to maintain her form.”
Lisa’s Vision notched three wins for Abreu, led by back-to-back allowance level scores last summer at Belmont and Saratoga. She has banked $235,799 through a 14-3-4-1 record.
