Todd Pletcher will send out multiple graded stakes winner Major Dude (Ryan Thompson)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Hall of Famers Shug McGaughey and Todd Pletcher as well as fellow trainer Brian Lynch will all send out major contenders in a quest to become the first three-peat winner of the $165,000 Canadian Turf (G3) Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The 59th running of the Canadian Turf for 4-year-olds and up scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the grass is the fourth of nine stakes, eight graded, worth $2.15 million in purses on a blockbuster 14-race program headlined by the $415,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) for 3-year-olds.
First race post time is 11:30 a.m.
Since its debut in 1967, the Canadian Turf has seen six trainers record wins in back-to-back years: McGaughey, Pletcher, Lynch, Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Angel Penna Sr. and Marty Wolfson. Penna was the first to do it, with Equalize in 1988-89, followed by Mott with Stagecraft (1993) and Paradise Creek (1994) and Wolfson with The Vid (1995-96).
McGaughey joined the group with Data Link (2013) and Reload (2014). Saturday he will send out Magic Cap Stables’ Grade 3 winner Fort Washington, last seen closing from out of the clouds to be fifth, beaten 2 ¼ lengths, in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) Jan. 25. It was the second straight race at 1 1/8 miles for the 6-year-old, after coming up a neck shy of winner Major Dude in the Fort Lauderdale (G2) Dec. 21.
“I watched him work up at Payson and said we’d better enter him [in the Pegasus] and see what happens. We got an outside post. He wasn’t beat that far and I thought he ran really respectable race,” McGaughey said. “I was in between this race and waiting for the [March 29] Appleton, and I like the mile and a sixteenth better than the mile. I thought he had a good work [Feb. 22] on the turf so we decided to go.”
Winner of the 1 1/8-mile Monmouth (G3) last June that ran third by less than a length in last year’s Canadian Turf, Fort Washington will be ridden for the second straight race by jockey Junior Alvarado. They drew Post 3 in a field of 10.
“He’s a horse that ran a great race last time,” Alvarado said. “It was a very tough race and we got in a very tough position. There was a lot of traffic to deal with and there was not a lot of options for me other than to go very wide turning for home. He still was making up a lot of ground at the end. It looks a little bit easier on paper this time. He just wants to be rated a little bit off the pace and come with a big run, and we’re going to stick to that and try to get the best out of him.”
Pletcher has won the Canadian Turf a record seven times, capturing the last two editions with Emmanuel. He is represented this year by Spendthrift Farm’s Major Dude, a seven-time winner of more than $1.1 million in purses from 19 career starts that ran sixth, three-quarters of a length behind Fort Washington, in the Pegasus Turf.
“He’s kind of a barn favorite. He’s totally professional. Shows up and does his job every morning and has put together a pretty strong resume,” Pletcher said. “We’re lucky to have him.”
Major Dude won the Pilgrim (G2) at 2, the Penn Mile (G2) and Gulfstream’s Kitten’s Joy (G3) at 3 and the Fort Lauderdale at 4. The Pegasus Turf snapped a two-race win streak that included a two-length allowance triumph going 1 1/16 miles in October at Keeneland. He will break from Post 4 with Irad Ortiz Jr.
“He only got beat three lengths in the Pegasus Turf but we never really got the trip we were hoping for. He kind of showed in three of the previous four races when he won, he seems to be a horse that likes some cover and kind of sets up his late run,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately, we just kind of got hung three wide all the way around there and never could really get any cover. I think that kind of diminished his late kick a bit, so hopefully he’ll be able to work out a little better trip this time.”
Lynch won the Canadian Turf with Heart to Heart in 2016 and 2017. He’s back this year with Heart to Heart’s 4-year-old son, Silent Heart, who has shown a similar affinity for the Gulfstream turf with three wins and two thirds in five tries over the course.
“I haven’t had too many [Heart to Hearts] and he’s the best I’ve had. I’m kind of feeling my way with him,” Lynch said. “He was a cool horse that got better with age so hopefully this guy follows along. He’s not a real big horse and he runs the turns very well. Gulfstream’s turns are a little bit tighter, and it seems like he really appreciates it.”
Silent Heart has only been worse than third once in 11 races. His last three have come at Gulfstream, winning the 1 1/16-mile Showing Up Nov. 2 and finishing third by a half-length in the Tropical Park Derby Dec. 14 before drawing off to a popular 1 ½-length triumph in a Jan. 31 optional claiming allowance in his first try against older horses.
“He’s had a couple of nice efforts already at the meet here,” Lynch said. “This is a very competitive race. This will be the best group of horses he’s run against. He won very nicely the other day. His figures and everything fit. It was a strong race and he’s doing really well since. He worked as solid as a horse could work the other day, and we’re looking forward to running him. It just seems like he’s getting better and better with racing.”
The field also includes millionaire Atone, 2023 winner of the Pegasus Turf; twice Grade 3-placed Irish Aces; multiple graded-stakes placed Stanley House and Axthelm, the latter trying two turns for just the second time in 23 starts and first on grass; Paros, a stakes winner on Turfway Park’s synthetic surface; Skyro, racing first off the claim for trainer Marty Drexler; and Omni King.
