Faster Gator tries Listed Bay Shore
Richard Burnsworth’s Faster Gator is an unblemished 2-for-2 and will be tested in Saturday’s Listed $150,000 Bay Shore, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by Anthony Farrior, the Vekoma bay steps up in class after a pair of sprint wins at Laurel Park. He graduated on debut in pacesetting fashion going five furlongs in June, and added blinkers for a winning seasonal bow at 5 1/2 furlongs on March 7.
In his last victory, Faster Gator was off a step slow to travel 3 1/2 lengths back in fourth position early, before circling five wide and kicking home strongly in the lane for a 1 1/4-length score over next-out winner Slam Notion in a final time of 1:04.68 – registering a field-best 82 Beyer Speed Figure in victory.
“Hopefully he likes seven-eighths,” said Farrior. “He trains like a horse that wants to go farther. Last time, we kind of missed the break which might have helped us a bit because he’s usually keen. We learned we don’t have to be on the lead, he relaxed well, and when asked, he went on.”
Farrior said the blinkers will stay on, as will jockey Arnaldo Bocachica, who piloted both wins and will exit post 3.
“When I ran him the first time, Bocachica said he was kind of waiting on horses. When he turned for home, he was sitting there waiting instead of drawing off,” Farrior said. “The blinkers give him focus. He likes to look around and play, and the blinkers seem like they’ve helped him a lot.”
Faster Gator enters from a string of sharp works at his Laurel homebase, including two bullets ahead of a most recent half-mile in 48.20 seconds on April 10, ranking third-of-67 workers.
“I’ve worked him three times since he ran. He’s done everything right, so we cross our fingers the next five days, and we’ll come up and take a shot,” said Farrior. “I work him by himself because he likes to go. He’s in hand, we aren’t asking him to work fast, he just works fast. He’s a nice horse who always gallops out strong. His exercise rider is actually jockey Manny Franco’s brother-in-law, Carlos Carrasco.”
Faster Gator, a $50,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of the multiple stakes-placed Nobiz Like Shobiz mare Comforter, is a half-brother to Group 3-placed Killer Collect.
“He’s probably like 16 three [hands], eleven hundred pounds, he’s a big animal. He loves to eat. He eats and sleeps, that’s about all he does,” Farrior said, with a laugh.
R and H Stable’s Grade 1-placed Mo Plex [post 4, Manny Franco] cuts back in distance from a half-length third versus New York-breds in the local one-turn mile Gander on March 8.
Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, the Complexity bay was making his first start off the layoff and bobbled at the start to press the pace, but couldn’t hold off Soontobeking and National Identity – who finished a respective second and third in Sunday’s local NYSSS Times Square.
Mo Plex was a well-regarded juvenile, winning the six-furlong Grade 3 Sanford and state-bred Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital at Saratoga Race Course, as well as finishing third in the Grade 1 Champagne and second in the state-bred Sleepy Hollow around a one-turn mile in the fall here.
Bred in the Empire State by Everything’s Cricket Racing, Mo Plex, a $45,000 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase, is out of the Uncle Mo mare Mo Joy.
Khrysselv Mavarez’s McKellen [post 5, Javier Castellano] cuts back in distance after making his first three starts at one mile. Trained by Jose D’Angelo, the McKinzie bay finished off the board last out in the Listed Mucho Macho Man on January 4 at Gulfstream Park.
“We are looking to run in New York because it is seven furlongs and we think the long stretch and the distance is going to be perfect for him,” D’Angelo said. “He’s been pretty good, we are very confident in him this weekend.”
McKellen breezed a bullet half-mile in 47.60 seconds on Friday at the Palm Meadows Training Center.
“He’s doing pretty well. We made some corrections for him after his last race and he has really improved as you can see on the work tab,” D’Angelo said, clarifying that the correction was a new bit.
McKellen graduated on debut in October at Gulfstream Park ahead of an optional-claiming second to next-out Grade 3 Lecomte-victor Disco Time in November at Churchill Downs.
West Point Thoroughbreds, Jimmy Kahig Racing, CJ Stables and Edwin Barker’s West Virginia-bred Pascaline [post 1, Kendrick Carmouche] enters from an over six-month layoff since a win in the one-mile off-the-turf Laurel Futurity on September 28 at its namesake track.
Trained by Arnaud Delacour, the Upstart bay improved to 2-for-2 in the Laurel Futurity when stalking and pouncing to beat next-out winners Studlydoright and Just a Fair Shake, with the former being Grade 3-placed and a dual Listed stakes-winner.
Pascaline closed to win his debut sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs in August at Colonial Downs. He was a $40,000 purchase at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling sale out of the Harlan’s Holiday mare Tres Chic, making him a full-brother to the stakes-winner Social Chic.
Rounding out the field is stakes-placed Share the Ludt [post 2, Christopher Elliott], who steps up in class from a sixth-out graduation in a New York-bred maiden sprint on March 29 here for owner/trainer Melanie Giddings.
The Bay Shore is slated as Race 8 on Saturday’s nine-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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