Trio Works Toward Mac Diarmida

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Pleasant Divorce, Halo's Stride, and Two Point Two Mill were all on the Gulfstream Park track prepping for Sunday's $100,000 Mac Diarmida Handicap (gr. IIIT), covering 1 3/8 miles over the turf course.

Trainer John Scanlan worked Pleasant Divorce over the main track last Sunday and he went five furlongs in 1:03 2/5 breezing.

"I shipped him down here from Maryland because he's never been any better in his life," Scanlan said. "He's not really a turf horse, although he ran on the turf a couple times early in his career. It's the distance of the Mac Diarmida that he likes. The farther he goes the better he likes it."

Pleasant Divorce won a pair of races in impressive fashion at Pimlico in August then finished sixth in the Pennsylvania Derby (gr. III) on Sept. 3 at Philadelphia Park. He followed with another poor effort in an optional claimer at Pimlico on Oct. 4.

"Our plan is to enter both of them (Halo's Stride and Two Point Two Mill) and hope they both get in," said Steve Penrod assistant Penny Gardiner. "We don't know a whole lot about Halo's Stride. However, he looks like a hard-trying horse."

"Two Point Two Mill closed very well to win by two on opening day and he looks like one of the horses that likes it the longer the better," Gardiner said. "I think he could go three miles if we asked him."

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