Champion sprinter Trinniberg looks to get back on track in a competitive edition of the $350,000 Smile Sprint Handicap (gr. II) July 6 at Calder Casino & Race Course, where he'll face a tough crowd including Justin Phillip , Swagger Jack, Off the Jak, and Jackson Bend.
The six-furlong Smile Sprint is Race 9 on an 11-race card for Calder's annual Summit of Speed, with an approximate post time of 4:26 p.m. EDT. It is a "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge race, offering a guaranteed starting spot for the 2013 Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) at Santa Anita Park Nov. 2, with a $10,000 travel allowance to the winner.
Trinniberg, who won the Woody Stephens Stakes (gr. II) at Belmont Park and scored two grade III victories in 2012 in addition to winning last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint, races for the Parbhoo family and regular rider Willie Martinez. He came back from a dull 11th-place finish in the March 30 Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Gulf News (UAE-I) with another disappointing effort last time out in the Churchill Downs Stakes (gr. II) May 4 , where he finished seventh after setting the pace.
The 4-year-old son of Teuflesberg has been training forwardly at Calder, however, turning in a bullet four furlongs in :47 4/5 June 28. He carries high weight of 123 from post 12 in an oversubscribed field of 15, including three also-eligibles.
Zayat Stables' Justin Phillip finished fifth behind Trinniberg in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. He won the Woody Stephens in 2011 and the Count Fleet Handicap (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park two starts ago and is multiple stakes-placed, most recently running second in the June 8 RTN True North Handicap (gr. II) where fellow Smile Sprint entrant Off the Jak finished fourth. Off the Jak, also owned by the Parbhoos, won the Sunshine Millions Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park early this year.
After finishing second in both the Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship Stakes (gr. III) and Gulfstream Park Handicap (gr. II), Silverton Hill's Swagger Jack upset the April 6 Carter Handicap (gr. I) at Aqueduct Racetrack at odds of 15-1. The 5-year-old son of Smart Strike will need to rebound from a troubled seventh in the May 27 Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) at Belmont, his only start for trainer Marty Wolfson since then.
Jacks or Better Farm's Fort Loudon was sixth in the Met Mile last time out, fourth in the Carter before that, and won the Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship earlier this year. Last year he won the Carry Back Stakes (gr. III) by a neck over Trinniberg, who set the pace and led into the stretch before succumbing. By Awesome of Course, Fort Loudon has six stakes victories at Calder and is multiple graded-stakes placed for trainer Stanley Gold.
Gold will also send out multiple grade I winner Jackson Bend, who won the 2011 Forego Stakes (gr. I) and the 2012 Carter Handicap (gr. I) for Robert LaPenta and Fred Brei. The plucky 6-year-old Hear No Evil runner began his career with four straight stakes win at Calder in 2009, and came out of retirement to race in 2013 at Calder, running fifth in the June 8 Ponche Handicap in his first start back.
The top seven finishers in the Ponche were all entered for the Smile Sprint. Bluestone Thoroughbreds' Black Diamond Cat triumphed by 1 3/4 lengths over Samuel H. Rogers Jr.'s Close It Out, followed by Jacks or Better Farm's Grande Shores, Donald R. Dizney's Bahamian Squall , and after Jackson Bend, Pegasus Holdings Group Stables' multiple stakes winner Trickmeister—who was running for the first time since a third-place finish in the Kelso Handicap (gr. II) at Belmont last September. Grande Shores is an also-eligible for the Smile Sprint, as is Zena Gardner and Guillermo Visliquez's seventh-place Ponche finisher On Appeal.
Rounding out the field are Dizney's Apriority, who has not won since the 2011 Mr. Prospector Stakes (gr. III), Shadybrook Farm & Robert Eversole's allowance winner Cajun Breeze, and Saffie Joseph's also-eligible Artefacto.
$350,000 Smile Sprint Handicap (gr. II, Race 9, approximate post 4:26 p.m. EDT), 3YOs & Up, six furlongs (dirt)
PP, Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Trickmeister (KY), O. Bocachica, 116, A Hunter
2. Off the Jak (FL), J.L. Alvarez, 116, B Parboo
3. Cajun Breeze (FL), J.M. Rios, 113, M Yates
4. Justin Phillip (KY), R. Santana, Jr., 118, S M Asmussen
5. Black Diamond Cat (FL), L. Panici, 118, L Bates
6. Apriority (FL), H. Sanchez, 115, D Fawkes
7. Bahamian Squall (FL), L. Saez, 118, D Fawkes
8. Swagger Jack (VA), J. Lezcano, 119, M D Wolfson
9. Fort Loudon (FL), F. Jara, 118, S I Gold
10. Close It Out (FL), M.R. Cruz, 118, S Towne
11. Jackson Bend (FL), J. Sanchez, 120, S I Gold
12. Trinniberg (KY), W. Martinez, 123, B Parboo
13. Artefacto (KY) (AE), E. J. Zavas, 113, S A Joseph, Jr.
14. Grande Shores (FL) (AE), E. J. Zavas, 111, S I Gold
15. On Appeal (FL) (AE), Y.O. Ortiz, 110, M Fernandez
