Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein could not defy the laws of gravity in his last start, when he went down in a frightening spill in the Dixie Stakes (gr. II) at Pimlico on Preakness day May 19. A mild injury from that spill cut short the 6-year-old’s 2007 campaign, but he’ll be back in a one-mile turf allowance feature at Gulfstream Park Jan. 11.
“He fell trying to avoid a fallen horse and bruised a splint bone,” said trainer Helen Pitts. “Fortunately, he didn’t suffer a major injury, but we gave him plenty of time off and this race came up at the right time to get him going again.”
The son of Spend a Buck has won five of 13 career starts and claimed his biggest victory in the 2006 edition of the Gulfstream Turf Handicap (gr. IT), but he’ll face a tough spot in the $59,000 allowance feature with a 12-horse field and several accomplished rivals such as Brenda Pointer’s Hotstufanthensome and Stuart Janney III’s Minister’s Joy.
Hotstufanthensome, an 8-year-old Awesome Again gelding, won the Mac Diarmida Handicap (gr. IIIT) early in 2006 for trainer Norman Pointer. He is also coming back from a lengthy layoff following a fifth-place finish in the Louisville Handicap (gr. IIIT) May 5. Jose Lezcano will be aboard.
Minister’s Joy, saddled by Shug McGaughey and ridden by Javier Castellano, will drop down to allowance company after a very good third-place finish in the Tropical Turf Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Calder Dec. 1, when the 6-year-old Deputy Minister homebred rallied from last of 10 to be beaten by just a length.
Out of Ghadeer mare Gay Charm, Einstein has won five of 13 career starts for Midnight Cry, including the Mervin H. Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap (gr. IIT) at Fair Grounds - his last victory before the injury. Bred in Brazil by Fazenda Mondesir, he has earned $519,082.
With a satisfying effort in the allowance event, said Pitts, Einstein may move back into stakes company. Potential targets include the Gulfstream Turf Feb 23 and the Feb 2 Donn Handicap (gr. I). Edgar Prado has the mount.