The fields for Saturday's Gold Cup Day program at Hawthorne are taking shape. The trio of stakes will be packaged in a $50,000 guaranteed "Golden Pick Three" wager. Saturday's entries will be drawn on Thursday. As of Tuesday night, stakes coordinator Debby Lindsay lists the following horses as potential starters (with trainer).
The grade II $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (1 ΒΌ miles, 3yo&up): Probable: Flamethrowintexan (Penney), Papi Chullo (Vargas), Kid Grindstone (Campbell), A. P. Arrow (Pletcher) and Nolan's Cat (Romans). Possible: Alumni Hall (Howard), Good Reward (McGaughey), It's No Joke (R. Maker), Summer Book (O'Callaghan) and Iosilver (Block). Trainer Todd Pletcher, always a major player in graded stakes events held at Hawthorne Race Course, will be represented in the Gold Cup for the very first time with A. P. Arrow. Second in the grade II Super Derby at Louisiana Downs at the tail end of his 3-year-old season, the son of A. P. Indy recent scored an allowance victory at Saratoga in what was his 2006 debut. This decade at Hawthorne, Pletcher has bagged two grade II Illinois Derbys (2001 with Distilled and 2004 with Pollard's Vision), a grade III National Jockey Club Handicap (2005 with Pollard's Vision) and back-to-back runnings of the grade III Sixty Sails (2005 with Isola Piu Bella and 2006 with Fleet Indian).The Gold Cup is also a rematch of sorts between Grasshopper Stables Flamethrowintexan and Papi Chullo. The pride of Seattle, Flamethrowintexan outlasted Papi Chullo to win the Grade III Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs on August 20. Flamethrowintexan, who has been on the grounds since last Thursday, put in a leisurely three furlong breeze at Hawthorne on Monday morning, stopping the timer in :40.20. Other Stakes Probables:$150,000 Robert F. Carey Memorial Handicap (gr. III, 1 mile turf, 3yo&up): Probable: Fort Prado (Block), Therecomesatiger (Proctor), Cloudy's Knight (Kirby), Come On Jazz (Williamson), Gigawatt (Geier), Grafton (Penney), No Tolerance (Campbell), and Rapid Proof (L. Wiggins). Possible: Old Forester (Mott), T. D. Vance (Motion), Scooter Roach (Calhoun), Omaggio (Catalano) and Cougar Cat (Werner).
$100,000 Indian Maid Handicap (1 1/16 miles turf, f&m, 3yo&up): Probable: Rich In Spirit (Proctor), Miss Mambo (Clement), Stormina (Pletcher), Atlantic Frost (Goldfine), Royal Copenhagen (Block), Bardy Woman (Penney), Ms. Lydonia (Janks), and You Dancing Devil (Geier): Possible: Anegada (Reinstedler), Honour Colony (D. Bennett), Samantha B. (Cristel), Stella Blue (Seitz) , Radiant Avie (Scherer), Connie Belle (Mott), My Lordship (Mott) and Thetactics ofdance (Mott).