Green Gratto, who has become a force in the New York sprinter ranks in the fall and winter, is among nine horses entered for the $250,000 General George Stakes (gr. III) Feb. 15 at Laurel Park.
Post time for the seven-furlong General George, the eighth race on the President's Day program, is set for 3:49 p.m. EST. The weather forecast calls for one to three inches of snow with a high temperature in the low 30s.
Owned by trainer Gaston Grant and Anthony Grant, Green Gratto, a 6-year-old Here's Zealous horse, won the Fall Highweight Handicap (gr. III) in November and Gravesend Stakes in December at Aqueduct Racetrack. In his most recent start he finished a close third in the Toboggan Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct.
Green Gratto, who has shown sharp speed in his past four races, all at six furlongs, appears the speed on the stretch-out to seven furlongs. Mike Luzzi is named to ride from post 3.
D Hatman Thoroughbreds' Sonny Inspired, a 5-year-old Artie Schiller gelding trained by Phil Schoenthal, won the Fire Plug Stakes at Laurel in January with blinkers back on after two even efforts. Jevian Toledo, who was aboard last time out, has the call from post 5.
"We had thought taking the blinkers off at this point in his life might help him overcome (his history of being a hanger) and we couldn't have been more wrong," Schoenthal said. "He ran two subpar races in a row. We decided to put the blinkers back on him, but rather than putting the same ones on him we decided to go back to the other extreme and close them up as opposed to the smaller ones he had been wearing.
"It's more a case of experimenting and tinkering than any great knowledge or wisdom or great horsemanship. It was more a case of, 'Hey let's try something different and see what happens,' and he responded with an authoritative run (in the Fire Plug)."
Adam Staple and Jalin Stable's Page McKenney, a 6-year-old Eavesdropper gelding who cleared the $1 million mark in earnings when he won the Native Dancer Stakes at Laurel in early January, is also entered in the Feb. 13 John B. Campbell Stakes at Laurel but will scratch from Saturday's race in favor of the General George.
Horacio Karamanos is named to ride from post 2 in the General George. Staple and Eppler also entered Act of Madness, a 6-year-old Act of Duty gelding they claimed for $32,000 from his last start at Laurel. Karamanos is named as well from post 1.
Laurel Park, Monday, February 15, 2016, Race 8Entries: General George S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Act of Madness (FL) UNKNOWN 118 Mary E. Eppler 30/1 2 2Page McKenney (PA) Horacio Karamanos 118 Mary E. Eppler 2/1 3 3Green Gratto (NJ) Michael J. Luzzi 122 Gaston Grant 9/5 4 4Warrioroftheroses (NY) UNKNOWN 118 Damon R. Dilodovico 20/1 5 5Sonny Inspired (MD) Jevian Toledo 118 Phil Schoenthal 15/1 6 6Majestic Affair (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 120 Chad C. Brown 7/2 7 7Any Court Inastorm (MD) Forest Boyce 118 Jason Egan 30/1 8 8Fabulous Kid (FL) Trevor McCarthy 118 David Jacobson 8/1 9 9Majestic Hussar (KY) Victor R. Carrasco 118 William A. Campbell 12/1
