Tracey Wisner, who trains the 9-year-old gelding Charcoal, was told during a Wednesday morning telephone interview that the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Nobals, heavily favored, would be racing Friday at Presque Isle Downs rather than at Horseshoe Indianapolis in the $100,000 William Garrett Handicap.
“That’s not breaking my heart at all,” Wisner said.
With Nobals out, Charcoal could go off at half his morning-line price of 12-1, and he still might offer value in this five-furlong turf sprint that drew an overflow field of 13. A dozen can run in a contest that’s a handicap in name only, termed such to avoid Lasix restrictions that apply to stakes races.
Friday’s start would mark Charcoal’s fifth in the Garrett, where his breakout came in 2021. Charcoal debuted in December 2018 at Fair Grounds and made four relatively hapless starts that winter before his trainer sent him back to owner-breeder Ron Dowdy because the horse had been bleeding so badly. Dowdy turned the horse over to Wisner, who took him to her Michigan farm, where veterinarians found this wasn’t an instance of exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage, but a terrible case of sinus mycosis, a fungal infection.
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Back to the track in August 2020 following a 17-month layoff, Charcoal lost five times in Indiana while racing for a $16,000 maiden-claiming tag. He returned a faster horse in 2021, but not until Wisner tried him in a turf sprint, a starter-allowance that August, did Charcoal find his niche, and just nine days after winning that starter race, he captured the Garrett. Charcoal finished a close second in the 2022 renewal, second to Nobals in 2023, and fifth a year ago only because rain forced a move from turf onto dirt.
Charcoal has been around long enough to establish patterns: After nearly every layoff, he requires a comeback race to shake off rust. He got that June 7 in the Mighty Beau at Churchill Downs, and his sixth-place finish in a race that turned into a parade should set him up for a much higher placing Friday. The Garrett, too, is packed with speed; Charcoal can stalk and pounce.
“He’s doing real well coming into this race, and I’m expecting a strong performance,” Wisner said.
Habitual front-runner Coppola could prove the quickest to the front, but he’ll be working hard to outrun King Cab, Doncho, Bear River, and Bushido for the lead.
A sneaky longshot contender: Bal a Kazoo is fast enough to make an impact on his best day and likely to get a ground-saving trip several lengths behind the leaders.
Clarksville Handicap
In the race immediately preceding the Garrett, Crown Imperial stands out in the $100,000 Clarksville Handicap, a turf sprint restricted to older fillies and mares. The Clarksville lured nine entrants but two start only if the race is switched to dirt, highly unlikely given a hot, dry forecast.
This race also drew a host of early pace players, and Crown Imperial, based on her three starts this season, could prove one of them. She’ll stand a stronger chance of validating favoritism if jockey Reylu Gutierrez can get her back into a stalking position.
That seems doable. Crown Imperial’s big win as a 2-year-old of 2023 came in the $500,000 Untapable, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint at all-turf Kentucky Downs, when she closed from ninth. Trainer John Ortiz switched Crown Imperial to route racing, and even in those two-turn starts, where she’d flatten out late, Crown Imperial’s jockeys employed stalking or closing tactics.
Ortiz since last August has focused on turf sprints, and Crown Imperial this season suddenly became a front-runner. She led or forced the pace winning a Keeneland allowance race in April and finishing a fading fourth last out in a May 23 Churchill allowance. Between those starts, Crown Imperial stalked more than pressed in the Grade 3 Unbridled Sidney at Churchill, staying on for second behind high-class Queen Maxima while earning a career-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure.
The two horses with higher figures, B G Warrior and Girl of My Dreams, both want to lead. Luna Louska, Viral Plane Lady, and Barbarina also should show speed.
Crown Imperial breaks from post 7. If Gutierrez can get her back, the filly should get home.
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