NEWS
Quality Road the one to beat in Donn
Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 5:26 PM
QUALITY ROAD WINNING THE 2010 HAL'S HOPE STAKES (G3)
Coglianese Photos
by Mike Curry
Quality Road’s three-year-old campaign was derailed approaching the 2009 U.S. classics by quarter cracks, which probably cost him a legitimate shot at the Eclipse Award.
The Elusive Quality colt can position himself among the early leaders of the older male division on Saturday when he faces nine challengers in the $500,000 Donn Handicap (G1) at Gulfstream Park.
Trained by Todd Pletcher for owner-breeder Edward P. Evans, Quality Road was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) when he was unruly in the starting gate and suffered superficial scrapes. But he returned with a powerful performance in the Hal’s Hope Stakes (G3), winning by a comfortable 2 3/4 lengths on January 3 at Gulfstream (video).
A Donn victory would solidify Quality Road’s status as a force to be reckoned with in the older male division, which also includes returning champion Gio Ponti.
Quality Road has run consistently fast during his eight previous races, setting two track records as a three-year-old and never finishing off the board. He set a 1 1/8-mile track record with a victory in the Florida Derby Presented by BlackBerry (G1) in 1:47.72 last March and was considered a leading contender for the 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) before being sidetracked by quarter cracks.
He reconfirmed his class with a record-setting victory in the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) on August 3 at Saratoga Race Course in his first start in more than four months (video). Quality Road blistered through 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:13.74 for his third graded stakes victory of the year. He finished third in the Shadwell Travers Stakes (G1) and second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) in his final two starts of the year.
Quality Road will be challenged in the 1 1/8-mile Donn by the top four finishers from the Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (G3) on January 10 at Gulfstream as well as Hal’s Hope runner-up You and I Forever.
Duke of Mischief, a four-year-old Graeme Hall colt, nailed down his first graded stakes triumph with a neck victory over Kiss the Kid in the Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (video). The 2009 Iowa Derby winner has four wins from ten starts for trainer David Fawkes.
The Donn also drew Kiss the Kid, Mambo Meister, and Dry Martini, the second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers, respectively, in the Ft. Lauderdale.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
