Harvey Wallbanger at Favorite Track for Hal's Hope

An intoxicating mix of stakes races March 28 at Gulfstream Park fittingly includes Harvey Wallbanger.

The graded stakes winner, named after the cocktail, heads a field of 11 older horses entered in the 1 1/8-mile Hal's Hope Stakes (G3) at the south Florida track, where the colt has recorded two of his three victories. Besides a Feb. 29 allowance victory at Gulfstream, he upset the Holy Bull Stakes (G2) at odds of 29-1 at the track in February 2019.

The Ken McPeek trainee then faltered, running eighth in the Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (G1) at the track and seventh in the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland. He was unplaced in four other races before he eventually began to return to form last fall at Churchill Downs with a second-place finish in an allowance race. 

This year he is 1-for-2, after running a distant fourth in a local allowance before a 5 1/4-length score in his latest start. A late-running horse that is fond of inside-rallying trips, the 4-year-old son of Congrats  drew favorably in post 1 with Dylan Davis aboard. He is owned by a large partnership that includes Harold Lerner, AWC Stables, Nehoc Stables, Scott Akman, Paul Braverman, Magdalena Racing, and David Bernsen.

"He's the kind of horse who needs a pace," McPeek said. "If the pace sets up right, if it unfolds the right way, he will run huge. But if there's no pace he has a harder time. But he's doing good and he likes Gulfstream."

Harvey Wallbanger's competition includes last year's Florida Derby runner-up Bodexpress, and two from the barn of leading trainer Todd Pletcher, American Tattoo and You're to Blame.

American Tattoo, an Argentine-bred son of Not for Sale owned by Calumet Farm and John Anthony Stables, won the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes at Gulfstream in December and was third in the Marathon Stakes Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G2) at Santa Anita Park a start earlier in November. He enters Saturday's race off an 11th-place finish in the 1 1/2-mile W. L. McKnight Stakes (G3T) Jan. 25 at Gulfstream. It was his first race on the turf and came with a wide draw. He is a group 1 winner in Argentina.

"Last time he drew a bad post in there and it's so difficult in those three-turn races to get hung out three or four wide on two or three turns," said Pletcher, who has trained the winner of the Hal's Hope three of the past four years. "It was just too much to overcome. I actually do think the horse handles the turf OK, but we just figured with this opportunity we'd go ahead and get back on the dirt and see if he can regain his best form. He's proven that he can handle it."

Bortolazzo Stable's You're to Blame will be making his first start since October. The 6-year-old son of Distorted Humor , who finished second in last year's Pimlico Special Stakes (G3) and was beaten only a length in the Woodford Reserve Brooklyn Invitational Stakes (G2), "needed a comeback spot," Pletcher said.

"I think he really found his specialty in a mile and a quarter-plus dirt races so we're hoping he can run well here," he added. "Who knows what the future brings, but it could set him up for something like the Pimlico Special, where he ran very well last year. He was right there."

The field also includes graded stakes winner Sir Anthony, graded stakes-placed Just Whistle and Prompt, and stakes winners Realm and Eye of a Jedi.

Entries: Hal's Hope S. (G3)

Gulfstream Park, Saturday, March 28, 2020, Race 6

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $100,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 2:00 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Harvey Wallbanger (KY)	Dylan Davis	118	Kenneth G. McPeek	4/1
2	2Bodexpress (KY)	Emisael Jaramillo	118	Gustavo Delgado	8/1
3	3You're to Blame (KY)	John R. Velazquez	120	Todd A. Pletcher	7/2
4	4Identifier (KY)	Marcos Meneses	118	Oscar M. Gonzalez	20/1
5	5Just Whistle (KY)	Manuel Franco	118	Michael R. Matz	10/1
6	6American Tattoo (ARG)	Javier Castellano	122	Todd A. Pletcher	3/1
7	7Eye of a Jedi (KY)	Miguel Angel Vasquez	122	Steve Budhoo	30/1
8	8Sir Anthony (IL)	Florent Geroux	122	Anthony Mitchell	15/1
9	9Realm (VA)	Paco Lopez	120	Barclay Tagg	6/1
10	10Rare Form (KY)	Luis Saez	118	Dale L. Romans	15/1
11	11Prompt (KY)	Edgard J. Zayas	118	William I. Mott	20/1