Inside Post for Awesome Banner in Carry Back

Already a winner in four of five starts at Gulfstream Park, including three stakes, topped by a five-length score in this year's Swale (gr. II), Awesome Banner will try to add to that list July 2 in the $150,000 Carry Back (gr. III).

Jacks or Better Farm's Awesome Banner is perfect in four starts at seven furlongs or shorter, including his most recent appearance, a clear victory in the $75,000 Big Cypress Stakes June 4 at Gulfstream in his first try for trainer Mark Casse. 

That effort marked a return to top form and a return to sprinting after off-the-board finishes in the Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) and the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) by the 3-year-old Awesome of Course colt.

"He had two bad races and we didn't know why, so we wanted to take our time and figure him out," Casse said. "It was strange, because we weren't really sure what happened. They were both route races, so maybe it was the distance, but it seemed like he just didn't show up. It's not like he ran hard to the eighth pole and stopped—he was never in the race at any point."

After a brief freshening, the Florida-bred made a victorious return to action in the Big Cypress, when he took command on the turn and shook off a determined challenge from Wildcat Wish. He has posted two workouts at Gulfstream since that win, including a bullet half-mile drill in :47 last Friday.

"He'd been training well, but honestly, we didn't know what to expect," Casse admitted. "He ran well and I think he's training even better than before (the Big Cypress). We're hoping he shows that on Saturday."

Awesome Banner drew the rail post for the Carry Back and will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione.

While Awesome Banner is expected to dictate the pace in the Carry Back, Kentucky invader Rated R Superstar will likely deliver a late challenge. Owned by Radar Racing and trained by Ken McPeek, the son of Kodiak Kowboy showed promise last fall with a second in the $150,000 Iroquois Stakes (gr. III) and a third to Brody's Cause and Exaggerator in the Breeders' Futurity (gr. I). 

After finishing second in his first two starts at Oaklawn Park this year, Rated R Superstar finished third in the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park April 2. His connections opted to geld him after that performance, and in his return May 30, he made a strong late move to secure victory in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance test in at Churchill Downs.

"He's a pretty high-strung horse—sometimes difficult to deal with," McPeek explained. "We also felt that his stallion rights weren't going to be all that valuable. But obviously he has talent and he's always been a really sound horse, so that's why we gelded him.

"His pedigree says that he's probably a sprinter and he's always been a really talented horse, but he definitely really stepped up in his last race. I think he's going to be a come-from-behind sprinter—the seven-eighths (distance) hits him right in the head. I think he could lay a little closer than he did last time, but you have to see how it unfolds."