Easter Gift Takes Unusual Path Back to Clark

When Easter Gift finished a solid third to eventual 3-year-old champion Will Take Charge   and Game On Dude in last year's Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Health Care (gr. I), trainer Chad Brown was hoping that big things could be on the horizon.

 

A year later, Brown feels the same way about Easter Gift and Robert V. LaPenta's 5-year-old son of Hard Spun   will travel from New York for another Clark Handicap bid Nov. 28. But the months between his Churchill Downs visits have not been what Brown had hoped.

 

Easter Gift earned his spot in the 2014 Clark with a sharp Belmont Park allowance win Oct. 12, his first win in only three outings this year. He rallied strongly under Joel Rosario to win that 1 1/16-mile allowance by a head. Among the horses he ran past that day was Constitution, the 3-year-old winner of the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I) who is also expected to compete in the Clark.



Constitution suffered the first loss of his career hen he ran fourth that day in his first outing since the March 29 Florida Derby.

 

But Easter Gift's win was preceded by an eighth-place run in the July 27 Monmouth Cup (gr. III), his first race of the year, and a dull sixth-place finish in Saratoga's Aug. 17 Alydar, a race in which he been the runner-up a year earlier.

 

"He had some physical issues that delayed his return as a 5-year-old," Brown said via telephone from New York. "When he returned to the races he was training well, but he didn't run well in his first two times I ran him this year and I'm not exactly sure why. He had been training well and came out of the races well, but he didn't fire."

 

But the third time out convinced Brown that his horse is back in form and deserved another shot in the Clark, a race in which he was beaten by only two lengths by Will Take Charge and Game On Dude.

 

"He ran so well in it last year and was beaten by two really good horses and he has experience over the track at Churchill," Brown said. "He was in better form last year heading into the Clark, however his most recent race, the allowance win, was okay and he seems within reach now of getting to his best numbers. That was one of his best numbers, so he should be right there."

 

Rosario, who is looking for his first win in the Clark, was aboard Brown's veteran in last year's race and will be back in the saddle Friday.

 

Easter Gift completed his serious training for the Clark with a five-furlong move 1:01.05 Nov. 21 at Belmont Park.

 

In other Clark news, candidates for Friday's race that took advantage of good weather to work in preparation for the race included the Dale Romans-trained duo of Fayette (gr. III) winner Pick of the Litter and multiple stakes winner Prayer for Relief, who finished 12th in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I). Pick of the Litter breezed five furlongs in 1:02 4/5 and Prayer for Relief breezed the same distance in 1:02 2/5.

 

If he runs, Friday's Clark bid will be the third for Prayer for Relief. He finished ninth behind Wise Dan in 2011 and was last of nine in its 2013 running.

 

Knights Nation, a recent allowance race winner at Churchill Downs, breezed a half-mile in :49 1/5 for trainer Dallas Stewart.

 

At Santa Anita Park, Rebel (gr. II) winner Hoppertunity had his final workout, a five-furlong move in 1:00. "He's ready," said trainer Bob Baffert, who has given the call to Martin Garcia. The 3-year-old will arrive on a California flight that should be in Louisville Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.

 

Easter Gift, Constitution and Protonico will arrive from New York on a Nov. 25 flight that will land in Lexington around 4 p.m.

 

Pletcher on Constitution: "He needed the race in his comeback. He got tired. He's trained well since and I believe he's back to the 1 1/8-mile form he showed back in the Florida Derby."