Acclamation to start his campaign in the Mervyn Leroy Handicap after being declared fit and ready
The 2011 champion older male, Acclamation, shook off all scares when he was scratched from his debut race in the Grade 3 Inglewood Handicap on turf at Betfair Hollywood Park on 27 April, 2012.
His 2012 was held off for a while, and according to trainer Donald Warren, the 6-year-old horse took some bad steps going into the race, and the scratch happened in result of some precautionary measures.
Now, Acclamation has been declared fit and ready by trainer Donald Warren, who is now pointing his Eclipse Award winning horse toward the Grade 2, $150,000 Mervyn Leroy Handicap set to go underway 5 May, 2012, at Betfair Hollywood Park.
The Mervyn Leroy Handicap will be run over a distance of 1 1/16 miles on the Hollywood Park’s cushion track.
“We can’t take a chance with a horse like this,” Warren said April 29. “But the x-rays were clean, his legs were cold and he galloped perfect Saturday and Sunday.”
Owned by his California breeders Bud and Judy Johnston in partnership with Peter and Mary Hilvers, Acclamation hasn’t run a race since winning the Grade 2 Hirsch Turf Championship back in October, 2011. That is where he completed his five race win streak
that gave him the title of nation’s best older male.
“We really wanted to get a race into him before the Whittingham,” Warren said. "Now that we’re sure he’s OK, he’ll probably run in the LeRoy. He’ll ship to Betfair Hollywood Park to work Tuesday (May 1) and then we’ll make the final decision.’’
The son of Unusual Heat, out of Silveyville mare Winning In Style, Acclamation started his five race win streak with a win in the Grade 2 Jim Murray Handicap at Hollywood Park turf, and on the same venue, the same track, he downed the Grad 1 Charles Whittingham
Memorial Handicap in his next start, going a little further at about 1 ¼ miles.
He owned the Del Mar meet by winning back to back grade 1 races, starting from the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes and the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.
It was a brilliant season, and Donald Warren would be hoping that his best older male will repeat the magnificent performance this year as well.
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