Merit Man on a break until New Year
The juvenile sprinter, Merit Man, will be rested by his connections until the 2013 season starts, and after his heartbreak loss to long shot, Hightail, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint, where he was sent as the 1 to 2 favourite, trainer Bob Hess Jr., will be aiming at 3-year-old sprints in his sophomore campaign.
Owned by Purple Shamrock Racing, and Double Kee LLC, Merit Man broke his maiden at first asking at Del Mar race course over the venue’s Polytrack going five and one-half furlongs on 2 September, 2012.
Riding under jockey Patrick Valenzuela, Merit Man defeated Sacred Ovation in second and Quietasacat in third, while turning in the entire distance in 1 minute and 3.67 seconds.
With Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint in view, Bob Hess Jr., had to run his juvenile sprinter over the similar distance and surface, and for the prep race he chose the Tim Conway Stakes at Santa Anita Park’s dirt course.
Patrick Valenzuela took the saddle for the second time on Merit Man, and the duo downed the prep race in neat style, covering the 6 furlong distance in 1 minute and 10.56 seconds on 6 October, 2012, over Santa Anita’s dirt track.
On the back of his victory in the Tim Conway Stakes, Merit Man was favoured to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint, and at one point in the race he did look like sweeping his hat-trick in a big race, but after leading for a while in the stretch, Hightail in the final furlong edged past the favoured sprinter and downed the race by a narrow margin.
For Merit Man’s 3-year-oold campaign, the conditioner is still undecided over where to race him. There are two options, and he will have to choose between Florida and California.
The target for Merit Man as a 3-year-old will be Hutcheson Stakes, that will be held at Gulfstream Park or the San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita Park.
The focus will entirely be on sprints, and both these races will be run over a distance of seven furlongs.
“You won’t see him until January,” Hess said. “You might not see him until February. We’ll look at one-turn races for now.”
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