Where’s Sterling the high weight of the Skip Away Stakes looking good to score his first win of the new season
Along with the Grade 3, $150,000 Rampart Stakes, the Grade 3, $100,000 Skip Away Stakes will also be part of the Gulfstream Park undercard on 31 March, 2012, where the feature race will be the all important Kentucky Derby hopefuls clash, the Grade 1, $1
million Florida Derby where the likes of Union Rags, El Padrino, and News Pending will be participating.
Todd Pletcher’s Awesome Maria, after coming off a successful seasonal debut in the Grade 3 Sabin Stakes, where she defeated Royal Delta after an eight month layoff due to injury, will look to head the Rampart Stakes at Gulfstream Park on the same day.
In the Grade 3 Skip Away Stakes, Frank C. Calabrese’s Where’s Sterling is looking like a good progress as he drops in class in the Skip Away Stakes, after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap earlier in the season to winner Hymn Book. The Donn Handicap
also proved to be Where’s Sterling’s debut race of the new campaign.
Nick Canani trained 5-year-old horse, Where’s Sterling is the high weight of 123 pounds in the Skip Away Stakes, as the Kentucky bred son of Northern Afleet looks to take on a field of 8 other runners to run over a distance of 1 3/16 miles on dirt in the
Skip Away Stakes.
Out of mare Twinkler by Benny The Dip, Where’s Sterling scored his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 3 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park, going over a distance of 1 1/8 miles last year August.
"He’s ready to go,” Canani said. “We know he likes the Gulfstream track. He’s run two good races here at the meet and had traffic trouble last out in the Donn Handicap. He’s a big horse and he can’t just stop and start. The added distance also should help
him.”
Where’s Sterling will break from post number 1 under jockey J. Rocco Jr. and the runner has run 5 times over the Gulfstream Park dirt track, and he has won their twice, finished second twice and a lone 4th place finish that he posted in his most
recent start in the Donn Handicap.
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