Lewisfield Back on Familiar Ground in Polynesian
Lewisfield Back on Familiar Ground in Polynesian
Among Five Stakes Winners in Field of Six for Seven-Furlong Sprint
Fourth Leg in Dirt Sprint Division of Revived MATCH Series
LAUREL, MD – Exiting the only off-the-board finish of his career in his debut outside the Mid-Atlantic, Linda Zang’s stakes winner Lewisfield finds himself back in familiar territory when he heads a field of six in Sunday’s $100,000 Polynesian Stakes at Laurel Park.
The seven-furlong Polynesian highlights a 10-race program and is the fourth of five races in the 3-year-old and up dirt sprint division of the revived Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series that concludes with the $250,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) Sept. 15 at Laurel.
Though based at Charles Town with trainer Jeff Runco, a winner of nearly 4,100 races, Lewisfield has enjoyed his greatest success at Laurel with four wins and a second from five tries including his lone stakes triumph in the six-furlong Not For Love March 17.
“He definitely likes Laurel. It’s right in his backyard, so it makes sense. He should run well,” Runco said. “He’s had a couple of good works between this race and his race at Belmont, and he’s doing well. We’ll see how it goes Sunday.”
Also third in the Maryland Sprint (G3) May 19 on the undercard of the Preakness Stakes (G1) at legendary Pimlico Race Course, Lewisfield finished second to 2017 De Francis winner Chublicious in the Mr. Prospector Stakes June 17 at Monmouth Park.
From there the 4-year-old Maryland-bred son of Great Notion ran a troubled fourth of six in the seven-furlong Belmont Sprint Championship (G2) June 7 at Belmont Park, beaten five lengths by multiple graded-stakes winners Limousine Liberal and Whitmore.
“I thought he ran well. He got bumped around pretty good in the stretch and it might have cost him third, but it was a tough race,” Runco said. “Those are Breeders’ Cup horses, pretty much. They’re some of the best sprinters in the country. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do so we thought we’d give him a shot in there with the short field. He had some trouble but he ran respectable and bounced out of it good.”
Arnaldo Bocachica, the only jockey to ride Lewisfield in 10 starts, five of them wins, has the call from Post 5 at 124 pounds.
Looking to get back on track in the Polynesian is Brad Grady’s multiple stakes winner Cool Arrow, a son of Into Mischief currently with trainer Joe Sharp’s string at Saratoga. He won the Springboard Mile at Remington at 2 and the seven-furlong Robert Hilton Memorial last spring at Charles Town as a 3-year-old.
Cool Arrow ended a 10-month break between starts with a front-running optional claiming allowance victory going one mile March 31 at Fair Grounds. Off the board in his last two starts, most recently running last of eight in the Iowa Sprint Handicap July 6, he will race without blinkers in the Polynesian, Sharp said.
“He actually scoped dirty after the race at Prairie Meadows last time and was out of sorts. He really wasn’t himself that day,” Sharp said. “He’s cleared back up and I think he’ll be really live in this spot.”
Prior to the Iowa Sprint, Cool Arrow finished sixth after dueling through a wicked pace in a one-mile optional claiming allowance May 5 at Churchill Downs. His stablemate Girvin, also owned by Grady, won the Haskell (G1), Louisiana Derby (G2) and Risen Star (G2) last year and was second in the Steve Sexton Mile (G2) May 6 in his lone start of 2018.
“He’s always been a horse that we were pretty high on. He came along at the same time Girvin did and was kind of in his shadow a little bit,” Sharp said. “We gave him some time off and he came back really well off the layoff and ran a big race. He was a victim of a bad pace scenario the next time and was sick last time.”
Cool Arrow has raced once previously at Laurel, winning a five-furlong maiden claiming event by 5 ½ lengths July 15, 2016 in his third career start. He went on to earn his first stakes victory in the Kip Deville next out at Remington Park.
“He’s had a trip over the track, though it’s been a while,” Sharp said. “We know he’s a nice horse. His form is a little spotty of late but I think we have him back where we want him. Hopefully we expect a big effort out of him.”
Feargal Lynch rides Cool Arrow from outside Post 6 at 124 pounds.
The richest horse in the Polynesian is 5-year-old Jacks or Better Farm homebred stakes winner Fellowship, with $740,814 in purse earnings from 30 career starts. Third in the Holy Bull (G2), Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby (G3) at 3, he was second by a neck in the seven-furlong General George (G3) Feb. 18 in his last race at Laurel.
“He’s been up against some of the best around and we’re hoping we can get a good trip and get back to the winner’s circle,” trainer Ken Decker said. “He likes the track here. He’s had a couple of nice works going into it and he’s always run a good race here. The distance seems to fit him very well, so we’re going to take our best shot.”
Fellowship’s last win came in a third-level optional claiming allowance Jan. 28 at Laurel, three weeks prior to the General George. He returns to the dirt after finishing last in his most recent start June 7 at Delaware Park, which marked his first race on the grass.
“That was the only thing we hadn’t tried with him and it was a good time to take a look at that. He didn’t care for it so we’re drawing a line through that,” Decker said. “He’s going to run his race, especially here. He knows his way around this track. We’re not going to try and do anything with him other than let him do his thing and I think he’ll be right there.”
Rosario Montanez has the call on Fellowship from Post 4 at 124 pounds.
Completing the Polynesian field are R. Larry Johnson homebred It’s the Journey, winner of the 2017 Challedon Stakes at Laurel; 2017 Not For Love winner Laki; and multiple stakes-placed Rockinn On Bye, who has a record of 7-19-11 from 57 career starts.
The Polynesian is named for the 1945 Preakness (G1) winner that put together a record of 27-10-10 with purse earnings of $310,410 from 1944-47, 16 of his victories coming in stakes. Named the U.S. champion sprinter in 1947, he went on to a successful stud career most notably as the sire of Hall of Famer Native Dancer, the 1953 Preakness winner, and grandsire of 1966 Preakness winner Kauai King.
