With CT Win Last Out, Gator strives faster on Hilton Memorial * The Racing Biz

Faster Gator has always given trainer Anthony Farrioror the impression that he has sufficient speed and ability to compete against the best sprinters of his generation.

Farrior will put that theory to the test on Friday. Faster Gator, a second -year -old son of Vekoma, returns to Charles Town for the latest renewal of the $ 500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial for three -year -olds at the undercard of the class 2, $ 1 million Charles Town Classic and Grading 2, $ 750,000 Charles Town Oaks.

A winner of his first two starts in Laurel Park, albeit more than eight months apart, Gator has hardly been shy since then. After a reimbursement score in Laurel at the beginning of March, Gator made his deployment debut faster then then a sharp second to the talented MO Plex and just before West Virginia-Foked Champion Pascaline in the Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct.

But faster Gator then ended up an inconspicuous seventh in the chick for a long stakes on Pimlico on Preakness Day for a modest fourth in the Tom Ridge Stakes on Presque Isle Downs. Farriorer attributed one of those defeats to a foot abscess and another to the unfamiliarity of the foal on the synthetic surface on Presque Isle.

Looking for a trust for his foal, Farriorer sent him to Charles Town, and on July 19 Gator immediately regained his winning ways when he dedicated six lengths from the house. If the opportunities for the choice, Gator de Timer stopped faster in 1: 17.75 for the 6 1/2 furlongs, including a rare, sub-1: 11 split for three-quarters.

“Looking at it, I probably shouldn’t have run him in the chick for a long time,” Farrior said. “He had to deal with a foot abscess at the time. I wanted to try him on synthetic because his mother was well on the grass, but he just seemed to climb on it. When I brought him to Charles Town, I wanted to see how he would go over the job and prepare him for the Hilton. [jockey Arnaldo Bocachica] said he just did it alone. “

Since spring and summer, several other horses have flattered Gator’s efforts sooner since then. Stablemate Classic Joke, who ended six lengths in their 6 July allowance in Charles Town, then returned to win a two-turn allowance on the track.

Mo Plex, who took him in the Bay Shore, would come back to catch the degree 3, $ 500,000 Ohio Derby with two lengths over a piece of gold, which immediately returned to take the grade 3, $ 400,000 West Virginia Derby in Mountaineer Park.

“He is run against a number of really nice three-year-olds, and I expect that he will be confronted with a few more in the Hilton,” said Farrior about faster Gator, who has won three of the six career outputs with a win of more than $ 110,000 for owners Richard Burnsworth and Dunn Brothers Racers Racers.

Faster Gator is 6-1 on the morning line of the Hilton, the ninth of 13 races. Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty, most recently a game in the Kentucky Derby after attending the hot early pace, is the favorite of 5-2 morning line.

Post time for the card is 5:00 pm

Faster Gator’s starts over the strip – and under the lights – gives him an advantage over his rivals. Another fact that Farrior sees the reason for optimism: the timing of the race.

“The good thing about that race it is a day before the [Grade I] $ 500,000 [H. Allen Jerkens] At Saratoga, and I know that most of those guys probably want to stay there, “the trainer said.” He has always had a lot of speed and seven Furlongs is probably his best distance. He had a good victory on the track last month and I know he will be ready for the Hilton. I would not reject a chance to race for that type of money on this number. “