Canadian/Ontario-bred HALO AGAIN, a $600,000 Keeneland September sale yearling in 2018, makes his 2nd start of his 3-year-old season Saturday March 14 in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park.
The Anderson Farms (Ontario) bred by Speightstown was unbeaten in 2 races as a juvenile including his gritty win in the nine furlong Coronation Futurity, the biggest race for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds.
Tabbed as a current top Queen’s Plate contender on Canadian Thoroughbred’s Top 15 list, HALO AGAIN’s owners Willis Horton and Winchell Thoroughbreds and trainer Steve Asmussen hope the colt will get back on track with the move back to a synthetic dirt surface, Turfway’s Polytrack.
The Polytrack at Turfway, set to be replaced with Tapeta following it’s current meeting, is not for every horse but it will be interesting to see how Halo Again does following his 8th place finish in the Lecomte Stakes on dirt at Fair Grounds.
Halo Again will be reunited with the well traveled Rafael Hernandez, who has been all sorts of places to ride this winter. Hernandez rode the colt to the Coronation victory. The pair are 8 to 1 and will start from post 6 in a big field.
CT’s Top 15 Plate list as of March 3
(will be updated Monday)
- Halo Again
- Malibu Mambo
- Elusive Knight
- Curlin’s Voyage
- Merveilleux
- Edge of Fire
- Muskoka Gold
- Clayton
- Bold Victory
- Corsi
- Auburn Hills
- Stormy Soul
- Dotted Line
- Tomcat Black
- Awesome Tiger
Saturday, Turfway, post time: 6:42 p.m. EDT
JEFF RUBY STEAKS-GIII, $250,000, 3yo, 1 1/8m (AWT)
PP — HORSE– SIRE– OWNER– TRAINER– JOCKEY– WT
1 Dack Janiel’s Tonalist Calumet Farm Sisterson Bejarano 123
2 Toma Todo English Channel Bloom Racing Stable LLC Asmussen Garcia 123
3 Fancy Liquor Lookin At Lucky Skychai Racing LLC and Sand Dollar Stable LLC Maker Geroux 123
4 Unthrottled The Big Beast Calumet Farm Stewart Lanerie 123
5 Myamanoi Temple City Corms Racing Stable and R. A. Hill Stable Gargan Carmouche 123
6 Halo Again Speightstown Winchell Thoroughbreds & Willis Horton Racing Asmussen Hernandez 123
7 Victory Boulevard Dialed In Paradise Farms Corp. Maker Corrales 123
8 Finnick the Fierce Dialed In Monge, Arnaldo and Hernandez, Rey Hernandez Leon 123
9 Austrian Freud Calumet Farm Fernandez Lezcano 123
10 The Stiff Danza Michael McCarthy Racing Stable, Inc., Daniell, McCarthy Franco 123 Donna, Daniell, Jim and McCarthy, Terrence
11 Invader War Front Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables, LLC Ward Jimenez 123 and LNJ Foxwoods
12 Field Pass Lemon Drop Kid Three Diamonds Farm Maker Ortiz, Jr. 123
Breeders: 1-Calumet Farm, 2-B. P. Walden Jr., 3-Hot Pink Stable & Skychai Racing LLC, 4-Ocala Stud, 5-Runnymede Farm Inc. & Peter J. Callahan,
6-Anderson Farms Ont. Inc., 7-Upson Downs Farm, Inc., 8-Paige Jillian Blu Sky Stables, 9-McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, LLC,Jamey Gibson &
Windswept Stables, LLC, 10-Daniell, McCarthy & McNamara, 11-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt, 12-Mark Brown Grier