Ghostzapper (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
GP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
March 30, 2024

As a part of the FL Derby undercard, a field of eight will be heading to the starting gate for the 21sr running of the Ghostzapper, which is a little more than a mile on the main track. It’s been a Grade 3 since inception, with purses going back and forth between $100.000 and $150.000 throughout its lifetime. Some very good horses have visited the winner’s circle after the race, including Without Kera, Edwin Drood and Crack Dab, but one of them, Impending Decision, even won the race in back-to-back years, in 2015 and 2016 for Night Rider Stables. Last year, Hard To Forgive was the winner for D J C Racing Stables. He recently ran his last race and is now serving as a sire, with services available at $10.000 for the upcoming quarter. Now, let’s take a look at those running in this year’s race:

1- Bonus Baby (Night Rider Stables, ridden by E J Zayas)- Claimed by the trainer late in 2022 for $22.500, and went on to have a fantastic four season, winning four races, and earning over $340.000 on the year, over five times what his lifetime earnings were previously. His career highlight was a win in the $200.000 Thanksgiving Classic, which sent him into the Grade 3 Hooper Stakes. For whatever reason, he simply did not show up that day. That result is such an outlier on his past performances under Night Rider that I can throw it out easily, but the horse still will need a good bounce back from that.

2- Marcus Antoninus (Fractious, ridden by D E Centeno)- Fractious added this one to his barn in June with a $62.000 claim, and he went on to have a productive stretch of races which were primarily in optional claimers. Two were wins, including a two-length victory here in the slop last December. For his last race, he appeared in the $125.000 Dust Commander at TP, which was not his stake debut, but first time in such a race for Fractious. After setting the early fractions, he did his best to hang on, and despite being within a length, he finished fourth. Speed figures are good, and he’ll look to hold on just a little longer this time out.

3- Prevent (Mb Stables, ridden by F Prat)- A horse that was talked about a lot this of year last year, as his win in the SA Derby clinched him a spot in the KYD. Didn’t fare well either there or in the BEL and continued to struggle for the rest of the year. He was still able to make it into the BC Dirt Mile, and despite getting closer at the end, still only finished tenth. After a couple of months to think about it, Prevent has been bouncing back nicely, and comes here off a second in the Grade 3 Mineshaft. If the old version of himself is back, it will be trouble for the rest of these.

4- Southern Man (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by A Cedillo)- Based on his works, this horse certainly should be in this type of race, but Southern Man is going to have to start translating those to race day. Last month, he was third in a TP optional claimer, ending a stretch of three rather subpar looking performances. If he can build on that, look out for him, but this is not a horse I can trust right now.

5- Calling Ole Sam (Nakamura Stables, ridden by P Husbands)- This six-year-old gelding has been consistent through his career, hitting the board in 23 of 33 starts, and 17 of them are in the top two. A promising stretch in ungraded stakes at the start of 2023 led to him getting a couple of graded chances, and he was okay in them, but did nothing to really stand out. Placed sixth in the Dust Commander last month, running a completely different style than the front running Marcus Antoninus did, and they finished pretty close to one another.

6- Angle Of Attack (Luz International, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Brings a three-race winning streak into the Ghostzapper, that includes a seven-length victory in a starter allowance on a rain-soaked day at HOU. Since being claimed by Luz International, Angle Of Attack has six wins and two seconds in nine starts. The race not included there is his only graded attempt, where he never got involved in the Grade 2 TAA Stakes. Now, he can get some redemption from that, and his works are impressive.

7- Pompano Beach (Threshold, ridden by Jam Rodriguez)- It’s become a bit of a theme in this field of having horses that were recently claimed and having their new trainers bringing them forward. None of them were claimed as cheaply as Pompano Beach, though, as Threshold only needed $6.000 to add him in July. Right away, he was entered into the Grade 2 Forty Niner Handicap, and he nearly stole the show before settling for second. That field had some pretty well-known names in it, too. Didn’t like the slop afterwards, and it looks like this one simply does not wet tracks, so we can throw that out. After winning an allowance, he’s back at this level and he has proven to me that he belongs here.

8- Noble Faerie (Riggins Racing, ridden by R M Hernandez)- After running second around this time last year in the Wood Memorial, Noble Faerie got to take part in the KYD, but finished in the second half of the field. His overall year was better, highlighted by running second in the Haskell, which is a bigger deal than winning the Grade 3 Marine Stakes. Also took part in the BC Dirt Mile and was one spot better than Prevent. But he’s been quite since, and has not appeared in a race since December 1st, an allowance that he won. That’s a red flag to me, but a good rest period can help a lot, too.

Prediction: 2-6-7-3

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES