Fleet Sprint Handicap (Grade 3)- $500.000 Purse
OP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
April 12, 2025

OP will give us two exciting races to keep an eye on Saturday, with one of them being the 20th running of the Fleet Sprint Handicap. This race has been a Grade 3 since inception but has seen its purse climb from $100.000 initially to the present $500.000, which began in 2020. It’s been a particularly strong race for Night Rider Stables, as the trainer has won it on four occasions, including last year with Incinerator. That gelding would later run in the BC Sprint but has not been back at the stake level since the trainer sold him in December. Night Rider Stables is back to try and get his fifth win, with his fifth different horse here in the Fleet Sprint Handicap. Let’s meet his entry and those he is up against:

1- Everest (Mo Mentum Farm, ridden by F Prat)- Won his first two races for Mo Mentum Farm, including the Vanderbilt Handicap at SAR in July, and his year would later see an appearance in the BC Sprint. Ran a respectable sixth there and seemed destined to build on that, but he would be surprisingly dropped into an open allowance afterward. Won that, and nearly did the same here in the Whitmore last month. Carries 121 pounds here, which is the second highest in the field, but should be able to overcome that.

2- Alpha Wolf (Threshold, ridden by T W Bacon)- Lately, he has been doing a lot of wins, with five in his last six races, but only once in that stretch has, he been tested at the graded level. That would be in the Grade 1 Forego last Summer, and he did not beat anyone. Until now, Threshold would forego stakes after the Forego for Alpha Wolf, though the results and works show he should get another chance. Now, he will.

3- Blue Duck (Mb Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- In his younger days as a horse that once qualified for the KYD, Blue Duck was talked about a lot more, though he never really stopped being productive. Mb Stables picked him up for $200.000 in the September 2024 auction and has run him five times. Generally, he fared well in those, but his lone win in Mb silks saw him take on TUP allowance. There are no Emo’s to run against here as Blue Duck gets his toughest challenge in a while.

4- Daddys A Baller (Luz International, ridden by A Achard)- This is the high weight in the field, carrying 122 pounds. That means you have been winning, and that’s something that Daddys A Baller has done in four of his last six races, being second in the other two. The highlight of the stretch came in December, when he won the Grade 3 Mr Prospector, but the more interesting result to look at was last time out in the Fool Handicap, when he was second as a considerable high weight. No reason he can’t do that again, and one spot better.

5- Almigwhar (Night Rider Stables, ridden by S Elliott)- Draws the assignment of trying to pick up the trainer’s fifth Fleet Sprint Handicap, and if he does, it will be the fifth straight win for the five-year-old Lil Pink Panther gelding, and it would happen from post five. His last start was his graded debut, and he earned a 101 SRF in his Grade 3 Palos Verdes win from SA. He’s not used to running as a high weight, and the 121 pounds he carries is more than most in the field. There’s a lot of “fives” at stake as we look at him, so maybe it is fate, or maybe it means he will finish fifth.

6- Burnin Red Hooves (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by R M Hernandez)- This is career start #48 for the seven-year-old gelding, and he looks for his tenth win. His best days were in 2022 and 2023 but perhaps is getting a second wind right now. After all, Burnin Red Hooves has won two out of his last three, one being a SA starter allowance and the other an open allowance at GP. Being one of the low weights, carrying 117, will only help his cause.

7- Heeza Dime (Asgar, ridden by Ru Silvera)- Picked up by Asgar for $14.000 in the September auction, a transaction that occurred three months after his career-best win, the $125.000 Queenston Stakes, for Canadian Breds. Heeza Dime has made two starts since the auction, winning an optional claimer before a close but no earnings finish in the Grade 3 Palos Verdes Stakes. Despite being within a length of the winner, he only finished sixth. The best is yet to come for this one, and that may happen right here.

8- Cage Rage (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by Mar Garcia)- He would bounce around in claimers for a little while before landing at Maxmillion Farm for $32.000 last February. Maxmillion Farm would increase the level of his competition, and even though he has only won one of these eight starts, the overall performance has been much better. His last race is particularly interesting, because it saw him return to the main track after a long career on the turf, and he placed second here in the Razorback Handicap with a 102 SRF. Back on dirt for this one but not running as long.

9- Max Party (La Canada Racehorses, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- At one time, the aspirations were greater for Max Party, after ran second in the Hopeful and ran in the BC Juvenile, but the now four-year-old has still turned into a productive horse. In fact, after he ran in the 2023 BC Juvenile, has only finished out of the top three once out of 13 starts. Even with that, he has never run in another graded race until being given this opportunity right here. Won the $125.000 Big Daddy at TP to get this chance which seems like a long time coming.

10- Gorilla Glue (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by A Jimenez)- No one in this field has more in earnings than Gorilla Glue, who is approaching $1,000.000 overall. Half of that came last year, even with winning just once in seven starts. That was the Grade 3 Runhappy in May, but it was his third place in the KD Turf Sprint where he got most of those earnings. He had looked good on the grass, and will likely get back to it, but for now, it is back to the dirt like he was in the Runhappy. He’s prone to an occasional mediocre effort, and that does concern me a little here.

Prediction: 7-4-5-8

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES