Kanthaka Tackles Woody Stephens

[Wandering Eyes]

West Point Thoroughbreds’s Kanthaka (Jimmy Creed) invades from California for a contentious renewal of the GII Woody Stephens S. Saturday at Belmont Park. The chestnut, a perfect three-for-three at the Woody Stephens’s seven-furlong distance, won the Feb. 10 GII San Vicente S., but stumbled when stretched out. He finished third in the 1 1/16-mile GII San Felipe S. and sixth in the nine-furlong GII Toyota Blue Grass S. before a return to sprinting to win the May 12 GIII Lazaro Barrera S. at Santa Anita last time out.

“He’s been up close, far off the pace, inside, outside, big field, small field,” Dan Ward, assistant to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, said of the 3-1 morning-line favorite. “He was up close [in the Laz Barrera] because there was no speed. He was on the inside, so [jockey Flavien Prat] had to use him a little bit the first part, but he still finished well and ran a very professional race.”

Kanthaka worked a best-of-58 five furlongs in :59 2/5 at Santa Anita May 26.

World of Trouble (Kantharos) romped home by 13 3/4 lengths in the seven-furlong Pasco S. at Tampa Bay Downs in his first start for trainer Jason Servis, but tired to third after contesting the pace in the 1 1/16-mile GII Tampa Bay Derby in his most recent start Mar. 10.

Strike Power (Speightstown) was tabbed a ‘TDN Rising Star’ after his eight-length debut win at Gulfstream last December. He scored by a front-running 2 3/4 lengths going seven furlongs in the Feb. 3 GIII Swale S. Connections attempted to have the colt stretch out on Gulfstream’s Triple Crown trail where he was second in the 1 1/16-mile GII Fountain of Youth S. Mar. 3 and eighth in the nine-furlong GI Florida Derby Mar. 31.

“He’s doing great now and we’re looking forward to getting him back around one turn,” said trainer Mark Hennig. “If you look at his first few races, this is obviously what he likes to do. He drew a great post position [12]. All [jockey] Johnny [Velazquez] will have to do is take a peek over his shoulder to figure out where to be.”

Woodford Racing’s Engage (Into Mischief), a $550,000 OBS March graduate, ended 2017 with a win in the Oct. 14 GIII Futurity at the Belmont oval. He chased home National Flag (Speightstown) when second in his sophomore debut in the Apr. 7 GIII Bay Shore S. and scored a gritty victory in the May 13 Gold Fever S. at Belmont last time out.

View the full article