Hal's Hope Handicap

by Patricia Woo | Dec 30 2008

The Hal's Hope Handicap on Jan. 3 kicks off the season of racing at Gulfstream Park and is a $100,000 1-mile event for 4-year-olds and up.

2009 is finally here! That means that horse betting fans are turning their attention to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., where, in a few short weeks, some of the top horses from Florida will compete in the seventh annual running of the Sunshine Millions on Jan. 24. But before this prestigious event, which also features racing at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., many trainers and owners are looking to the Hal's Hope Handicap, a $100,000 1-mile Gr. 3 event for 4-year-olds and up, as a prep race for their charges. This year, Da'Tara, Delightful Kiss and Finallymadeit are among those nominated.

The horse racing world remembers the Da'Tara of 2008 as the longshot winner of the Belmont Stakes, in which Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown was pulled up. Since his Belmont win, however, Da'Tara has struggled to regain that winning form. In his three stakes races after the Belmont – the Jim Dandy Stakes, the Travers Stakes and the Jerome Handicap – Da'Tara finished no better than fifth. Trainer Nick Zito will be hoping that Da'Tara will put in another Belmont Stakes-worthy performance. Other Zito-trained possibilities for the Hal's Hope Handicap include Cool Coal Man, Anak Nakal and Forefathers.

After a strong second place finish in the $400,000 Gr. 2 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs in November ahead of top older horse Commentator, Delightful Kiss has been in training at Calder Race Course under the watchful eye of trainer Pete Anderson. "The main goal next for him is the Sunshine Millions," Anderson said, "but I'm going to try and get him ready in time to run in the [Hal's Hope Handicap] there on opening day." While Delightful Kiss has proven himself capable of winning on synthetic tracks, scoring consecutive wins in September in the Gr. 3 All American Stakes at Golden Gate Fields and the Turfway Park Fall Championship Stakes, his second-place finish in the Clark Handicap shows that he can handle conventional dirt as well.

Finallymadeit was almost retired in 2008 after failing to meet expectations as a sprinter, but as a two-turn racehorse, he seems to have finally found his niche. He won his last two races at Calder Race Course, the Fred W. Hooper Handicap and the Carl G. Rose Classic Handicap, with his front-running style; the Javier Negrete-trained 5-year-old performs at his best when he can take early command of the race. "We considered retiring him after he didn't run well in a couple of sprints, but then he showed he wanted to go longer, and he's kept going," said Negrete. Like Delightful Kiss, Finallymadeit is also pointed towards the Sunshine Millions Classic and will run the Hal's Hope Handicap as a prep.

In 2007, Chatain came out of nowhere to win the Hal's Hope Handicap in; in 2008, he unleashed a powerful closing kick to seal back-to-back victories. Who will win the 2009 Hal's Hope Handicap?

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