WICKED STRONG
(c, 3, Hard Spun–Moyne Abbey, by Charismatic)
*$375,000 yrl '12 KEESEP.
O-Centennial Farms; B-William Flynn (KY); T-Jimmy Jerkens.
Lifetime Record: 11-3-2-1, $1,474,610.
Last Start: DNF GI JCGC at BEL Sept. 27
With his eventful journey in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup after clipping heels and unseating jockey Rajiv Maragh now firmly in the rearview mirror, GI Twinspires.com Wood Memorial S. hero and narrow GI Travers S. runner-up Wicked Strong (Hard Spun) is nearing a return to the Jimmy Jerkens barn.
“He's shipping back to Florida next week,” Centennial Farms President Don Little Jr. confirmed. “We let him down a little after the Jockey Club mishap. He had a full nuclear scan and everything came back negative; he's good to go. He's doing great. He put on weight and looks phenomenal.”
While Little acknowledged that the prestigious Feb. 7 GI Donn H. at Gulfstream Park is coming up a bit too soon, there are still plenty of options on the horizon for the GII Jim Dandy S. hero in 2015.
“The [GIII] Ben Ali [at Keeneland in April] and the [GIII] Westchester [at Belmont in May] would be the two that we're batting around,” Little said of Wicked Strong's early-season targets. “We also have the [GI] Met Mile if we want to shorten up, too. The [GI] Whitney and Jockey Club are the [main] targets for his 4-year-old campaign, and the Breeders' Cup, too, of course.”
Wicked Strong certainly took the Centennial partners on a wild ride in 2014. After kicking off the term with a head-scratching ninth in the GII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream Jan. 25, the bay got back on track with a 9-1 upset in the Wood Memorial, then rolled a pair of fours in the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont S. He thrived with the addition of blinkers at Saratoga this summer before concluding the year on a sour note in the Gold Cup.
“It's funny, one thing that I said to a lot of the partners was that this horse has given us almost every possible emotion that you can have in racing,” Little concluded. “He's almost a throwback. He thrives on training. His scan looked like a 2-year-old's, it's unbelievable. He's a really rugged horse and we look forward to next year with him.” –Steve Sherack
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