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| Staff Writer |
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Gr.1 Breeders Cup-winning trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. admits that using the Belmont Park training track to prepare for a Gr.1 stakes on the grass at Gulfstream Park is not the conventional approach. However, this unique approach seems to be working wonders for 8YO Master Piece, who is in excellent form and heading towards the US$1 million Gr.1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes.
According to Dutrow, the most significant thing they have learned about this ridgling son of Mastercraftsman, who joined the trainer's barn last spring, is that he prefers cooler weather. That's why they're training him at Belmont Park, which might seem odd for a grass race in Florida, but it makes sense to him. MasterPiece is doing well, and Dutrow believes that he is probably the happiest horse in the stable, especially since Gr.1 Breeders' Cup Classic winner White Abarrio is in California. He is shining like a penny.
Master Piece worked an easy five furlongs in 1:03.50 at Belmont Jan. 15. Since the start of the year, he's had a series of maintenance works, going four furlongs in :50.45 Jan. 1 and another four furlongs in :49.90 Jan. 9. The plan is to ship the horse to South Florida Jan. 24.
"We will keep him in very light training and hope that what we've done, what we've tried to manage, works out in his favour," the trainer said. "It is not hot in Florida, I've been watching, and it is mild-ish weather, but it is better for him to be training up here."
Haras Don Alberto bred Master Piece out of the 2012 Chilean champion older mare Torre Laguna (CHI).
For Master Piece's current ownership group of Michael and Jules Iavarone, Nicholas Zoumas, Dino Baccari, Frank Argano, and Peter Douglass, he ran second in a US$80,000 allowance/optional claiming race at Belmont and then finished 10th in August in the Gr.1 Arlington Million Stakes that was run at Colonial Downs with temperatures in the low 90s.
As the weather started to cool, Dutrow said Master Piece started training better.
"Before he ran (last out), the weather started changing and so did he; he's just been getting better and better," he said.
Master Piece comes into the Pegasus Turf off a win in the Gr.2 Red Smith Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack by a neck over multiple grade 1-placed winner Soldier Rising. Jose Lezcano was aboard for the Red Smith win and will be in the saddle for the Pegasus Turf.
The Pegasus Turf is run at 1 1/8 miles, which seems to suit Master Piece, who has three wins out of four starts at this distance. He also has performed well at Gulfstream Park, where he was unplaced in last year's Pegasus Turf but followed with thirds in the Gr.2 Mac Diarmida Stakes and Gr.2 Pan American Stakes.
"I still don't know him well enough, but we are feeling really good about watching him run big," said Dutrow. "We are getting our judgment from him, and he is throwing all kinds of signs. He has to get over the plane trip. If that does not affect him, then we are hoping he will run the way he has been training following a big run the last time. We are excited about this. He's really a fun horse to train; he's a beauty."
Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr.'s 2023 Whitney and Breeders Cup Classic winner, White Abarrio, is among the top runners expected to compete in the Gr.1 Saudi Cup. Other notable contenders include Derma Sotagake from Japan, who finished second in the Breeders Cup Classic, and leading American runners Preakness, National Treasure, and Speed Boat Beach.