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Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS
Smokey Stover is a very overrated Northern Cal sprinter (he can't even break an 80 on the CJ's!) that was named after a resoundingly unfunny cartoon strip.....
My suggestion would be to ditch the fan club idea...and go play in traffic.
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Baze made his choice, and Gryder is beneficiary
By CHUCK DYBDAL
SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sunday's Grade 3 Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Sprint will include a familiar sight - Harry Aleo's bright orange colors aboard a heavy favorite. Aleo, who has owned such popular horses as Lost in the Fog, Vicarino and Victorina, will run Smokey Stover in the Bay Meadows BC. But there will be one thing different. Instead of Aleo's regular rider, Russell Baze, Aaron Gryder will be in the irons on Sunday.
Baze, the regular rider of Lost in the Fog, had ridden Smokey Stover in four of his first eight starts, including in a 10-length allowance victory at Golden Gate on Jan. 7. But Gryder rode Smokey Stover to victory in the Sunshine Millions Sprint Jan. 27 at Santa Anita, and trainer Greg Gilchrist has given him the call back.
Baze could have ridden Smokey Stover in the Sprint, but he and agent Ray Harris chose instead to ride the undefeated 3-year-old Another Kris for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer in the Sunshine Millions Dash at Gulfstream.
Baze was also supposed to ride Secret Scheme that day at Gulfstream, but Hollendorfer decided to run her the next day in the Grade 1 Santa Monica at Santa Anita where she finished third.
"Russell had to make a choice whether to ride Smokey Stover or Jerry's horse," Gilchrist said of Sunshine Millions Day. "My only leverage was if the horse ran well, that rider would be given the chance to ride him back."
Smokey Stover defeated two of the best sprinters in the country, Proud Tower Too and Bordonaro, in the Sprint, and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 113, the top sprint figure in the country this year.
"The horse ran the best race of his life and is now ranked the top sprinter in the country," Gilchrist said. "I gave Gryder the choice of riding him [on Sunday]. If Gryder didn't ride, I would have been very happy with Russell."
Baze worked Smokey Stover on Saturday, which, Gilchrist said, "shows real class." Smokey Stover went five furlongs in 58.40.
"He told me to have some fun with him, and I did," said Baze, who is still looking for a mount in the race.
Gilchrist ran Smokey Stover twice in a 20-day period when he won the Sunshine Millions, and he has given him six weeks between races this time.
"I trained him a little lighter into the race, but timing-wise, it's good," he said. "I wanted to stay at home, so giving him six weeks and not having to ship is perfect."
Only Trickey Trevor, a Grade 2 winner last year, is firmly committed to take on Smokey Stover in the $100,000 Bay Meadows BC, to be run at six furlongs. He ran third in the Fairfax at Golden Gate on Feb. 3, his first race since last August.
Smokey Stover was assigned 123 pounds for the race, which Gilchrist thought was fair. Trickey Trevor gets in at 115. Britt's Jules, who finished second ahead of Trickey Trevor in the Fairfax, is likely to run at 114.
Three Southern California runners are considered possible, Areyoutalkintome, Bashert, and Turnbolt.