At 8, is six years older than My Time to Star, and while the 2-year-old is just getting started, Fort Prado is finished racing after an anti-climactic seventh-place finish Saturday in the Buck's Boy Handicap. Fort Prado's connections went back and forth between starting Fort Prado in the Buck's Boy, a route, and the Lightning Jet, a sprint, before electing to try the longer race.
"We probably chose the wrong race, but we wanted him to finish off his career in Illinois, and we thought the sprint race was probably too tough," trainer said.
Fort Prado will stand stud for 2010 breeding season Dick Duchossois's Hill N Dale Farm in Barrington, Ill. As a graded-stakes-winning son of El Prado out of a highly productive mare, Fort Prado merits strong support in the depleted Illinois stallion ranks.
Meanwhile, Block was forced to scratch Giant Oak from the Fayette Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland when Giant Oak came up with a bruised foot Friday. Giant Oak had shipped from Hawthorne earlier in the week and was coming off a strong second in the Indiana Derby. Block said the foot had improved from Friday to Saturday, and that Giant Oak was still being pointed to the Clark Handicap later this month at Churchill.
* Israel Ocampo had 18 wins at Hawthorne through Sunday, good for second-place in the jockey standings. But count Ocampo out of the race for leading ride this meet. His Hawthorne agent, Jay Fedor, confirmed Tuesday that Ocampo had left Hawthorne and was moving his tack to Churchill Downs.
The top nine riders by wins this meet, led by Ariel Smith at 19, were separated by just six wins going into this week's action.
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