Pack Plays, Wall Street Trader to go at it

UNITED STATES-BRED stablemates PACK PLAYS and WALL STREET TRADER could repeat their Eileen Cliggott Memorial exacta in Saturday’s Gregory Park Sprint at five furlongs round.

Both came out of December’s Mouttet Mile in terrific shape, PACK PLAYS finishing third behind BOOTYLICIOUS and DESERT OF MALIBU in the Chris Armond Sprint at five and a half furlongs on Christmas Eve before returning to beat WALL STREET TRADER and ATOMICA, late January, in the Eileen Cliggott at six-and-a-half.

WALL STREET TRADER, who had finished down the track in the Mouttet Mile, franked his second-place finish behind PACK PLAYS by landing the April 5 Ash Wednesday Trophy in 1:18.4 at six and a half furlongs.

PACK PLAYS, the quicker of the two, ran an odd race in the Chairman’s Trophy on February 22, restrained for the first three furlongs by Shane Ellis while MAMMA MIA led stablemate CALIFORNIA CROWN and ATOMICA down the backstretch.

Whatever Ellis was trying to achieve by maintaining a tight rein on PACK PLAYS certainly backfired when MAMMA MIA and lightweight CALIFORNIA CROWN kicked a half-mile out, leaving the natural speedster flat-footed and running out of character with topweight 123lb.

Moving into second leaving the three-pole, PACK PLAYS was dead on the bit, chasing MAMMA MIA, when BARNABY, seventh-place finisher in the Mouttet Mile, made his move at the leaders. Ellis literally nursed PACK PLAYS home for the last furlong and a half, surrendering third to CALIFORNIA CROWN.

Reverting to a sharp sprint, PACK PLAYS, who blazed 1:17.3 for six and a half furlongs on debut last September and led the Mouttet Mile for a half-mile with 128lb, will have to be caught with claiming rider Shane Richardson replacing Ellis.

Reporting at 121lb, PACK PLAYS should shake CALIFORNIA CROWN, who sits too close to the foreigner at 120lb to engage in a speed duel.

Gary Subratie’s DIGITAL ONE is on a hat-trick after blowing away CALIFORNIA CROWN and BOOTYLICIOUS after their kamikaze tactics left both winded at five and a half furlongs in the SVREL Anniversary Trophy on March 8.

DIGITAL ONE’s winning time, 1:06.0, proved that the American can be dangerous when sound. However, her finishing lame after chasing down CALIFORNIA CROWN and BOOTYLICIOUS makes her suspect in what will be faster splits at a shorter trip.