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Presidents’ Day Feature – General George Handicap

Long a Presidents’ Day tradition, the Grade II $200k General George Handicap at Laurel Park is where TOBY’s CORNER will start his four year old campaign. This will be his first race since the Wood Memorial last April where he beat then undefeated juvenile champion Uncle Mo. Seven furlongs is the distance and six opponents will try to spoil Toby’s comeback. Let’s take a look at the field.

#1 EIGHTTOFASTTOCATCH (7/2)

Was not re-entered in the Evening Attire Stakes a couple weeks back after snow canceled the card and the race was re-scheduled the following week. He loves Laurel Park having won over the strip eight times. He will be involved in the pace but can also stalk which gives him an advantage over several rivals. The only negative is seven furlongs, it’s a tricky distance he’s never ran, but has wins at a mile going around one turn so he should be able to handle it.

#2 MY CUZ CJ (20-1)

Tough to make a strong case as he has never gone seven panels and none of his recent races are longer than six furlongs. Combine that with average speed ratings and he appears to be overmatched.

#3 THIS ONES FOR PHIL (8-1)

Entered after just having raced on Friday, Phil has won two straight over the Inner at Aqueduct. While he has shown the ability to pass horses, his best efforts have been on the front end and with other speed in the race he might be up against it. He caught small fields in two of his last three races which may be dressing them up a bit. He could win, but I’m leaving him off my ticket.

#4 TOBY’S CORNER (3-1)

We come to the horse that I’m most excited to talk about and see him back. Toby showed great promise last year winning several stakes at Aqueduct including a tremendous performance in the Wood Memorial, but sadly had to miss the Kentucky Derby with an injury. He’s shown up to every race and his losses have been to quality opponents in Ruler on Ice (Belmont winner) and Stay Thirsty (Travers winner). He is two for two at Laurel and both were one turn races. He’ll have to overcome that long layoff and being tabbed as the high weight for the race but I think he can do it.

#5 YAWANNA TWIST (4-1)

This might not be his most accomplished distance, but I’ve always thought of him as more of a seven furlong or one-turn miler. After a poor effort in the Met Mile, he was given some time off and came back to romp on New Year’s Eve. Dutrow appears to be confident that he’s in peak form and can win, but he has a tendency to hang in the stretch in big races. This field is solid so he will indeed have to be on his best game to get into the winners circle.

#6 CAIXA ELECTRONICA (5/2)

Sixteen time winner is usually coupled with Calibrachoa as a solid tandem for trainer Todd Pletcher. In the Toboggan he finished third showing some late interest. It was not as impressive as some of his past work and makes me wonder if he’s regressing at age seven. Considering that and he’ll probably be a short price, I’ll leave him off my ticket.

#7 FORDANGSHORE (10-1)

FORDANGSHORE has run some nice races in allowance company and I’m interested to see if he can make the jump up to next level and be competitive against graded stakes company.  His last two efforts put him right there and his running style coming from just off the pace is ideal. Julian Pimentel will ride him back and try to make it a third straight trip to the winners circle.

Even with the layoff, TOBY’S CORNER is the one to beat in my opinion. I’m going to box him with EIGHTTOFASTTOCATCH and FORDANGSHORE in exactas and trifectas. This should be a great renewal of the General George Handicap.

Good Luck Everyone!

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