INGLEWOOD, Calif. (July 1, 2008) - Lang Field, winner of the Citation Handicap in his most recent start here last fall, shifts from turf to Cushion Track in the $75,000 Ferdinand Handicap as Hollywood Park stages its first Thursday night card on the eve of the Fourth of July.
The 1 1/16-mile Ferdinand, which drew a field of six horses, will run as the fifth race on the eight-race program. Post time is 7:05 p.m.
Lang Field, trained by Art Sherman for Nigel Shields, has only started twice since he posted an 18-1 upset in the Grade I Citation on the Lakeside Turf Course in November. He finished fifth in the San Gabriel Handicap in late December and was fourth in the Thunder Road Handicap in February. The 5-year-old gray/roan gelding has had a series of sharp workouts on Cushion Track in preparation for this return.
Regular jockey Jon Court will be aboard Lang Field, who will carry high weight of 117 pounds and break from post position three. The field lines up as follows from the rail out:
Decado, with Victor Espinoza up, carries 115 pounds; Tissy Fit, Joel Rosario, 113; Lang Field; Charmo, Tyler Baze, 115; Tiz Afire, Rafael Bejarano, 113, and Dilemma, Richard Migliore, 114.
Lang Field enters the Ferdinand with six wins in 22 starts for earnings of $430,862.
French-bred Charmo, trained by Julio Canani for the Lanni Family Trust and Mercedes Stable, has won four of 29 starts for earnings of $459,247. Winner of the San Francisco Mile and runner-up in the Shoemaker Mile in 2006, the 7-year-old gray/roan horse is making his third start of the year. He was sixth in the Joe Hernandez in March and third here in a May 2 allowance race.
Dilemma beat Charmo while finishing second in the May 2 allowance; Tiz Afire enters following a second for a claiming tag of $80,000; Tissy Fit cuts back in distance after finishing third in the 1 5/8-mile Gallant Man Handicap, and European Group winner Decado seeks his first U.S. win in his fourth start here.
