Clearly Now reverting in distance for Swale; Merit Man possible

Clearly Now reverting in distance for Swale; Merit Man

possible

Clearly Now finished a distant third behind Itsmyluckyday

and Shanghai Bobby as a 42-1 longshot in the Grade 3 Holy Bull going 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park on January 26 for trainer Brian Lynch, but

will turn back in distance for his second start of the season in next

Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Swale at seven furlongs.

"He ran all right in the Holy Bull," Lynch said Friday

afternoon. "I just don't

think he's ready for the horses he has to face down here right now going two

turns, but the race in the Holy Bull is ideal to set him up to come back at

seven-eighths. I still think he'll stretch out with maturity when we get back to

Toronto."

A Kentucky-bred by Horse Greeley, Clearly Now made three

starts at Woodbine in Canada last year, winning the first two sprinting in

September and November before a third-place effort in the Display

on December 1 after setting the pace to midstretch of that 1 1/16-mile

test.

Clearly Now could meet fellow sophomore Merit Man in the Swale. That

Florida-bred son of With Distinction won the Spectacular Bid at six furlongs virtually wire-to-wire at

Gulfstream Park on New Year's Day for trainer Bob Hess Jr. and came back to

finish fourth in the Grade 2 Hutcheson at seven furlongs on February 2,

beaten 2 3/4 lengths for it all.

"It was a disappointing race, but not terrible," Hess said.

"I probably over-instructed the jockey (Paco Lopez) trying to see if he could be

rated. I think he's best if you just let him run his race. We'll enter in the

Swale and take a look, see who is in it and what post we draw. If we don't like

it we can run him in the ($50,000) OBS (Sprint) race the next week (going six

furlongs on March 11 at the Ocala Training Center)."

Merit Man made all three of

his starts as a two-year-old in California, taking his maiden debut at Del Mar in

early September before posting a 5 1/2-length victory in the Tim Conway at Santa Anita in

early October. The bay lost a nose decision to longshot Hightail in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint at Santa Anita on November 2.

Hess was also disappointed with the last race of another

stable star when Kadaya finished a non-threatening fifth as the

2-1 second choice in the Grade 3 The Very One going 1 3/8 miles

last Saturday, beaten 13 1/2 lengths by favorite Starformer. The five-year-old Irish-bred mare

won a pair of allowance races in her first U.S. starts over Gulfstream's turf in

December and January.

"She had a legitimate excuse," Hess noted. "She suffered

from the 'thumps' and was never in it. She'll be OK and we'll still consider

the race at the end of the meet," referring to the Grade 3, $150,000 Orchid to be run at 1

1/2 grassy miles on Florida Derby Day, March 30.

The thumps, which affect heart rate and breathing, are the result of an

electrolyte imbalance in a horse's body caused by heat and/or dehydration with a

number of solutions to prevent a recurrence.

A daughter of Selkirk, Kadaya won one of five starts with

three seconds in as many starts at French provincial tracks in 2011 for breeder

The Aga Khan and was purchased by her current connections thereafter at auction

in France.

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