Trainer Bill Kaplan (above, far left) after winning a graded stakes race at Gulfstream Park with former stable star Musical Romance. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)

By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing

HALLANDAE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Bill Kaplan was as content as the calico cat that lounged ever so peacefully on the desk in his office at Barn 22 at Gulfstream Park.

Kaplan believes he is well-positioned for Saturday, a huge day of racing on the Gulfstream Park calendar as he sends distance-loving My Point Exactly into the $1-million Besilu Stables Florida Derby after Ekati’s Phaeton bids for her third graded stakes victory this year in the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks.

Kaplan, known through his 35-year training career for his ability to spot inexpensive horses who possess much greater value than their initial purchase price, suspects he is about to prove that point again with My Point Exactly.

He purchased the gelded son of Concord Point for $65,000 at a sale for 2-year-olds in training in Ocala, Fla. He could be sitting on a big 3-year-old campaign with him. “I’m sure we have a nice horse,” he said. “It’s just how nice.”

The gray or roan Florida-bred appeared to be putting it all together last summer. After being asked to sprint in his first two career starts, he responded to his first effort at one mile by roaring to a 10 ½-length rout at Gulfstream Park on Aug. 3. A little more than a month later, he rallied five wide to take his first start on turf by a neck in a $75,000 stakes race in Louisiana.

A series of minor issues and an ailment that affected a number of horses in the barn sidelined My Point Exactly until now.

“The problem is we didn’t have enough time to get him a prep for the Florida Derby,” Kaplan said. “We still think so much of him and he’s training so well that we decided to take a shot.

“We’re hoping he’s ready. He appears to be in the morning. We’ll have to see in the afternoon.”

There is no fitness issue with Ekati’s Phaeton. She owns two graded stakes wins at the meet, taking the Grade 3 Old Hat Stakes at six furlongs on Jan. 3 before successfully stretching out to a one-turn mile when she held off Birdatthewire by a scintillating neck in the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes on Feb. 21.

The 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Park Oaks will represent her first attempt at staying two turns on dirt.

Kaplan has been excited about Ekati’s Phaeton since she entered the barn.

“She has more speed than just about any horse I’ve trained. She is speed upon speed and she’s got a great heart on her, too. She tries every race,” he said.

John Dowd purchased the daughter of Tale of Ekati for $50,000 with the idea of selling her for greater value as a 2-year-old. But he wound up buying her back at a later sale for $150,000, convinced she would prove to be worth more than that.

Her jockey, Luis Saez, is another key figure in her emergence. As hard as Kaplan was working with the filly to persuade her to relax off the pace, Saez suggested she might fight him less and expend less energy if she was allowed to use her naturally high cruising speed to take her to the lead. That formula worked perfectly in the Davona Dale.

Kaplan envisions a repeat of that courageous effort.

“I think she’s going to relax in this race probably on the front end because it’s very hard to take her off the lead when she’s there within herself,” he said.

Ekati’s Phaeton looms as a prime contender as she guns for her fifth victory in six starts at Gulfstream Park. Although My Point Exactly faces long odds in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, Kaplan is undaunted.

“He’s going against the best horses he’s ever run against. It’s a tall order,” he said. “But he might just be up to it.”

As for the stable cat, the best guess is that he’s rolling over about now.

EKATI'S PHAETON WINNING DAVONA DALE

Photo by Bob Coglianese/Gulfstream Park