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Saunders happy with colt's third-place finish

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May 02, 2011

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Bruce Saunders is no stranger to campaigning 3 year olds to lucrative seasons. Last year Saunders trained Rock N Roll Heaven to top honors and this year he's back with Lookinforadventure. The colt finished third Friday, April 29, in his second start of the season.

Lookinforadventure faced a minor setback to begin his 2011 season but Saunders is confident his charge can rebound. "In his first qualifier, Danny (Dube) had a problem getting him to the gate," Saunders said. "He wouldn�t turn to the left for some reason, so when we finally got him turned, he was gapped off by two-lengths. Danny had to chase him off the gate but the horse got too hot and Danny had issues steering him."

Lookinforadventure captured the qualifier in a comfortable 1:54 but that didn�t satisfy Saunders, so the colt qualified again, this time after some equipment changes.

Adversity struck again in the horse�s first pari-mutuel debut at Harrah�s Chester Downs. Lookinforadventure was given the rail position which did not suit him as the horse lightly hit the starting gate in motion to send the horse offstride. With the break in stride, the four-time winner had to qualify for a third time, which resulted in a 1:54 effort in a second-place finish.

This past Friday (April 29) marked the colt�s second lifetime appearance, which pleased Saunders despite a third-place finish.

"I was delighted with his effort," he said. "He finished third, yes, but the way he raced I was pleased with. We elected to race him off-the-pace and he had to go three-wide early in the mile due to slow cover and he responded well at the wire. His manners were exceptional and Tim's (Tetrick) comments following the race were also positive."

Saunders was also quick to comment how the appearance of Lookingforadventure has changed over the course of the winter. "He�s bigger and stronger. He thickened out quite a bit which, I knew he would. He had a great winter with no set-backs," said Saunders.

The veteran conditioner stated the obvious horse to catch this season is Big Jim. "I think it�s safe to say that he�s got about two-lengths on the rest of us coming into this year. Hopefully we can catch him."

Lookingforadventure�s first major test will be the New Jersey Classic set for May 21 with the final on May 28. (WEG)

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