Sinister Hall enters stakes

According to trainer Rene Laarman, Sinister Hall is in good form heading into the first of Saturday’s three $100,000 Burlington Stakes divisions after a forgettable race at Woodbine on May 23.

“He’s shown improvement every start, but his last start is the type that you’d just wipe off the page; it was a screwed-up race right from the word go,” said Laarman, who conditions the Cambest gelding for Glenview Livestock Ltd. of Wallenstein, Ontario. “He lost his momentum off the gate and then he got behind a couple of horses who weren’t live and [driver] Chris [Christoforou] didn’t want to go three wide too early with him. It was just the type of race that you’d erase off the page more or less. You could call it really bad racing luck.”

During the non-winners of two races dash, Sinister Hall left from the rail and was sixth through fractions recorded in :26.2, :55.2 and 1:23.2. He kicked home with :27.2 final quarter speed, but finished fifth, beaten 5¼ lengths, pacing his mile in 1:52.

On May 8, in his previous start over the Toronto oval, Sinister Hall reached the winner’s circle courtesy of a 1:51 mile. During the mark-lowering effort, the bay left from post two with Christoforou in the bike and was into the outer flow by the half-mile marker. The career winner of two races assumed command at the three-quarters pole and marched to a one-length victory via a :27.4 final quarter.

“Chris was really happy and impressed with him,” Laarman said about Sinister Hall, who was winless in four races at two and has posted a record of 2-0-1 from seven starts this campaign. “He thought there was a little more left in the tank. He’s a horse on the improve and not on the decline.”

Laarman was thrust into the North America Cup spotlight in 2004 when Rogue Hall made his bid for ‘Cup’ glory.

“[Sinister Hall] showed a lot of potential last year, but he was very immature and made breaks for no reason,” Laarman said. “We just decided that he’d be worth waiting on and we’ve been really happy with the way he has progressed.

“I think his performance in the Burlington will dictate whether he is able to go with the big boys. We’re going to take a shot with him and he’ll tell us if he’s capable of going in the North America Cup.”

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