Texas-bred Ivan Fallunovalot Returns to Work Tab, Aims for Count Fleet

Ivan Fallunovalot (Photo by Coady Photography)
Ivan Fallunovalot (Photo by Coady Photography)

Multiple stakes winner Ivan Fallunovalot, the 2015 Texas Horse of the Year, returned to the work tab Sunday morning at Oaklawn, breezing a half-mile in :48 after the renovation break under Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel. The move over a fast track was the first for the Valid Expectations gelding since he developed a quarter-crack on the inside of his left front foot late last month, and first in preparation for the $400,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) April 10 at Oaklawn.

The injury forced Ivan Fallunovalot to miss the $100,000 Hot Spring Stakes March 5 at Oaklawn.

“He looked good,” trainer Tom Howard of Hot Springs said. “I was pleased. I’m trying to get him back on a regular schedule. That doesn’t mean he’ll work every week. He’s eight to 10 days sometimes.”

Ivan Fallunovalot won the $100,000 King Cotton Stakes Jan. 30 at Oaklawn in his 2016 debut. He ran second in last year’s Count Fleet.

Ivan Fallunovalot, in his final start last year, ran ninth in the $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) Oct. 31 at Keeneland.