OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Bob Durso has several options after Frisky Spider's impressive pacesetting win in last Saturday's $60,000 Restoration Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Frisky Spider made a smooth transition to the turf in the Restoration, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds, and won at a route for the first time. Given his past success in main-track sprints, Frisky Spider has now shown the ability to go long or short on turf or dirt.
"Where are we going next? I don't know," Durso said Sunday. "It's nice to be in that position."
The Restoration might position Frisky Spider for Monmouth's ultimate prize, the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 8.
"That is possible," Durso said. "Definitely possible. That means we'd have to run him in the Long Branch Stakes [July 3 at Monmouth] to get him back on the dirt again. We'd want to make sure he'll run as good on the dirt as he did on the grass."
The Restoration win was a double victory for Durso, who, along with wife Carol Dender, owns the majority of shares in Frisk Me Now, Frisky Spider's sire. The stakes win should increase interest Frisk Me Now.
"It was a double dip," Durso said. "It was a big plus for us."
