Immortal Eyes splashed home to an eye-catching win in the 2013 DeFrancis Dash. Photo by Laurie Asseo.
by Frank Vespe
Popular gelding Immortal Eyes, winner of the 2013 De Francis Dash, is slated to run Wednesday in Charles Town’s $30,000 Winter Handicap at the 4 1/2 furlong distance.. He is 8-5 in the morning line.
It will be the first start for the 10-year-old since a sixth place finish against $25,000 claiming horses in August at Saratoga. That race was the conclusion of a disappointing series of races under the care of trainer David Jacobson, who had purchased him privately after the passing of Bobby Abbo, who owned the horse during the most productive period of his career. For Jacobson, Immortal Eyes made four starts with a single third place finish.
Following his fourth consecutive off-color effort, a group of owners coalesced to buy him and send him back to trainer Damon Dilodovico, the trainer for whom Immortal had enjoyed his greatest success. He is now stabled at Laurel Park and will race Wednesday in the orange and white colors of Five Hellions Farm.
In his career, Immortal Eyes has won 19 of 54 starts and earned over $1.1 million. He enjoyed the most productive season of his career as an eight-year-old in 2013, when he won six races and earned over $427,000. That skein included his De Francis triumph as well as victories in four other stakes. Bred by Adena Springs in Florida, he is a son of Greatness out of the winning Private Terms mare Private Eyes.
Immortal Eyes’s only win of 2014 came in a similar event — a $35,000 handicap going 4 1/2 furlongs — at Charles Town last March. He also ran second in the Charles Town Dash in April. He is the 4 1/2 furlong record-holder at Charles Town.
Away since August, he has been training forwardly over the last couple of months while his connections searched for a spot to run him. Most recently, on January 3, he breezed a half-mile in 48 3/5 seconds, the fourth-fastest of 58 at the distance.
