Faster Gator has always given trainer Anthony Farrior the impression that he has enough speed and ability to compete against the best sprinters of his generation.

Friday Farrior will put that theory to the test. Faster Gator, a sophomore son of Vekoma, will return to Charles Town for the latest renewal of the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial for three-year-olds on the undercard of the Grade 2, $1 million Charles Town Classic and Grade 2, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks August 22.

A winner of his first two starts at Laurel Park, albeit over eight months apart, Faster Gator has hardly been shy about facing stakes foes since. Following an allowance score at Laurel in early March, Faster Gator made his stakes debut next out when a sharp second to the talented Mo Plex and just ahead of West Virginia-bred champion Pascaline in the Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct.

But Faster Gator then finished a nondescript seventh in the Chick Lang Stakes at Pimlico on Preakness Day before a modest fourth in the Tom Ridge Stakes at Presque Isle Downs. Farrior attributed one of those defeats to a foot abscess and another to the colt’s unfamiliarity to the synthetic surface at Presque Isle.

Seeking a confidence booster for his colt, Farrior sent him to Charles Town, and on July 19, Faster Gator promptly regained his winning ways when he romped home six lengths clear. Off as the odds-on choice, Faster Gator stopped the timer in 1:17.75 for the 6 1/2 furlongs, including a rare, sub-1:11 split for three-quarters.

“Looking back on it, I probably should not have run him in the Chick Lang,” Farrior said. “He was dealing with a foot abscess at the time. I wanted to try him on synthetic because his dam was good on turf, but he just seemed to be climbing on it. When I brought him to Charles Town I was looking to see how he would go over the track and get him a prep for the Hilton. He went six furlongs in 1:10.84 and [jockey Arnaldo Bocachica] said he was just doing it on his own.”

Several other horses have since flattered Faster Gator’s efforts this spring and summer. Stablemate Classic Joke, who finished six lengths behind in their July 19 allowance encounter at Charles Town, returned next out to win a two-turn allowance over the track.

Mo Plex, who edged him in the Bay Shore, would come back to capture the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby by two lengths over Chunk Of Gold, who came right back to take the Grade 3, $400,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park.

“He’s run against some really nice three-year-olds, and I expect he will face a few more in the Hilton,” Farrior said of Faster Gator, who has won three of six career outings with earnings of over $110,000 for owners Richard Burnsworth and Dunn Brothers Racing LLC.

Faster Gator is 6-1 on the morning line of the Hilton, which is the ninth of 13 races. Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty, most recently a game fifth in the Kentucky Derby after attending the hot early pace, is the 5-2 morning line favorite.

Post time for the card is 5:00 p.m.

Faster Gator’s start over the strip – and under the lights – gives him an advantage over his rivals. One other fact which Farrior sees as cause for optimism: the timing of the race.

“The good thing about that race it is one day before the [Grade I] $500,000 [H. Allen Jerkens] at Saratoga, and I know most of those guys will probably want to stay up there,” the trainer said. “He’s always had plenty of speed and seven furlongs is probably his best distance. He had a good win over the track last month, and I know he’ll be ready for the Hilton. I wouldn’t turn down a chance to race for that type of money on this track.”