Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has his bases covered in the $100,000 Honey Ryder Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. With three contenders entered in the field of nine 3-year-old fillies, he is uniquely prepared for the mile race on turf. Spirit Doll is the classiest of Joseph’s runners coming off a pair of graded stakes tries to begin her 3-year-old campaign. A juvenile stakes winner at Gulfstream, she ran at Keeneland last time out, finishing a disappointing ninth in the Grade 2 Appalachian. “I didn’t think she was given the best opportunity,” Joseph said. “We wanted to have her more forwardly placed, and the rider took hold over her and had her out the back. She’s never been that far behind.” Joseph said jockey Rasheed Hughes will ride Spirit Doll for the first time Saturday. Based in Barbados, Hughes won the 2025 edition of the Group 1 Barbados Gold Cup aboard the Joseph-trained gelding Harrow. R Slew of Cash is Joseph’s other filly in the field with stakes experience, though she is still looking for her first score against winners. In December, she finished third in the $100,000 Wait a While, which was moved to synthetic. She failed to improve in the $150,000 Ginger Brew in January. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. “At that point, our horses were going through a phase where they had a bug, and she missed some time and got sick a little bit,” Joseph said. “Then she kind of got over it and then she got really sick, so that’s why she took the layoff.” Barakah, a debut winner on synthetic, will make her stakes debut for Joseph and try to build on the 70 Beyer Speed Figure she earned first time out. English Channel For 3-year-olds who come up short of reaching the Kentucky Derby, the roads proceeding from that failure can be boundless and plentiful. Far from disgraced in their respective bids this year, Redland Rebels and Wayne’s Law will step off the Derby trail and on to the grass in the $100,000 English Channel Stakes on Saturday. Redland Rebels, a gelding trained by Patrick Biancone, seemed to be embarking on a promising turf career when he finished second by a neck in the $150,000 Kitten’s Joy in January. The connections then decided to switch back to dirt and take the age-old chance with their 3-year-old, and though he finished a game fourth in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby, the dream ended when he finished 12 lengths back in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. “Like every owner in the country who has a 3-year-old with some talent, we tried to see if he’s good enough on the Derby road,” Biancone said. “He went well, but he’s not good enough. We’re going back to the basics, which is turf for him at the moment.” Back at a mile on a familiar course, Redland Rebels will be the likely pacesetter after breaking from the rail in the field of nine 3-year-olds. Unlike his surface-switching rival, Wayne’s Law has never run on turf before, but trainer Amador Sanchez said he was confident in the pedigree and encouraged by a pair of workouts on the Tapeta in April. :: Get DRF Kentucky Oaks & Derby Clocker Reports by Mike Welsch and the DRF Clocker Team “We want to try in this,” Sanchez said. “Maybe he likes the turf. I breezed him two times on the Tapeta. Really good, no problem.” Wayne’s Law came even closer to Derby contention in two strong starts in Florida. In February, the 48-1 longshot ran second in the $210,000 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs, finishing ahead of The Puma and 3 3/4 lengths behind Renegade. In the Grade 1 Florida Derby, he earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure and finished fifth. He was a front-runner in both races but will likely have to rate behind Redland Rebels in his turf debut. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.