10-year-old Pay Any Price returns from freshening

MIAMI – The ageless Pay Any Price will be back in action Friday in the $44,000 optional-claiming and allowance feature at five furlongs on the turf at Gulfstream Park West.

Pay Any Price, now 10, has been freshened since posting his 19th victory July 5 at Gulfstream Park, a hard-fought head decision in the Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint Stakes. The triumph was the second in five starts this season for Pay Any Price, who is trained by Georgina Baxter for Averill Racing LLC and Matties Racing.

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Pay Any Price will play catch me if you can with six rivals, including Fully Loaded, who has won two in a row and three of his last four starts since being claimed by trainer Amador Sanchez for $16,000 in early March. Fully Loaded, who does his best running from just off the pace, stalked early leader Tench before edging to a half-length tally under similar optional-claiming conditions Sept. 19 at Gulfstream. Fully Loaded remains eligible for the race Friday because, like Pay Any Price, he’ll compete under a $62,500 claiming tag on Friday.

Yes I Am Free, second behind Fully Loaded as the 3-2 favorite in their previous meeting, and Tench, who succumbed grudgingly to finish fourth behind Yes I Am Free and Fully Loaded, are among the other key contenders. Lahinch, Sarasota County, and Fixed Point complete the lineup.