All Included merits slight edge in Miami Mile

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While trainer Todd Pletcher has shipped the majority of his better horses north for the summer, he left some good ones behind, including All Included, the likely favorite in Saturday’s wide-open renewal of the Grade 3 Miami Mile at Gulfstream Park.

All Included tops a very competitive field of six grass specialists that also features the Christophe Clement-trained duo of War Correspondent and Lubash, the steadily improving Our Way, Diamond Bachelor, and Applicator. Pletcher also entered his graded-stakes-placed Zulu for the main track only in case of inclement weather.

All Included is coming off a victory in the Grade 3 Appleton, also at a mile, here on April 1. In his previous start, All Included finished third before being placed second via disqualification in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap.

“He loves Gulfstream, he was doing well, the race was available, so we decided to keep him there,” said Pletcher. “He’s versatile. He can go a mile to a mile and one-eighth effectively, but it seems like a mile is his forte.”

Pletcher said he isn’t concerned that there isn’t a lot of pace in Saturday’s race aside from Diamond Bachelor.

“I think he’s adaptable, but I’ll leave that in Javier’s hands,” said Pletcher, referring to jockey Javier Castellano, who will return to Gulfstream to ride All Included.

Our Way finished 1 1/2 lengths behind All Included in the Appleton despite a bit of an eventful stretch run while making his graded-stakes debut for trainer H. James Bond. Our Way had captured three of his four previous starts, including the Sunshine Millions Turf here.

“I don’t know what happened the last sixteenth of a mile,” Bond said of the Appleton. “We were on the outside, and suddenly we were diving down to the inside. A mile is right up his alley. If we have some luck, he’ll be right there.”

War Correspondent crossed the finish line fourth, a neck behind All Included, before being elevated to third in the Gulfstream Park Turf. The lightly raced War Correspondent is seeking his first victory since winning the 2015 Appleton.

The 10-year-old Lubash will try Gulfstream’s turf course for the first time in his 52nd career start on Saturday. Lubash has been freshened since winning the Grade 3 Tropical Turf Handicap via the disqualification of Rose Brier five months ago at Gulfstream Park West. The durable Lubash has earned nearly $1.5 million during his long career.

Diamond Bachelor figures to take the field as long as he can on the front end. Sixth in the Appleton after chasing the early leader, Diamond Bachelor registered a pair of well-graded stakes victories in wire-to-wire fashion over this course last summer.

◗ Unlike the Miami Mile, its filly counterpart, the $100,000 Powder Break, drew a full field of 12, with Clement’s graded-stakes-placed Stormy Victoria looming the slight choice despite being idle since her fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 My Charmer Handicap at Gulfstream Park West on Nov. 26.

Stormy Victoria proved that she runs well fresh when capturing her U.S. debut off a layoff of nearly eight months upon joining the Clement stable during the winter of 2016.

Pletcher will counter with the lightly raced but improving Liberty Kitten, who makes her stakes debut Saturday.

Trainer Marty Wolfson has entered three mares in the one-mile Powder Break – the stakes-winning Lori’s Store, recent allowance winner Inside Out, and the newly acquired King’s Ghost, a winner of three of her last four starts for trainer Brad Cox.