Beechnut Trophy might have some improvement left for Thursday feature
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Beechnut Trophy is the only member of the field in Thursday’s $87,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park that is stakes placed this year. She is also the only 3-year-old in the lineup, a fact that could concern handicappers when trying to sort out the headliner, carded for fillies and mares going a mile and one-sixteenth on the turf.
Beechnut Trophy, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., finished third, beaten just a head in the Sanibel Island Stakes here in April. She has started just twice since, checking home fifth in both the Grade 2 Edgewood at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day and in the Dueling Ground Oaks at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 5.
“We gave her a break after Kentucky Downs, sent her to the farm for a little bit, and she’s probably not as fit as she could be coming into that race, although in that kind of spot she’s pretty competitive number-wise and should continue to improve,” Joseph said.
Joseph is also not too worried that Thursday’s race will mark Beechnut Trophy’s first start against older horses.
“I do hope she gets a little pace to run at because I don’t think we can change her style at all,” he said. “She sits back and has a pretty good kick.”
Sweet Enough and Lady Day, who started their careers in Europe, will give bettors something to ponder as well in the feature.
Sweet Enough was a three-time winner as a 3-year-old last year in Great Britain, but has finished off the board in her only two U.S. appearances. Trained by Roger Attfield, she is coming off an improved effort in the Grade 2 Bessarabian over the synthetic track at Woodbine on Nov. 12. She held a narrow advantage after the opening six furlongs of the seven-furlong race before fading to finish seventh.
Lady Day won twice last year at 3 in her native France before going to the sidelines for 13 months. She finally returned in October at Aqueduct to make her North American debut for trainer Chad Brown, only to finish sixth after flashing speed as the even-money favorite under allowance conditions similar to those of Thursdasy’s race.
Rosebud’s Hope, a winner of three of her last five starts, all at Woodbine, and Traffic Song figure to provide the early pace. Traffic Song was a wire-to-wire winner over the turf here last winter.
Joseph pair prep for Pegasus
Joseph will send out two of the top contenders in Saturday’s 1 1/16-miile Harlan’s Holiday Stakes in O’Connor and Skippylongstocking, with both hoping to secure a starting berth in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 28.
South American invader O’Connor was an extremely impressive winner of his U.S debut, which came under allowance conditions during the recently concluded Sunshine meet. Skippylongstocking has been freshened since a disappointing outing in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 24.
:: Get ready for Gulfstream Park racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.
“He’d had a tough year and we obviously weren’t going to the Breeders’ Cup after the Pennsylvania Derby, so we backed off on him and pointed for the Harlan’s Holiday,” said Joseph. “This will be his first start against older horses and obviously it’s a different category, but it will give us a good idea where we’re at with him right now. And although his best races have been at a mile and one-eighth, a mile and one-sixteenth should be fine for him.”
The Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday, which also will have Simplification returning to compete locally for the first time since a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in April, shares top billing on Saturday’s card with the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale, the final local prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf on Jan. 28.
Colonel Liam will use the Fort Lauderdale as a stepping-stone to a possible three-peat in the Pegasus Turf.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.