Bemma's Boy comes off long layoff in allowance

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A group of classy older turf specialists looking to recapture some of their past glory are among a full field of 12 horses entered to go a mile for a $62,000 purse in Sunday’s featured ninth race at Gulfstream Park.

Among the most noteworthy members of Sunday’s lineup is Bemma’s Boy, idle since upsetting stablemate Zulu Alpha in the Grade 2 Pan American here in March 2020. Alpha Zulu had come into that race off back-to-back victories in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf and Grade 2 Mac Diarmida.

Bemma’s Boy, a former claimer, returns off a steady series of works for trainer Mike Maker. The series includes four main-track breezes since his arrrival in South Florida in early November.

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“He was sore after winning the Pan American,” Maker said. “Nothing really showed up when we X-rayed him, so we gave him some time off, brought him back, and he sored up again.

“Obviously it’s been very frustrating, but he’s been doing very well and we’re happy to finally get him back. A mile may be a little short for him the first time. We’re just looking to get a race under his belt and move on from there. I have no reason to believe he won’t eventually be able to get back to his top form again and, hopefully, if things go well we can get him back to the Pan American at the end of the meet.”

Maker also entered Chocolate Bar, who is winless since posting back-to-back victories over this course last winter.

Noble Indy is far and away the richest member of the field, with the bulk of his $875,927 in earnings coming from his victory in the 2018 Louisiana Derby. Noble Indy was claimed for $35,000 out of a win here in February and makes his first start since a third-place finish in the Mr. Steele Stakes on July 17.

Hawkish, who finished second in the Grade 3 Appleton here in 2019, is another looking to get back to peak form. Trained by James Toner, Hawkish is winless in 10 starts since winning the 2019 Cliff Hanger at Monmouth Park. He, too, had an extended vacation, taking off the opening half of 2021 before coming back with a couple of strong efforts in allowance races this past summer at Pimlico and Colonial Downs.

Proven Strategies, a two-time allowance winner here in the spring of 2020, seeks to snap a five-race winless streak on Sunday that dates back to his victory in the one-mile Toronto Cup at Woodbine in his 2020 finale. He figures to be part of what could be a lively pace that should include Mo Hawk, the multiple Grade 1-tested Brown Storm, Grade 3 winner Flying Scotsman, and local favorite Vow Me Now.