Big and Classy looks to restart win streak in competitive allowance
Big and Classy will attempt to start a new win streak Saturday when he returns to the overnight ranks for the ninth race at Gulfstream Park.
The conditioned allowance is for 3-year-olds and up at seven furlongs and carries a claiming option of $62,500. A field of nine was entered, but multiple stakes winner Ny Traffic is to be scratched. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said the horse is targeting the $150,000 John Morrissey Handicap for New York-breds at six furlongs Aug. 10 at Saratoga.
Big and Classy made his graded stakes debut last out, finishing second in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint on July 1 at Gulfstream. He had won six straight races leading up to the Smile, a six-furlong race won on the front end by Dean Delivers. Big and Classy earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95, the best last-race number in Saturday’s field.
“I thought it was a very strong effort,” said Bobby Dibona, who trains Big and Classy. “It was a really good class test for him. The horse that beat him came back and finished third in the Grade 1 [Vanderbilt] at Saratoga last weekend against the best sprinters in the country.
“Dean Delivers got loose on the lead in our race. I almost ran him down. This race is seven-eighths of a mile. I’ve wanted this distance for this horse. He’s won at seven-eighths. I know he can handle it. He ran out of room in the stakes. I think a little longer, I win that race.”
Big and Classy has worked consecutive bullets at Gulfstream since the Smile, going five-eighths in 59.60 on July 21 and a half-mile in 47 on July 29. He will start from post 3 Saturday under regular rider Leonel Reyes.
“He’s a very chill horse,” Dibona said. “He lets you do what you want with him. He can go to the lead or he can sit, depending on how the race sets up. Looking at the race, we might get kind of a stalking trip.”
Dibona is operating a hot barn. He won with four consecutive starters on the race dates of July 15, 16, 22, and 28. Overall, Dibona is 17 for 48 at the meet.
Big and Classy, 7 for 17 in his career, races for Keith Johnston.
“He’s been tremendous,” Dibona said.
Mish is seeking his third straight win in a streak that began in June at seven furlongs. He came back and won over six furlongs in July. Both races were $25,000 starter allowances at Gulfstream.
Noble Drama, who has earned more than $800,000, is cutting back to the one-turn configuration of his last win. Big Daddy Dave is looking to build off an 11 1/2-length win over first-level allowance foes last out at Gulfstream.
Mish, Avant Glory, and Big Daddy Dave all are quick and figure to be prominent. Doc Amster, who was fifth last out in the Smile, could also show speed on the move from six furlongs to seven.
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