Big fields for Gulfstream's five Saturday stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Now that the dates conflict with neighboring Calder Race Course appears to be a thing of the past, Gulfstream Park president Tim Ritvo has set a goal this summer for his track to lead the country in starters per race. And if Saturday’s program, which includes five $75,000 stakes races, is any indication, achieving that goal should be no problem at all.

A total of 111 horses were entered for Saturday’s 11-race card, an average of 10 starters a race. Four of the five stakes lured 11 runners or more, including the featured Housebuster, which attracted a dozen of the area’s top sprinters, led by the Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed Bahamian Squall as well as the Grade 2-winning filly Heart Stealer, who also was cross-entered against her own kind in the co-featured Paseana.

“It might be hard to beat a place like Saratoga during the summer for average starters per race, but I think we can be better than anyone else,” Ritvo said. “We know the two things the bettors are screaming for is lower takeout and bigger field sizes. We believe our takeout levels are very fair, so now we’re going to try to give them the larger fields.

“We’ve been averaging about 8 1/2 starters during the war, so we’re thinking without head-to-head competition from Calder, we can get over nine, maybe to 9 1/2 starters a race this summer.”

Bahamian Squall will break from post 2 in the 6 1/2-furlong Housebuster. The outing will be his first since finishing third in the Sunshine State Stakes on Dec. 8.

Heart Stealer likely will scratch out of the Housebuster and join three of her stablemates, Quiet House, Centrique, and Kipling’s Joy from trainer Marty Wolfson’s barn, in the 6 1/2-furlong Paseana. Heart Stealer has been away since capturing the Grade 2 Inside Information here in March.

Other key contenders in the Housebuster include the red-hot Mr. Baker, Action Andy, Dad’z Laugh, defending champ Black Diamond Cat, and Close It Out.

A field of 11 3-year-old fillies will contest the 6 1/2-furlong Cash Run, a group led by Scandalous Act, who swept the fillies’ division of the Florida Stallion Stakes last summer at Calder, and the multiple graded stakes-placed Euphrosyne. Stakes winners Nesso, Flutterby, and Florida Sun as well as the undefeated Little Alexis also will start.

The 6 1/2-furlong Cherokee Run for 3-year-olds also drew a field of 11, with Little Daddy and C Zee the likely favorites, while a dozen turf specialists, including the multiple stakes-winning mare Madame Giry, will square off in the five-furlong Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint.

“We’ve got talented and deep fields in all our stakes races, and it’s just a great card all around,” said vice president of racing P.J. Campo. “To be able to put together an 11-race program like this with full fields in July is great for business and great for the industry. Hopefully, with Calder no longer racing and near-full barn areas both here and across town, we can keep this kind of thing going throughout the summer.”