Caribou Club goes long in attempt to regain form in Mr. Steele
Caribou Club probably isn’t quite as good as he once was, but he still might be good enough to win a stakes race for the eighth time.
A 7-year-old gelding with a Glen Hill Farm pedigree that goes back farther than the eye can see, Caribou Club will be stretching out off a pair of turf sprints when part of a well-matched field in the $75,000 Mr. Steele, the Saturday feature at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.
Trained by Tom Proctor throughout a 27-race career in which he has earned $742,753, Caribou Club is among nine older horses entered in the Mr. Steele, which will actually be run with no more than seven if it goes as scheduled at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Scar and Doc Amster are main-track-only designates.
Through 2019, Caribou Club earned Beyer Speed Figures in the 100 range multiple times going two turns on the grass. But after being unplaced in all three starts in 2020, the City Zip gelding only has two sprints on his 2021 past performances – a rousing triumph in a May 22 overnight handicap at Gulfstream, followed by a seventh-place finish as the favorite less than two weeks ago in the Umphrey Turf Sprint there. How he’ll fare when returning to this two-turn distance is the overarching question surrounding the Mr. Steele.
Keiber Coa has the call on Caribou Club, the only starter in here who did not race on Lasix in his most recent start. Lasix treatment is banned for all Gulfstream stakes.
Saffie Joseph Jr., the runaway leading trainer at the spring-summer meet, will be represented by two of the main threats in Renaisance Frolic and the newly claimed Max K. O. Joseph also sends out Noble Indy (and Doc Amster if the race has to be transferred to the main track).
Vow Me Now, a resurgent 5-year-old with two wins over the local turf this year for trainer Eddie Plesa, is among the other logical contenders in the Mr. Steele, the seventh of 12 Saturday races.
First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern, with the Mr. Steele leading off the 20-cent Rainbow 6 at 3:40. The pool guarantee for the Rainbow 6 (races 7-12) is expected to be at least $500,000, assuming the jackpot is not swept by a solo winning ticket Friday.
A high in the mid-80s and a slight chance of rain are in the local forecast for Saturday.