HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – If you had told Carlos David that he would be sitting atop the trainer standings after the first two months of the Gulfstream Park Championship meet, he probably would have laughed at the notion. With a barn of just 35 horses, he didn’t figure to be able to compete against the juggernaut stables of Saffie Joseph Jr., Todd Pletcher, Mark Casse, Brad Cox, and Jose D’Angelo during the premier winter session in the country. But when racing resumes here Thursday, David and Joseph will be tied atop the trainer standings with 21 wins. David will attempt to take a solo lead when he sends out starters in four of the day’s 10 races. His entrants include last-out maiden winner Hawk in the afternoon’s $54,000 allowance feature for 3-year-old Florida-breds going seven furlongs over the main track. “Being realistic, I don’t have the ammunition to win a meet like this. It’s hard to keep pace against barns that have 150 or 200 horses, maybe more, here during the winter,” David admitted. “But so far we’ve been very fortunate, especially in regards to keeping the horses healthy and sound, which has helped us to keep the momentum going up to this point. The key is to try to place the horses where they have the best chance of winning and make every start count.” David has seemingly made almost every start count this month, having won with 14 of his 26 starters since New Year’s Day, including Miss Mary Nell and Prevent in overnight handicaps on the Pegasus World Cup undercard. :: Get Gulfstream Park Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  The Arindel homebred Hawk needed five starts before finally earning his diploma in his 2-year-old finale on Dec. 26. He registered a game neck victory after prompting the pace going one mile in a race carded for Florida-breds or horses racing under a $50,000 claiming tag. Hawk had finished second in his only two previous maiden appearances, with his two other losses coming in the Affirmed and In Reality divisions of the Florida Sire Series. “We felt it made sense to try him in those stakes since the money was good and the fields were basically made up of maiden winners only,” David explained. “We felt we could always go back with maidens and run through his conditions after the series, which is what we’re trying to do now. “This race is a little shorter than I wanted but there is a lot of speed in there and I don’t think he necessarily has to be on the lead. He’s pretty handy, and I expect him to run well again.” Hawk is one of four horses in the field coming off maiden wins along with Winplaceandshow, Eddie Haskell, and Rockies Balboa, each of whom registered one-sided victories to close out their juvenile campaigns. The promising and well-matched trio have similar front running styles and registered near identical Beyer Speed Figures, either 72 or 73, on graduation day. Like Hawk, three other members of the lineup also competed in one or more legs of the Sire Series, including Trelawny, who finished third in the six-furlong Dr. Fager but was far back when stretching out farther in both the seven-furlong Affirmed and 1 1/16-mile In Reality. Prost is another who did not fare well in the In Reality, finishing seventh after being knocked around at the start. He should figure prominently when making his 3-year-old bow if able to repeat his nine-length maiden win going seven furlongs in his career debut seven weeks prior to the In Reality. Code Review sharp in debut Less than 24 hours after winning the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational with Skippylongstocking, Saffie Joseph Jr. was back in the winner’s circle Sunday alongside arguably the most promising 3-year-old currently in his barn, the speedy Code Review. :: Play Gulfstream Park with confidence! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports are available now.  The son of Uncle Mo is a half-brother to 2016 Jim Dandy winner Laoban. He launched his career with a very popular gate-to-wire, 1 1/2-length victory over another good-looking prospect, trainer Chad Brown’s Amberjack. Code Review received a 78 Beyer Speed Figure. “We took our time with him because he’s shown so much talent,” Joseph said after the race. “We’ve been almost bubble-wrapping him. “He does get worked up a little in the morning. The question was how he was going to handle the paddock and stuff and I was surprised how cool and collected he was. Obviously we’re a little behind schedule but I think we have time to go to an allowance and if everything went well, hopefully one of the Derby preps.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.