Cazares steps Hot Cargo up off claim

When trainer Laura Cazares claimed Hot Cargo for $25,000 in July, she intended to run her back at the same level at Gulfstream Park. After the 5-year-old mare showed improvement in Cazares’s barn at Palm Meadows, however, the trainer wasn’t ready to risk parting ways with her just yet at the same price.

“Since I’ve had her in my barn, I feel like she’s improved off that last race she gave,” Cazares said. “I figured I would give her an opportunity to step up and maybe hang around in my barn a little longer.”

Since November 2024, Hot Cargo has been claimed four times in six starts and has only run more than once for one trainer. Saffie Joseph Jr. had her between January and June, guiding her to two victories and a close runner-up finish on turf.

Those past performances for Joseph make Hot Cargo a key contender for Cazares in a starter allowance with a purse of $40,000 on Friday at Gulfstream. Cazares gave her mare additional rest to prepare her for the new challenge. The race offers an optional claiming tag, but if anyone wants to claim Hot Cargo for a third straight race, they will have to put up $50,000, her highest asking price since September 2023.

“Saffie did a wonderful job with her and I’m hoping that I can do the same,” Cazares said.

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Cazares and Golden Kernel Racing Stable claimed Hot Cargo off a fourth-place finish on synthetic in July, but she will return to the turf in a five-furlong sprint Friday. She proved herself over the course for Joseph and has even more experience at the distance, having earned four victories and three seconds in seven starts. Her tactical speed should continue to be an advantage for her new connections.

“I like a horse that’s not just one-dimensional,” Cazares said. “They can relax themselves, they don’t panic, they’re not just one run. It’s nice to have a horse like that in the barn.”

Cazares also entered 3-year-old filly Popstyle for the same owner on Friday, but she intends to scratch her. The trainer said that throwing Popstyle in against older fillies and mares would be overwhelming off a layoff of nearly three months.

Trainers Joe Orseno and Steve Klesaris also have two horses entered in the five-furlong sprint. Orseno will send out 3-year-old filly Lido Beach and 5-year-old mare Call Me Spicy, who faced off in a starter allowance on synthetic earlier this month.

Though both Orseno runners took to the Tapeta that day, they came up short in a three-way photo finish behind Royally Blue, one of the mares entered by Klesaris on Friday. All three rivals are still looking for their first victory on turf, and Lido Beach has never run on the surface.

Klesaris also entered Free to Roam, a 5-year-old mare who has not finished worse than second in five straight starts. She had not won since February 2023 when she arrived in Klesaris’s barn in August 2024, but she improved to pick up two victories this year.

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