Although Charlie’s Wish has raced exclusively on turf and Tapeta over the past eight months, she had much of her early success on dirt. She will finally return to that surface when facing six rivals, including likely favorite Indy Bay, in Sunday’s $71,000 main event at Gulfstream Park. The headliner is the third of three allowance/optional-claiming races on the program and is carded at seven furlongs for fillies and mares. Trained by David Fawkes, Charlie’s Wish has made 13 starts over a fast main track, winning twice while finishing in the money on 10 occasions. Both her dirt victories came in stakes, the seven-furlong Azalea at 3 and the 1 1/16-mile Ginger Punch a year later. She has not tried the surface since finishing a disappointing last of six in the 6 1/2-furlong Musical Romance early last summer. “She prefers the turf, but with grass racing on hold here for a while, I thought why not put her back on the main track,” Fawkes explained. “She’s always run well on dirt and she’s training great. I think she should be very competitive in this spot.” The stretch-running Charlie’s Wish will need some early pace, especially if she’s to beat the classy and speedy Indy Bay. A Grade 2 winner last season, she exits a second-place finish in a one-mile overnight handicap five weeks ago, where she pressed the pace as the 4-5 favorite. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Indy Bay has spent the majority of the past year competing against graded stakes opposition and will be making just her second start against allowance company. She is one of two horses in the race trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., who also entered the lightly raced 4-year-old Her Town. Poiema, who spent the winter at Tampa Bay Downs, returns to the scene of some of her biggest races and projects to keep Indy Bay honest during the early running. She has won 2 of 5 starts since being claimed for $25,000 in March by her current connections, JC Racing Stable and trainer Jose Castro. Puckered, Braganza, and last-out allowance winner Gallop d’Hermes complete the field. Reef Runner set for Jaipur Fawkes is looking forward to running the star of his stable, Reef Runner, in the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes on the Belmont Stakes undercard at Saratoga on June 6. Reef Runner, fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, opened his 2026 campaign in the Middle East, winning the Group 2 1351 Turf Sprint in Saudi Arabia before finishing fourth six weeks later in the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai. “He’s doing unbelievable since he returned from Dubai,” said Fawkes. “He came off that long flight home like he’d just taken a van ride from Ocala. Every work has been exceptional since he’s been back and I think he should be very live at Saratoga. My only concern would be a soft track, like the one he ran on in Dubai. He just didn’t handle it as well as he does firmer ground.” Fawkes said Irad Ortiz Jr., who guided Reef Runner to his victory in Saudi Arabia, will be back aboard for the Jaipur. “We didn’t have to go looking for Irad to get him for the race, he and his agent [Steve Rushing] actually reached out to us wanting to get back on this horse again,” said Fawkes. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.