Choose Joy brings love of turf to sprint handicap
After Choose Joy turned in a couple of inexplicably disappointing efforts over the main track to close out her 3-year-old campaign last year, owner-trainer Steve Dwoskin, in a bit of desperation, went to plan B. He put Choose Joy on the grass to open the 2021 season despite a pedigree that surely doesn’t scream “turf,”and Choose Joy has since registered two wins and a second in three starts on grass, including a last-to-first 1 1/4-length victory in the Golden Beach Handicap at Gulfstream earlier this month.
As a result, she’ll likely be favored to add to her impressive turf résumé when she wheels back under similar conditions Sunday in a $60,000 overnight handicap for fillies and mares at five furlongs on the turf.
Choose Joy is by Munnings and is the first foal out of the unraced Elegantly. She showed promise right off the bat last year, winning two of her first three starts, all on dirt, while leading at every call. But she was beaten a combined 37 3/4 lengths in the last two races of her 2020 season.
“I thought she was a nicer horse than what she was showing at that point,” Dwoskin said. “She wasn’t doing in the afternoon what she had been showing in the morning, so I just decided I had nothing to lose by trying her on the grass. And you can bet that’s going to be her home from now on.”
Dwoskin was forced to put Choose Joy back on the main track once this year after the Captiva Island Stakes was rained off the turf and decided over a sloppy track. Although she ran creditably, finishing fourth while beaten just 2 1/4 lengths, her performance was not on the same level as what she’d been showing over the grass course.
“I think the Captiva Island was a combination of things, the sloppy track as well as the fact she couldn’t race on Lasix that day,” said Dwoskin. “So obviously I’m glad I’ll be able to get her back on the turf again Sunday. With her running style she’s always going to need help with the pace and luck with the trip, but she’s trained very well since her last start and I think if she can run back to that effort, she certainly can win again.”
Choose Joy was assigned highweight of 124 pounds for the main event, four more than she carried in the Golden Beach. She will concede two pounds to her main rivals Lagertha and Sav.
Lagertha has been in a bit of a rut since turning back to five furlongs for the first time last fall, having finished second in all three starts on grass at that distance. She rallied mildly outside horses to finish 1 3/4 lengths behind Choose Joy in the Golden Beach.
Sav will make her first start since joining trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s potent stable earlier this year, and as a result figures to garner plenty of support for her local debut. Sav has finished first or second in 11 of 15 career starts, with the majority of her efforts coming over the synthetic surface at Woodbine. She finished third there in the Grade 3 Ontario Fashion in her 2020 finale. Sav has won once while never finishing worse than third in three starts on grass.