Choose Joy tries to flip the script on Oh Darlin in rematch

Choose Joy can turn the tables on Oh Darlin with some better racing luck Friday in the featured eighth race at Gulfstream Park, when the pair meet again in a five-furlong conditioned allowance for fillies and mares on Tapeta.

Oh Darlin closed down the center of the track to nip Choose Joy by a neck in a four-way cavalry charge to the wire in that 5 1/2-furlong allowance on June 23. Choose Joy missed the break and put in a sustained run from last as the 8-5 favorite.

“Had she broke a little different, I could have won the race,” said Steven Dwoskin, who owns and trains Choose Joy. “Hopefully, everything goes right and she wins.

“If she comes out with the field, she won’t have to make a big run like that.”

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Choose Joy, who had her head turned as the gate opened, could sit a little closer to the pace Friday. She will break from post 5 in the field of seven, right inside of Oh Darlin.

Choose Joy is the most accomplished member of the field as a stakes winner who overall has won nine races and earned more than $400,000. She’s won on turf, dirt, and synthetic surfaces.

“I like her best on turf,” Dwoskin said. “Tapeta, she likes it. Either way.

“Everything looks good for the race. She’s training good. She looks good.”

Miguel Vasquez is the regular rider of Choose Joy, who has won races from both on and off the pace.

“He knows the horse,” Dwoskin said. “Depending on how fast the pace is will determine where she’ll be.”

Choose Joy will be making her third start since February.

Oh Darlin was making her first start in nearly three months when she edged Choose Joy last out. The final time was a quick 1:03.35, and both horses earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 83, which is the best last-race number in the field Friday.

Oh Darlin, who is stakes-placed, has worked back sharply for her second start since March. Her moves include a three-furlong drill in 34.60 seconds on Tapeta on July 14.

Edgard Zayas retains the mount for her owner and trainer, Happy Alter.

Drum Roll exits the same race as Oh Darlin and Choose Joy and finished fourth, beaten just three-quarters of a length. She has more natural speed than some of her rivals in what might give her a tactical advantage Friday. Drum Roll will break from post 4.

Fulminate, who is stakes-placed, is removing blinkers, and her last two wins came without the equipment.

◗ The 3-year-old maiden Tap My Belle, who goes in the sixth race, is arguably the best bred horse on the card as a daughter of Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Unrivaled Belle and a full sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Unique Bella.

◗ Any Moment, a 2-year-old half-sister to four-time stakes winner R Adios Jersey, makes her career debut in the opener Friday.

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