HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saturday’s stakes action gets off to a compelling start in race 5, the Janus, with Coppola and Reef Runner facing each other for the third time in the past year. The 11-race card is highlighted by the Grade 3 Harlan's Holiday and Fort Lauderdale Stakes.  Coppola came out on top in both previous meetings, starting with the 2024 Janus and again in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint on this year’s Pegasus World Cup undercard. But Reef Runner has taken his game to a new level since those two encounters, becoming a Grade 2 winner with his victory in the Eddie D this summer at Santa Anita as a prelude to his fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Coppola is trained by Dale Romans, who, along with his duties at the barn, is also on the campaign trail, having tossed his hat in the ring to run for the vacant U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky currently held by the retiring Mitch McConnell. Coppola, who also won the William Garrett Handicap at Horseshoe Indianapolis this season, enters the Janus idle since narrowly defeated by Bear River in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint more than four months ago. :: Get Gulfstream Park Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  “We took him out to Del Mar to run in a prep” – the Green Flash Handicap – “for the Breeders’ Cup and, unfortunately, he was off on the morning of the race and we had to scratch,” said Romans. “We did scans, x-rays, everything, and could never find anything wrong. So we gave him the time and he’s doing great now. He’s as consistent as they come, always runs hard, and [he] loves both the course and the five-eighths distance in turf races here at Gulfstream.” As for his obligations on both the campaign trail and in the stable, Romans said it’s really business as usual for him this winter at Gulfstream Park. “I’ll be going back and forth between here and Kentucky, just as I always have, because I keep a stable of horses there as well in the winter,” said Romans, who will be on hand Saturday for the Janus. “Things really don’t pick up with the campaign until late February and early March, and we’ll pretty much be back home by then anyway. So, timing-wise, I’m really good to handle things down here with the horses over the next several months.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.