Cutler Bay, Sanibel Island, Sand Springs part of turf menu at Gulfstream

Turf racing in winter is a major reason Gulfstream Park enjoys such an enduring popularity with horseplayers, so it’s only fitting that much of the huge Florida Derby card is comprised of competitive turf stakes as the four-month championship meet nears an end.

Among those Saturday offerings are a trio of $100,000 turf stakes to be run at 1 1/16 miles over what is expected to be a firm course. They are the Cutler Bay and Sanibel Island for 3-year-olds and the Sand Springs for older fillies and mares.

Cutler Bay (race 5)

Main Event and Red Danger are a couple of returnees from the March 5 Palm Beach, the previous turf stakes for 3-year-old males at this meet, and they would seem to bring a slight edge over six other colts and geldings into this eighth running of the Cutler Bay.

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It’s been a breakthrough meet for Main Event, who came south as a maiden for George Weaver. The Bernardini colt jumped up to win his grass debut Jan. 30 at 12-1, then wheeled back with a just-miss second in the Palm Beach in the type of effort to make him a major threat here. Jose Ortiz has a return call.

Conversely, Red Danger has been something of a disappointment in both starts at 3 after going 3 for 6 last year at 2, including a pair of stakes wins. Fourth as the 9-5 favorite in the Palm Beach, the chestnut Orb colt now adds the meet’s leading jockey, Luis Saez. He’s eligible to fare better if a quicker pace facilitates his late kick.

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Other considerations include the two inside draws, Mannix and Smokin T, both in off sharp efforts in separate allowances.

Sand Springs (race 7)

Danny Gargan has enjoyed another productive winter at Gulfstream with more than half of his first 46 starters finishing first (14) or second (10), and he’ll be looking to pad those stats when he saddles one of the favorites, Stunning Princess, in this very well-balanced lineup of eight fillies and mares.

Gargan sent Stunning Princess over to Tampa Bay Downs eight weeks ago, and the Cairo Prince filly was a creditable third in the Grade 3 Endeavour behind Bleecker Street, who is still unbeaten after also winning the Grade 2 Hillsborough in her lone subsequent start. Given three timed works over the Palm Meadows turf in the interim, Stunning Princess now gets Irad Ortiz Jr., sitting on what could be a big effort.

The primary opposition includes Traffic Song, an allowance winner on the Pegasus World Cup undercard for Jimmy Toner; Crystal Cliffs, a talented mare returning from a nine-month-plus layoff for Graham Motion; Sugar Fix, a reliable sort from the meet-leading barn of Saffie Joseph Jr.; and Il Malocchio, being moved back to her preferred surface by Marty Drexler after running third to Letruska in the Royal Delta.

Sanibel Island (race 11)

With a field of 10 3-year-old fillies, the Sanibel Island is one of the deepest races of the day. There’s no obvious favorite, although My Philly Twirl, with back-to-back wins over the local course, clearly is one of the top contenders.

“She’s doing great down here and really, really gotten better and better physically as much as anything,” said her trainer, Brendan Walsh. “She seems to like this track. She’s 2 for 3 over this track – and I don’t think we’ve seen the best of her.”

My Philly Twirl will have Julien Leparoux aboard when she makes her stakes debut versus Mischievous Kiss, a decent third in the latest Gulfstream stakes in this division, the March 5 Herecomesthebride; Beechnut Trophy, a fast-closing last-out allowance winner; Shad Nation, a promising Christophe Clement trainee in off a five-month layoff; and Ambitieuse, the runner-up in the Sweetest Chant in early February.

The Sanibel Island leads off the final pick four of the day (races 11-14) that ends with the Florida Derby.