A pair of 3-year-old geldings trained by Jose D’Angelo will square off in a $25,000 starter allowance with a purse of $40,000 at Gulfstream Park on Sunday. Both earned blowout victories in their last start, though they did so under vastly different circumstances. J Squared made his debut at a mile and 70 yards last August in a $35,000 maiden-claiming race, where he went straight to the lead and never looked back in a 6 1/4-length victory. He has not run since and will switch from synthetic to a turf mile. D’Angelo also gelded him ahead of his 3-year-old debut. “He surprised us first time out and won pretty easy,” D’Angelo said. “He needs to go long, and it’s one of the hardest things for a horse to do first off the layoff, but I think he’s going to run okay.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. In the time that his stablemate was on the shelf, Giftedbydesign made 10 starts. Far from precocious, it took five races for him to earn his first victory and another five for his second, a six-length romp in a $17,500 claiming race on synthetic earlier this month. Jockey Edwin Gonzalez rode both 3-year-olds to victory last time out and will be on Giftedbydesign Sunday. Edgard Zayas, the leading rider at Gulfstream, will take over for J Squared in his second career start. Giftedbydesign has not won on the turf in three starts, but he has shown ability on the surface between more successful stints on the Tapeta. D’Angelo said that he expects J Squared to run well on the grass in his first attempt. The lightly raced gelding is sired by Caravaggio, a two-time Group 1 winner on the grass in Europe and a high-percentage turf stallion. “He’s ready and more mature,” D’Angelo said. “Gelding him should help him too.” D’Angelo’s horses are among six last-out winners in the field of 11 on Sunday, some of whom won their last starts in similarly commanding fashion. Victory Dash, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Mark Passley, made his synthetic debut last time out and kicked clear on the front end to win a $25,000 claiming race by 2 3/4 lengths, earning an 87 Beyer Speed Figure. He will now return to the turf, where he has won twice for two different trainers in the past year. Tall Story, another lightly raced 3-year-old colt trained by Jack Sisterson, made his second career start in June and switched to turf, where he closed well from a stalking position to win a $25,000 maiden claiming race by five lengths. Despite his inexperience, he is one of just six runners in the field with a victory on the grass. Conquering King will return to the track off an even longer layoff than J Squared. The 6-year-old gelding made his last start at Del Mar in August 2023, when he finished second in a $43,000 starter allowance. He will make his first start on the East Coast for Victor Barboza Jr. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.