Dwoskin has leading contenders in back-to-back races
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Steve Dwoskin could be in line for a big day Saturday at Gulfstream Park when he sends out the ever-improving Starship Renegade as the likely second choice in the $65,000 Big Drama Stakes and Choose Joy as the favorite 30 minutes earlier in a five-furlong overnight handicap on the turf.
Saturday’s attractive 12-race program will conclude on a high note, with the $75,000 Roar for 3-year-olds on the grass.
Starship Renegade couldn’t be better entering his stakes debut in the seven-furlong Big Drama, where he will get a class check facing the multiple graded stakes-placed Dean Delivers, who should be heavily favored off his second-place finish in the Sir Shackleton Stakes seven weeks earlier.
Starship Renegade got a late start to his career due to throat issues and various other minor infirmities but has certainly come to life this season, having won three of his four starts in 2023, including a high-priced optional-claiming and allowance dash going seven furlongs by three lengths on April 9. In his previous outing, Starship Renegade, a 5-year-old son of First Dude, rallied to outfinish Gangly going 6 1/2 furlongs, earning a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He’s getting to know what he’s supposed to do now,” Dwoskin acknowledged when asked why Starship Renegade has improved so dramatically over the past six months. “This race came up a little tougher than I thought, but he’s training very well and if we have some racing luck I expect to see him come flying at the end.”
Dean Delivers is certainly the class of the field, having finished second behind Dubai Golden Shaheen winner Sibelius in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector to close his 2022 campaign. He has since finished third in the Grade 2 Fred Hooper, fourth in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile, and missed by a neck to Weyburn following a furious stretch duel in the Sir Shackleton.
Gangly also demands respect in his current form, having followed his big effort in defeat behind Starship Renegade with a well graded and one-sided optional-claiming and allowance win four weeks later.
Choose Joy was the queen of the local turf sprint division two years ago before going to the sidelines for 17 months after pulling up in distress with a soft-tissue injury following a popular victory in an overnight handicap decided over the Tapeta track during the fall of 2021. She has started three times on the comeback trail, sandwiching a pair of second-place finishes on the grass around a dull showing over the main track earlier this season.
In race 9, Choose Joy will break from post 12.
“I didn’t expect such a big field, but post 12 is better than [post] 1 and I have a good jockey [Miguel Vasquez], so I’m confident she’ll get a good trip,” Dwoskin said. “She’s beaten this kind several times before, and I feel she’s doing every bit as good now as she was back then.”
Fulminate and Talkin Tipsy, who finished within a length of Choose Joy when the trio last met four weeks ago, the speedy One Identity, and the fragile but talented Basking loom the other key contenders.
A well-matched group of 11 3-year-olds will contest the Roar, a race featuring a ton of early speed that should help the cause of the Irish-bred Harry Time, who turns back in distance off a steady diet of two-turn races since shipping to the United States and joining trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s barn earlier this season.
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Harry Time’s best effort in three local starts was a second-place finish behind Far Bridge going 1 1/16 miles under allowance conditions March 11. Far Bridge exited the race to finish second, beaten a nose, in the Grade 2 American Turf at Churchill Downs.
Dr Oseran also figures to attract plenty of support coming off a third-place finish in the Texas Glitter on March 25, when succumbing grudgingly through the final furlong after contesting a rapid pace. He should have all he can handle early on from the lightly raced Extendo, who has shown a world of speed and talent since debuting here last fall. He has won 2 of 3 starts on Tapeta, the two victories by a combined 14 lengths.
Extendo, who earned a 96 Beyer Figure while racing with blinkers for the first time in his only outing at 3, will try grass for the first time in the Roar.
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