Encryption spoils Top Billing's comeback

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –Sunday’s 10th race at Gulfstream Park featured the return of Top Billing, who was making his first start since finishing third in the 2014 Fountain of Youth. But in the end, it was Encryption who stole the show, the 4-year-old son of Exchange Rate coming back from a four-month layoff of his own to register an eight-length triumph over longshot I’m Steppin’ It Up, with Top Billing finishing a distant fourth as the 8-5 favorite. Encryption received a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure for his performance.

“He had some minor things that needed some time, some little body strains from running in the mud in the last race that he won,” trainer Kelly Breen said when asked about Encryption’s recent layoff. “He’s so big, so handsome, if he puts it all together, he could really be a nice horse. Obviously, we had high hopes for him earlier in his career, we ran him in the Haskell, and he wasn’t doing as well back then as he’s doing right now.”

Breen said he’d talk it over with owner Stoneway Farm before deciding where Encryption will run next.