Trainer David Braddy has always felt Esperon had the ability to become part of the upper echelon of the local turf/synthetic sprint division. While the speedster has not quite risen to that level, he’s been edging ever closer of late. On Saturday, the 5-year-old will try to take another step in that direction when he faces six rivals with similar aspirations in the $71,000 main event at Gulfstream Park. The race will be decided under high-priced optional-claiming and allowance conditions going five furlongs over the Tapeta course. Esperon comes into the sprint off arguably the two best performances of his career – a game victory against $35,000 starter allowance foes over the turf on April 5 and a third-place finish while beaten just a neck by the red-hot Okira when switching back to the synthetic surface four weeks later. Esperon was particularly impressive in his most recent performance, posting a lifetime-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure and doing so despite not switching off his left lead the entire length of the stretch. He also re-broke after the wire, easily winning the gallop-out into the clubhouse turn. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “I thought all along he’d step up to the next level, especially after he ran such a giant race winning an allowance over the turf last summer at Colonial,” Braddy said. “But he never really backed that race up. Every time I thought he was ready to take that step, he kind of let me down.” Braddy believes the next step could still be coming, especially in light of his two most recent performances. “I thought his last race was as good as ever and believe if he had changed leads it could have made a big difference. He might have won,” Braddy said. “He’s done that a couple of times on me, although he changed just fine when he won his previous start on the grass. And I’m going to tell Miguel [Vasquez] to emphasize getting him to switch on Saturday.” Like Esperon, Extendo has been just a notch below the best in the division the past couple of seasons and has shown steady improvement of late. His Beyer Figures have moved forward with each start since returning from a 6 1/2-month layoff to finish eighth in the Turf Dash at Tampa Bay Downs in mid-February. Extendo is one of two key contenders entered by trainer Joe Orseno, along with the multiple stakes-placed and equally versatile And Uwish, who is returning to Tapeta for the first time since last summer. The biggest question mark in the lineup is graded stakes-placed Victory Achieved, who finished second in the Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes over the synthetic strip last summer at Woodbine but who has been idle since being eased over the same course against allowance competition on Oct. 18. Louie the Sun King, exiting a lifetime best 91 Beyer on the grass in his last start; Rouki, who is winless since capturing the 2025 Turf Dash at Tampa; and Sosua Summer complete the field. Braddy, who is among the last of the longtime South Florida-based trainers still playing his trade locally, has registered 1,102 victories since starting his career at the old Calder Race Course in 1981. He has been a mainstay on the local circuit ever since. “I branched out a little last year, taking a string to Colonial Downs for the summer, although I learned Colonial can be a very expensive place to be, especially when also trying to maintain a home here and in Ocala,” Braddy said. “I really didn’t have the stock to go back again this year anyway. I’ve only got 10 horses in the barn at the moment, half of them 2-year-olds.” :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Like most of his colleagues based here this summer, Braddy is worried about how things might play out down the road with the future of racing at Gulfstream and in South Florida cloudy at best. “Obviously, those of us who’ve been in the game this long, we don’t do it for the money but for the love of the game,” Braddy said. “And to be honest, the love of the game has disappeared some over the years. But we’re all addicted to it. “The numbers don’t bother me that much. We’re all down on horses these days, except for the super trainers. But I love the competition and as long as I’m healthy, I don’t see any reason not to get up in the morning and keep coming out here to work every day.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.