Expect the usual strong effort from Journeyman in Sunday allowance

HALLLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Journeyman, a model of consistency even at the age of 6 and exiting arguably one of the best races of his 23-start career, may prove the one to beat in a wide-open field of eight older allowance horses scheduled to go a mile on the turf in Sunday’s $62,000 main event at Gulfstream Park.

Journeyman had a tough post and wide trip when he finished second, beaten a length by a dead game Wolfie’s Dynaghost, in an overnight handicap over the Tapeta surface on the Pegasus undercard here six weeks ago. Journeyman earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure, just one point off his career high, posted on the turf last fall at Belmont Park. Journeyman, a stretch-running son of Animal Kingdom, is trained locally this winter by Steve Klesaris. He should get an honest pace to run at in Sunday’s main event, with speedsters Proven Strategies and American Prince in the lineup.

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Proven Strategies, the lone stakes winner in the field, got involved in a gut-wrenching duel in his most recent start, finishing fifth as the 2-1 favorite going 1 1/16 miles here Jan. 15. The outing was the first for Proven Strategies since a game second-place effort following a similarly contentious pace battle in the Red Bank at Monmouth Park four months earlier.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will send out a pair of key contenders in the graded stakes-placed duo of War Stopper and En Why Cee. His colleague Ian Wilkes counters with the idled duo of Good Juju and Street Ready, with Skyro completing the lineup.

15 nominated to Hutcheson

Nominations are out for the three stakes races on the docket here next Saturday, highlighted by the $100,000 Hutcheson. Once one of the premier 3-year-old events on the local schedule, with a roster of winners that includes Holy Bull, Spectacular Bid, and Swale, this year’s Hutcheson lured 15 nominees.

Among the most intriguing names on the list for the six-furlong race is American Sanctuary, who has been idle since his seventh-place finish in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Trained by Christopher Davis, a regular on the local circuit for the first time this winter, American Sanctuary turned in several big races at 2, including a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and a troubled second in Monmouth Park’s Sapling. American Sanctuary worked five furlongs in 59.40 seconds on Friday at Palm Meadows.

“I entered him in a one other-than-allowance, but the race didn’t fill,” Davis said. “I’m hoping they can bring it back and make it go at a mile later this week. If not, we could run in the Hutcheson, although six furlongs is probably a little short for him. After his efforts in the Breeders’ Cup and Breeders’ Futurity, two turns figure to ultimately be better for him, and I’d like to use a race here as a stepping-stone to either the Blue Grass or more likely maybe the Lexington at Keeneland.”

Davis has won four races at the meet, including two this past week. He won the allowance feature with Music City Star on Wednesday.

“We decided to try something new this winter,” Davis said. “It’s been a little slower than what we would have liked, but we’ve taken a bunch of bad beats and it’s been a learning experience. I plan to leave a handful of horses down here during the summer, including some Florida-bred 2-year-olds I’ve got coming in, and hopefully establish a presence in the area.”