Experience and youth matched in allowance Thursday

When racing returns on Thursday at Gulfstream Park, the theme will be something old, something new.

Bow Town Cat, 7, will make the 48th start of her career in race 10, an optional-claiming six-furlong sprint for statebred females in which she – and two others – will be running for a $16,000 tag while facing four younger rivals who are utilizing their first-level allowance condition.

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Earlier on the card, in race 2, up to eight 2-year-old fillies, the majority of whom are making their debuts, will compete in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race that features a pair of newcomers from trainer Wesley Ward’s seemingly endless supply of youngsters.

Those are the highlights of an 11-race card scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern on a day in which Gulfstream and Remington are the only tracks scheduled to operate in the United States.

Bow Town Cat will be making her first start for Joe Orseno, the eighth trainer to have handled Bow Town Cat since her career began in August 2016 at Saratoga. She most recently won a $12,500 claiming sprint on March 3 at Parx Racing while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 67, her best dirt fig since last summer at Monmouth.

Bow Town Cat has not raced at Gulfstream since March 2017, but she has run well there, with a win and a second in two starts, both around one turn. The win, in a similar optional claimer back when she still had allowance conditions, resulted in her career-best dirt fig, an 84.

Baby Ice and Flora Fantasy are the other entrants in for a $16,000 price on Thursday. Flora Fantasy is seeking her third straight win and seventh in 20 starts overall at Gulfstream as she makes her first start for trainer Jose D’Angelo, who took her from Saffie Joseph Jr. last time out.

Of those utilizing their first-level condition, Royal Meghan is the most appealing. She was second in a similar spot April 12 behind the red-hot Cory Gal, who exited that race to beat open allowance rivals Sunday for her third straight victory. The lightly raced Royal Meghan never has finished worse than second in her three dirt races and seems to have the most upside.

In race 2, Ward has entered newcomers Tharos, a daughter of Kantharos who was a $275,000 yearling buy, and Gem Thief, a daughter of Shanghai Bobby acquired as a yearling for $85,000. Irad Ortiz Jr. is on Gem Thief, Tyler Gaffalione on Tharos.

Ward’s nemeses in 2-year-old races at Gulfstream are Arindel Farm and trainer Juan Alvarado, and they have a homebred Brethren offspring in Lyrical, who has been working every Sunday at Gulfstream for the past month.