Extravagant Kid marquee name on three-stakes card

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – For those craving more turf racing this winter at Gulfstream Park, Friday’s card should help satisfy those needs. Three of the eight races on the New Year’s Eve program are scheduled for the grass, all of them $100,000 stakes.

The first of the stakes is the five-furlong Janus for 3-year-olds and up, which features the local return of the globetrotting fan favorite Extravagant Kid.

The Janus and the Abundantia, its filly-mare counterpart, will be run as the first and last races of the day. The Via Borghese, which lured a field of 10 fillies and mares squaring off at 1 3/8 miles, has Candy Flower, Beautiful Lover, and Always Shopping among the top contenders.

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Oddly enough, the Janus will be run for the second time in 2021, with Extravagant Kid having finished second, beaten a neck by the favored Imprimis, in the Janus last New Year’s Day. That effort launched an amazing season for the soon-to-turn 9-year-old gelding, who went on to win the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan, finish third in the Group 1 King’s Stand at Ascot, and run 14th in the Group 1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket in July.

Extravagant Kid has started just twice since returning from Europe, finishing second to Golden Pal in the Grade 2 Woodford at Keeneland before checking home ninth under Ryan Moore behind that same rival in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

“It’s been an unbelievable year and he’s a remarkable horse to do what he has done this season,” said trainer Brendan Walsh by phone from Ireland on Wednesday. “We gave him a freshening after Newmarket and I thought he ran very well the first time back at Keeneland. In the Breeders’ Cup, Ryan took him back early because he thought it was the right thing to do, but being that far back probably took away any chance he had, so I’m just putting a line through it.”

Walsh said Extravagant Kid has done well since shipping to his winter home at Palm Meadows.

“His works have been good, he gives no indication he’s had enough, and this looks like a good spot for him,” said Walsh. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t run a very good race.”

Extravagant Kid will break from post 4 in a field that also includes Carotari who has captured 2 of 7 starts this year, including the Silks Run by 1 1/4 lengths here last March. The speedster could prove the one to catch in a field that also includes stakes winners Smokin’ Jay and Xy Speed, the graded stakes-placed Omaha City, along with top local turf sprinters Breakthrough, Romario, and Yes I Am Free.

Abundantia Stakes

Introduced and Miss Auramet will bring their rivalry from the Jersey Shore to South Florida when they meet for the fourth time in 2021 in the Abundantia. Introduced holds a 2-1 edge in their battles at Monmouth Park over the summer.

Miss Auramet will have the home-court advantage over her nemesis on Friday, however, having won 3 of 9 starts over the local course, including an allowance dash here earlier this month. She received an 87 Beyer Speed Figure in that race, her best since winning the Lightning City with a 93 at Tampa Bay Downs in February. Introduced runs at Gulfstream for the first time on Friday.

Other notable members of the Abundantia lineup include Miss J McKay, another last-out allowance winner, that victory coming at Aqueduct for trainer Christophe Clement. The well-traveled Ambassador Luna also demands respect while returning locally for the first time since finishing second against males in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint during the summer of 2020.

Via Borghese Stakes

Candy Flower, who has shown big improvement since being claimed for $40,000 out of a third-place finish in September at Belmont Park, will likely be a tepid favorite in the Via Borghese. Candy Flower has started twice since being claimed and joining trainer Mike Maker’s barn, finishing third, beaten a length in the 12-furlong Zagora at Belmont, and most recently second when run down late by Mutamakina after setting the pace going the same distance in the Grade 3 Long Island last month at Aqueduct. Candy Flower was perfect in two starts here earlier in the year.

Beautiful Lover overtook Candy Flower in early stretch but could not resist the late run of Orglandes when finishing second in the Zagora. She returns in the Via Borghese as does Always Shopping, who tries to improve on her sixth-place finish in the Zagora.

“She’s been a tick off form of late, but we’re hoping a little freshening and coming back to Gulfstream, where she’s run well in the past, will get her in the right direction again,” said Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Always Shopping. “We’re also taking the blinkers off trying to mix things up a bit with an older filly like her.”