Fallen Leaf goes for repeat in Friday turf sprint

MIAMI – Friday’s feature at Gulfstream Park West is a $45,000 optional-claiming dash carded at five furlongs on the turf for fillies and mares. The headliner lured a wide-open field of seven, led by the speedy Fallen Leaf, Catharsis, and Nikee Kan.

Fallen Leaf may be favored off a three-length victory in a race taken off the turf and moved to a sloppy main track on Aug. 29 at Gulfstream Park. The win was the first in just four starts this season for Fallen Leaf.

A contested pace would enhance the chances of both Catharsis and Nikee Kan. Catharsis dead-heated for first at Gulfstream on July 13 but has not started since, although she has not missed a beat in the morning over the last six weeks.

Nikee Kan finished a troubled second, encountering traffic issues through the stretch, against perhaps a notch better on Sept. 15 at Gulfstream after defeating statebred allowance types over the same course one month earlier.