Familiar foes rematched in July 4 feature

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Thursday’s 12-race July 4 program will be highlighted by a $50,000 starter-allowance stakes at 1 1/2 miles on the turf, which lured a familiar-looking field of nine older horses.

The race features a rematch among the first three finishers of a similar event on May 27 – Salute the Colonel, Marshall Eddy, and Whisky N Roses. Also in the field is Second Mate, winner of the restricted Soldier’s Dancer Stakes over a sloppy track on June 8.

Salute the Colonel overcame an outside post and wide trip to register a 1 1/4-length decision over Marshall Eddy in the Home of the Brave Stakes. The win was the first for Salute the Colonel since he captured the 2018 Soldier’s Dancer.

Jaime Rendon will get a return call on Salute the Colonel from trainer Joe Orseno.

Second Mate benefited from a surface change to win the 1 1/16-mile Soldier’s Dancer, a race originally scheduled to be run on the grass. The victory was the first for Second Mate since August 2018. Second Mate was claimed for $62,500 here March 30.