Fawkes ends Gulfstream summer meet with bang

MIAMI – Trainer David Fawkes ended the Gulfstream Park summer meet in style, winning a pair of stakes on last Saturday’s Florida Sire Stakes card with the veteran turf horse Galleon Mast and the 2-year-old Renaissance Frolic.

Galleon Mast posted his third consecutive stakes win with a neck decision over Galton in the Mr. Steele Stakes, the only one of the four scheduled turf stakes on the card to be run on grass. The switch to the main track did not affect Renaissance Frolic, however, as he drew off to a three-length victory in the Armed Forces.

“It was a great way to end what I thought was a very good meet for our barn,” said Fawkes, who concluded the summer session with 18 victories. “I was thrilled with the way things went down here this summer.”

Fawkes said he’ll lay a bit low during the Gulfstream West meet, although he has nominated Galleon Mast and several other horses, including Sweet Tooth Haven and Surprise Wedding, to upcoming stakes.

“We’ll run mostly the cheaper ones here, many of whom will be racing in another zip code when the big meet begins,” said Fawkes. “Galleon Mast has danced a lot of dances already this year, and I’d like to give him a break. But he’s tough, he’s easy to manage, and it’s hard to stop on a horse when they are in the kind of form he’s in right now.”