Firenspice tries again after two seconds at same level
.jpg)
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s always more fun when you win. Adding to his enjoyment of the South Florida weather and being a dad for the first time, Chris Davis is off to a terrific start at the Gulfstream Park championship meet.
“It’s so nice to go to work when it’s 70 degrees in the morning instead of like 28, snowing or frozen,” said Davis, the well-traveled trainer who has settled in for his second winter at the Palm Meadows training center, about an hour north of here. “Plus when the horses are running like they are, that always picks your head up.”
:: Get ready for Gulfstream Park racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.
Davis will be front-and-center Sunday at Gulfstream when saddling Firenspice for the featured eighth of 10 races, an $86,000, first-level allowance going five furlongs on the turf. Firenspice, with Jose Ortiz riding from post 5, figures as a solid favorite to sustain a hot streak that began with three winners from Davis’s first seven starters at a meet that started Dec. 26.
Firenspice has been second as the favorite at this same level in each of her last two starts, both on Tapeta, most recently Dec. 18 in a race that marked her first start in eight months. The 4-year-old daughter of Uncaptured rallied from last in an encouraging comeback with Ortiz up.
“Even Jose came back and said he was too far back,” said Davis, who will turn 34 on Thursday. “When they go 55 and change and you’re eight lengths out of it, it’s hard to get home. Hopefully, we’ll be a little closer Sunday. We’ve been working her over the grass and she really seems to like it. I think she’s got a great chance to win.”
As a Florida-bred, Firenspice is eligible for a share of the $14,000 in statebred bonuses included in the total purse. She is owned by the Cumberland Stable, a Nashville-based group managed by Steve Horn.
Probably the top threat among her seven challengers is Fulminate (post 4, Joel Rosario), a four-time winner who was made eligible for this spot when trainer Mark Casse entered her for an optional $25,000 claiming tag. Fulminate is back in the Casse fold after spending the second half of 2022 in California, where she was a winner of her most recent start over the Del Mar turf in late November for Peter Miller.
Meanwhile, Davis has regrouped his entire stable for the winter at Palm Meadows after spending the last few years racing at a handful of different venues in the Midwest. The Illinois native and his fiancée, Sophie Doyle, have rented a condominium in Boynton Beach, reveling in their new lifestyle with their daughter, Emilie, who was born in Kentucky in July. The British-born Doyle, who rode 440 winners during eight years as a jockey in the United States, has been back exercising horses for Davis for several months.
“There was kind of a learning curve for us here last year in our first winter down here,” said Davis, who grew up on the backstretches of Arlington Park and Hawthorne as the son of Herschell and Liane Davis, who have left their racetrack careers to become sales consignors in Ocala, Fla. “Now it seems like I’ve got a better group of horses for different levels and a good clientele base.”
A $54,000 Florida-bred allowance directly follows as race 9 on Sunday. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern. Sunshine and mid-60s highs are in the local forecast.
Big Invasion gearing up
Big Invasion, arguably the country’s top 3-year-old turf sprinter of 2022 when racking up five straight stakes wins, recently returned to the Payson Park stable of Christophe Clement after getting time off following his most recent start in September at Kentucky Downs.
Dean Reeves, who owns the striking bay son of Declaration of War, said the long-range goal for the colt’s 4-year-old campaign is the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita in November, with the possibility of a race at Royal Ascot in England in June. “The first thing is to get him back sound and going good again,” Reeves said.
◗ The seventh race Friday was run in honor of Dave Litfin, who died of cancer in November at age 64 following a distinguished career as a Daily Racing Form handicapper, author, and Equibase chart-caller. Liftin’s wife, Robin, was among those on hand for a post-race tribute in the Gulfstream winner’s circle.
◗ Superstar jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who extended his lead atop the meet standings by riding two more winners Wednesday, is sidelined Sunday through Thursday while he serves a three-day suspension stemming from a Dec. 31 riding infraction.
◗ Another updated list of expected starters for the Jan. 28 Pegasus World Cup is scheduled for release Wednesday. Entries for the $3 million Pegasus and all accompanying features will be taken and drawn Jan. 22.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.