Florida-bred allowance races highlight Friday card
Three first-level allowance races for Florida-breds share the spotlight Friday at Gulfstream Park. There is a $50,000 claiming option in race 2 and a $20,000 claiming option in the eighth race.
The nine-race card gets under way at 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
Race 2: Kitty Quick will be among the favorites in the mile and 70-yard race on Tapeta, which drew seven well-matched sophomore fillies.
Trained by Jose D’Angelo, Kitty Quick is making her initial start on a synthetic surface following a victory in an open first-level allowance/$75,000 optional claimer going a mile on turf Dec. 16. The neck victory over Riding Pretty came on the heels of Kitty Quick’s win going six furlongs on dirt in a maiden special weight race for Florida-breds on Nov. 11. Riding Pretty won a similar race Jan. 12, and Miss New York, who finished third, won for the same conditions going seven furlongs on dirt Feb. 18 at Tampa Bay.
A daughter of Adios Charlie, Kitty Quick was claimed out of the Dec. 16 win, and D’Angelo has a 28 percent strike rate and $1.97 return on investment with claimed horses running back the first time since 2019. She will break from the outside post with Edwin Gonzalez aboard.
Zosterop, Luck in the Dusk, and Hihellohowareyou each has a realistic chance in the second race.
Race 7: Loco Abarrio looks like the one to beat in the seven-furlong dash on the main track for 3-year-olds. He will break from the inside post in the eight-horse field with Paco Lopez up.
Trained by Ronald Spatz, Loco Abarrio is coming off a win in a $50,000 starter/optional-claiming race March 24. With Irad Ortiz Jr. riding, the son of Valiant Minister sat just off the pace before dueling for the lead at the half-mile call and then drew off to win the seven-furlong race decisively.
In his previous race, on Feb. 22, Loco Abarrio just missed at the same level going 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta with Lopez riding.
Shaq Diesel, trained by Ronaldo Richards, will appreciate the class relief after not being able to keep up in the Grade 2 Risen Star at the Fair Grounds and Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream.
Race 8: It is hard not to like the ultra-consistent Laniakea Storm in the one-mile race on turf. Trained by D’Angelo, the daughter of He’s Had Enough has compiled a 4-3-3 record from 12 starts and is coming off a five-length victory going a mile and 70 yards on Tapeta in a $20,000 conditioned claimer March 29.
Laniakea Storm has a win and runner-up finish in two starts on turf, so she should be fine with the surface switch, and she could be sitting on another strong performance in her third start as a 4-year-old.
She will break from post 9 in the 11-horse field. Edgar Perez picks up the mount from Ortiz.
Riveting Spirit, trained by Carlos David, won back-to-back races at this level and distance on turf, one on Feb. 3 and one on March 3. She ran seventh and last on Tapeta in a first-level $35,000 optional-claiming race March 23.
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