Florida-bred juvenile stakes don't lack for contenders
A couple of $60,000 stakes races for Florida-bred 2-year-olds share the spotlight at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Both races appear to be wide open.
First up is the Brethren Juvenile Fillies, race 6. The mile and 70 yards race on Tapeta drew seven horses.
The Ocala Stud Juvenile Sprint goes as the eighth race. Six colts will start in the seven-furlong sprint on dirt.
Post time for the first of 10 races on Saturday is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.
Trainer Mark Casse has two solid shots in the Juvenile fillies with Lemieux and Fish Mooney.
Lemieux will appreciate the class relief after finishing last in the Grade 3 Pocahontas at Churchill Downs on Sept. 18. She held the lead at the half-mile mark in the mile and a sixteenth race, but faded before being eased in the stretch by Tyler Gaffalione. In her previous start, she won a maiden special weight race at Saratoga and in her other two starts she was the runner-up to next-out stakes winners Happy Soul and Miss Interpret.
How Lemieux will handle running on Tapeta is anybody’s guess. She is by Nyquist, who is an excellent turf sire, but his progeny have just a single win from 18 starts on synthetic tracks.
Lemieux has been in the mix early in all of her races and will likely be the one they have to run down Saturday. She will break from post 3 with Edwin Gonzalez up.
Fish Mooney is proven at the trip and on Tapeta, as she came from a stalking position to win a $35,000 maiden claimer at Gulfstream with Gonzalez aboard Oct. 9 in her second start. The daughter of Lookin At Lucky will break from post 4 with Emisael Jaramillo picking up the mount.
The Joseph Catanese-trained Yes I’m Spiteful is coming off a mile and 70-yard maiden Oct. 15 at Gulfstream. The daughter of The Big Beast was making her fifth start and first on Tapeta. She could get a cozy trip after breaking from the inside post with Luca Panici up.
Five of the six horses entered in the Juvenile Sprint are coming off a win, and Make It Big, Just Leo, and Spuntacular romped in their last race.
Just Leo, trained by Kelly Breen, has won his last two by a combined 17 1/4 lengths at Monmouth Park. Just Leo’s latest win came in a $40,000 starter race Sept. 29.
The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Make It Big was heavily favored at 4-5 to win his debut, and the son of Neolithic did not disappoint as he rolled to an 8 1/2-length victory in a maiden special weight race for Florida-breds Oct. 9.
Spuntacular, trained by Juan Avila, was also 4-5 when he won a Florida-bred maiden special weight race by eight lengths in his third start.
Lightening Larry wasn’t as dominant in his latest win, but he beat open company in a first-level allowance race Oct. 14. He could be sitting on a peak performance in the third start of his form cycle.