Freedom Principle will be looking to back up an impressive maiden win with a stakes victory Saturday in the $65,000 Armed Forces at Gulfstream Park. The race for 2-year-olds will be run over a mile and 70 yards and it shares a card with the $65,000 Showing Up. Both races are on Tapeta. The Armed Forces drew a field of eight, and Freedom Principle could go favored following his 7 3/4-length victory over maiden special weight rivals at this distance Oct. 8 at Gulfstream. The win came in his third start, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 77 that he earned is the best last-race number in the Armed Forces. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “He looks like he’s a nice horse,” trainer Jose Garoffalo said. “I like the way he’s been developing. With every race he’s been growing, physically and mentally. “The last race he showed a lot of improvement with blinkers on, and I think the horse is again going to handle the distance and surface very well. I think that the longer he goes, the better he’ll be.” Freedom Principle is a son of the young stallion Flameaway. The 2-year-old, owned by Echo Papa Racing Corp., ran second in his two starts preceding his maiden win, both in two-turn races on Tapeta at Gulfstream. Freedom Principle has come from off the pace in his three starts and could get a decent setup Saturday behind sprint-to-route prospects Praiseworthy, El Chato, El Principito, and Prevent. Leonel Reyes has been aboard Freedom Principle for all of his starts and has the mount from post 5. “He’s a very smart horse,” Garoffalo said. “He’s the kind of horse that can do whatever you want. He’s a nice horse to ride. He’s very well behaved. So far, he’s a dream horse.” Amstrong in Showing Up Amstrong will put a perfect Tapeta record on the line in the Showing Up, which is for 3-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles. The race drew a competitive field of nine that includes Souper Blessing and Eyes On the King, who exit the Toronto Cup at Woodbine, and Air Gold, who comes out of the Grade 3 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs. Amstrong is a Gulfstream-based runner and comes off a win in the $75,000 Bear’s Den on Sept. 16. The Beyer of 86 that he earned for the Tapeta start is one of the best last-race numbers in the Showing Up. “He won nice,” trainer Jose D’Angelo said of the Bear’s Den. “He’s a horse that loves the Tapeta – he’s undefeated on the Tapeta.” Amstrong is 3 for 3 on the synthetic surface and overall is 3 for 7. D’Angelo said he likes that Amstrong has had more time to settle in locally ahead of the Showing Up than he had prior to the Bear’s Den, which came off a third-place finish in an allowance at Laurel Park. As part of his prep work for Saturday, he drilled a bullet half-mile in 48.40 seconds Oct. 28 at Palm Meadows. Miguel Vasquez has the mount from post 4. “Last time, he ran like a stalker,” D’Angelo said. “He made his move at the top of the stretch.” Souper Blessing was third in the Toronto Cup on turf and now is back on a synthetic track, site of both of his wins. Edwin Gonzalez has the mount for trainer Michael Trombetta. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.