Galleon Mast makes belated return

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The return of local favorite Galleon Mast, postponed when rain forced the Soldier’s Dancer Stakes to be taken off the turf two weeks earlier, will finally take place Sunday, weather permitting. Galleon Mast, a multiple stakes winner, faces nine others going a mile on turf in the best of three allowance events on a 12-race program at Gulfstream Park.

Galleon Mast has been idle since rallying to a nose decision in the Sunshine Millions Turf Preview last November at Gulfstream Park West. The victory completed another outstanding season for the gelded son of Mizzen Mast, who captured the Sunshine Millions Turf and finished second in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf last year.

A model of consistency for trainer David Fawkes and owner Anne Scott, Galleon Mast has won seven times and finished on the board in 17 of his 18 starts over the last two years. He enters his 6-year-old campaign with career earnings of nearly $540,000.

“He’d been running for 2 1/2 years with no break. So we gave him a break,” Fawkes said when asked why Galleon Mast has been away for the past seven months. “He spent some time on his owner’s farm, has put on some weight, and his attitude has really been great since he got back to our barn.”

Galleon Mast has had nine works since mid-April in preparation for his return, including a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.60 here May 18.

“He’s training well, and I think he’s fit enough to be at his best the first time back,” Fawkes said.

The field in the $48,000 headliner is a good one and includes Swagger Jagger, who also was scratched from the Soldier’s Dancer due to the change in surface. Trained by Mike Maker, Swagger Jagger has been winless in nine starts dating back to his narrow victory over Galleon Mast in the Tampa Turf Classic in March 2018.

Driven by Thunder and My Point Exactly both stayed in the Soldier’s Dancer, decided over a sloppy main track, finishing second and third behind Second Mate. Both are versatile sorts who are arguably better on turf than dirt and figure part of the early pace Sunday along with the multiple stakes winner Kroy, who has returned to trainer Armando De La Cerda’s barn after making his last two starts for Georgina Baxter.

Fawkes has two for Summit

Fawkes also will be very live in a pair of races on next Saturday’s Summit of Speed card. Fawkes will send out recent stakes winner Lovesick in the $75,000 Azalea for 3-year-old fillies and Seismic Jolt in the $75,000 Carry Back for 3-year-olds.

Seismic Jolt returned from a four-month vacation to finish a distant second behind Garter and Tie in the Ocala Stakes on June 1.

“We gave both horses some time, and it seems to have benefited each of them,” Fawkes said. “Lovesick was good enough to win her first start back off the layoff, while Seismic Jolt caught a buzzsaw in Garter and Tie but ran well to finish second, and I expect both to move forward off those races.”

Neither Lovesick nor Seismic Jolt were listed on the nomination sheets released for the Azalea and Carry Back earlier this week, but Fawkes said both will run. There were just 11 3-year-old fillies named for the Azalea, including stakes winners Trenchtown Cat and Itsmyluckycharm. The Carry Back attracted 19 nominees, led by Garter and Tie, Gladiator King, Jackson, and Well Defined. Garter and Tie, Jackson, and Gladiator King also were nominated to the Grade 3 Smile Sprint for 3-year-olds and up, to be run the same day.

Fawkes has a full contingent of horses based locally this summer and also has a baker’s dozen bedded down at Churchill Downs.

“The money is so good there I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for some of our horses,” Fawkes said. “I’ve got five 2-year-olds there, all Kentucky-breds, with another 20 or so Florida-bred babies here.”