Gold enters eight in Saturday's seven stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The first set of races in the Florida Sire Stakes drew a total of 66 entries, with trainer Stanley Gold accounting for eight of them in the seven stakes to be run Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Gold and owner-breeder Jacks or Better Farm, already the respective leaders with 16 wins in a series dating to 1982, will be represented by major contenders in the co-featured Dr. Fager and Desert Vixen, both of them $200,000 races for 2-year-olds at six furlongs.

Gulfstream officials are expecting a sizable crowd for what it is calling “Summer Soiree,” having marketed the day heavily in the local area. A 12-race card starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern, a half-hour earlier than usual, with the Dr. Fager (race 11) carded as the last stakes at 6:04. All but two of the stakes, the Soaring Softly and Eight Miles East, are restricted to horses bred and/or sired in Florida.

In reverse order, these are the Saturday stakes:

• $200,000 Dr. Fager (race 11, post 6:04): Jacks or Better has the uncoupled duo of Brighton Lane and Fellowship among a field of nine 2-year-olds; they should vie for favoritism with L’il Meatball and Danbury.

• $75,000 Soaring Softly (race 10, post 5:26): With the turf-course limit of 14 older fillies and mares going a mile, this is probably the best betting race of the day, with Venezuelan champion Ninfa del Cielo and the recently acquired Maid On a Mission being interesting new faces.

• $150,000 Unbridled (race 9, post 4:51): Hear That Tune, coming off a winning race in which he earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, is one of three entered by Jacks or Better among 10 3-year-olds going seven furlongs.

• $150,000 Three Ring (race 8, post 4:18): Dogwood Trail, the winner of the Grade 3 Azalea in open company on the Summit of Speed program July 5, looms a solid favorite for Jacks or Better in this female counterpart to the Unbridled.

• $200,000 Desert Vixen (race 5, post 2:45): Ballet Diva, a run-off winner of both career starts, figures to be odds-on for Jacks or Better among eight 2-year-old fillies.

• $75,000 Eight Miles East (race 4, post 2:14): Joes Blazing Aaron looms a front-running threat among the main body of eight 3-year-olds and up in this 1 1/16-mile turf race.

• $75,000 Jackson Bend (race 3, post 1:44): Named for the retired Jacks or Better star who earned $1.8 million, this seven-furlong race is the first stakes of the day and a well-matched one at that.

One more restricted stakes, the $75,000 Awesome Feather for 3-year-old fillies, failed to attract a sufficient number of entries.