Grande Shores has class edge in Wednesday feature
MIAMI – At first glance, the Wednesday card at Gulfstream Park West appears to be just another mundane midweek card, but it has yielded one hidden pearl among the 10 maiden- and claiming-type races on the program. A starter optional-claiming event has attracted one of the top sprinters on the grounds, the multiple stakes winner Grande Shores, for a mere $20,000 purse.
A field of six will contest Wednesday’s fourth race, written for 3-year-olds and up who have started for a claiming price of $10,000 or less, including Grande Shores, who ran for a claiming price as low as $8,000 three times at Tampa Bay Downs during the winter of 2013. The homebred son of Black Mambo has since improved dramatically for trainer Stanley Gold, winning a pair of stakes and extending Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile contender Valid to a hard-fought neck decision in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper last winter at Gulfstream Park.
Although dangerous at distances ranging from six panels to a mile, Grande Shores seems best suited to the seven furlongs of Wednesday’s headliner, having won four times and finished in the money in 11 of his 13 tries at the distance. Grande Shores, 7, also is no stranger to Gulfstream Park West. He was stabled primarily at the former Calder Race Course for the majority of his career and has posted seven of his 13 career victories over this surface.
Old Times Sake is the only member of the lineup with Beyer Speed Figures in the ballpark of the favorite. A popular item at the claim box all year, Old Times Sake currently is in the barn of trainer Manuel Morales, who haltered the 4-year-old for $16,000 out of a second-place finish Aug. 27 at Gulfstream.
Old Times Sake quickly paid dividends for his new connections by winning a similarly conditioned starter optional claimer less than two weeks ago, drawing off to an easy 4 1/2-length triumph and earning a career-best 94 Beyer.
The hard-knocking veterans Fundit, 9, and Chillin Dylan, 8, help round out the field, along with Holy Highway and Donegal Hall.
Key contenders
Grande Shores (Last 3 Beyers: 94-93-86)
* Had a streak of 15 straight first- or second-place finishes snapped when fourth after an eventful trip July 5 in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint.
* Appears to be using this race as a prep for a defense of his title in the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit Stakes on Dec. 5 at Gulfstream.
Old Times Sake (Last 3 Beyers: 94-82-88)
* The well-traveled gelding has been claimed seven times this season for prices ranging from $6,250 to $16,000.
Fundit (Last 3 Beyers: 63-75-80)
* Has not started since March, but like the favorite, he is a horse for the course, having registered seven of his 10 lifetime victories at Gulfstream Park West.