Gufo starts season in Pan American Stakes
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Christophe Clement will be welcoming back one graded stakes winner while getting ready to say goodbye to another when he sends out Gufo in the Grade 2, $200,000 Pan American Stakes and Beautiful Lover in the Grade 3, $150,000 Orchid Stakes on Saturday’s 10-stakes Florida Derby Day program at Gulfstream.
Gufo, who won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga last summer, is 3 for 3 at Gulfstream Park. He has not run since a 10th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf last November at Del Mar. Clement said Joel Rosario tried to make a couple of different moves on the horse in that race, but nothing went right.
“It was a complete waste of a race,” Clement said.
Clement said Gufo has wintered well at Payson Park and he’s using this race as a prep for the Grade 1 Man o’ War at Belmont Park on May 14.
The Pan American, at 1 1/2 miles on turf, is expected to include Abaan, winner of the Grade 3 William L. McKnight; Temple, winner of the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida; and Mid Day Image, Novo Sol, Tide of the Sea, Bakers Bay, and Epic Bromance.
The Orchid, at 1 1/2 miles on turf for fillies and mares, is expected to be the final race of Beautiful Lover’s career, Clement said. The 6-year-old daughter of Arch has won 5 of 17 starts, all for owners Moyglare Stud, including the Grade 3 La Prevoyante here on Jan. 29. Most recently, she finished fourth, 3 3/4 lengths behind Virginia Joy, in the Grade 3 The Very One.
“The stronger the pace the better for her,” Clement said.
Family Way and Harajuku, second and third in The Very One, are back in the Orchid. Also entered are allowance winner Champagne Ivy, Lovely Lucky, Scarabea, and Sister O’Toole.
Six go in Gulfstream Park Oaks
Six 3-year-old fillies were entered in the Grade 2, $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks, but the race looks like a two-horse affair between Kathleen O. and Goddess of Fire.
Kathleen O., trained by Shug McGaughey, is 3 for 3, including a victory in the Grade 2 Davona Dale here. This will be the first start around two turns for the daughter of Upstart.
Goddess of Fire, a daughter of Mineshaft, is coming off second-place finishes in both the Gasparilla Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 15 and the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds on Feb. 19. Trainer Todd Pletcher said the idea of not having to ship again and avoiding champion Echo Zulu in last Saturday’s Fair Grounds Oaks were reasons to run Goddess of Fire in this race.
Luis Saez will ride Goddess of Fire back.
The remainder of the field looks overmatched on paper. Amani’s Image was third in a seven-furlong allowance last out. Blustery comes off a win for maiden claiming $35,000, a race from which she was taken by Daniel Hurtak; Running Legacy wil be making her first start on dirt after a maiden win on synthetic and a fifth-place finish on turf; Cancel This was fourth in a pair of allowance races here this winter for Dale Romans.
The Gulfstream Park Oaks offers its top four finishers qualifying points (100-40-20-10) to the Kentucky Oaks on May 6 at Churchill Downs.
Pletcher and McGaughey will do battle in the Grade 3, $100,000 Ghostzapper Stakes when Fearless, the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday winner, takes on Greatest Honour, last year’s Fountain of Youth winner.
Fearless has chased Speaker’s Corner in his last two starts, finishing second behind him in the Grade 3 Fred Hooper and Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile. Greatest Honour returned from a layoff of almost a year to finish sixth in the Grade 3 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on March 12. That was his first start since a third-place finish as the odds-on favorite in last year’s Grade 1 Florida Derby.
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In other stakes on Saturday’s card:
◗ Phantom Currency, unraced since winning the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida due to a soft-tissue injury, according to trainer Brian Lynch, is set to return from a near 14-month layoff in the Grade 3, $100,000 Appleton Stakes. He is expected to meet Noble Indy, Order and Law, Scarlett Sky, and Wolfie’s Dynaghost.
◗ Weyburn, last year’s Grade 3 Gotham winner, is expected to make his 4-year-old debut in the $100,000 Sir Shackleton. Weyburn, trained by Jimmy Jerkens for his first eight races, will make his first start for trainer Brendan Walsh. Chiefswood Stables, the owner of Weyburn, moved the horse to Walsh because he was wintering in Florida. Others expected for the Sir Shackleton included Collaborate, Girolamo’s Attack, Quick Tempo, and Shivaree.
◗ Red Danger, who won the Pulpit Stakes here last December for Lynch, is part of a seven-horse field of 3-year-olds entered in the $100,000 Cutler Bay Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The remainder of that field is Gooch Go Bragh, Graphic Detail, Main Event, Mannix, Smokin’ T and Wicked Fast.
◗ My Philly Twirl, a winner of two straight races, heads a field of 10 3-year-olds entered in the $100,000 Sanibel Island at 1 1/16 miles. Others entered include Ambitieuse, Beechnut Trophy, Big Tentations, Hail To, Lady Puchi, Mischievous Kiss, Paintbruh, Sensitivity, and Shad Nation.