Gulfstream Park: Wasted Tears attracts accomplished field

Awesome Belle and Angelica Zapata will each be shooting for a seventh career stakes win Saturday when they meet in the $100,000 Wasted Tears at Gulfstream Park. The 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares also drew Frolic’s Revenge, a five-time stakes winner, and Team, who has moved into the region from New York.

The Wasted Tears drew a total of 11 runners, with Dreaming of Sophia and Swinger’s Party entered for the main track only. The race honors the mare who in 2010 won the Grade 3 Honey Fox at Gulfstream. Wasted Tears retired a year later as a multiple Grade 2 winner of $941,463. She is now based in Kentucky and is in foal to Malibu Moon.

Awesome Belle, who is teetering on $500,000 in career earnings with a bankroll of $497,187, exits the $100,000 Ta Wee at Gulfstream on Aug. 10. She was favored in the 1 1/16-mile turf race in which she finished fourth after pressing the pace to the stretch.

“Near the pace was not the place to be,” said Stanley Gold, who trains Awesome Belle.

Gold said he felt the turf was more laboring than firm for the Ta Wee, a stakes Millennia won when she rallied from next to last. As for Awesome Belle, she has worked well since the start and figures to be one of the top choices Saturday under regular rider Fernando Jara.

Angelica Zapata will be moving back to turf following a win in the $75,000 Nancy’s Glitter Handicap at a mile at Calder on July 20. Since the start, she has been flattered, with runner-up My Pal Chrisy returning in her next out to take the $113,000 Paseana at Gulfstream, with a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.

Angelica Zapata, meanwhile, will be seeking her first turf win after placing in a pair of grass stakes, including the $100,000 Hollywood Wildcat at Calder on July 6. Juan Leyva has the mount for trainer Ronald Pellegrini.

Frolic’s Revenge, who was sixth in the Nancy’s Glitter, is a winner over the turf at Gulfstream.