Hectors Pride tests open company in allowance sprint

The gap between stakes will be more than a month at Gulfstream Park, which partially explains why mere first-level allowances serve as nominal features Saturday at the south Florida track.

Back-to-back allowances with $40,000 purses anchor an 11-race card that starts at 1 p.m. Eastern. The first of those (race 8), set for seven furlongs on the main track, might be the more discernible, with Hectors Pride, Hear That Tune, and More Applause the likely favorites in a field of eight.

The second allowance (race 9) drew an unwieldy, oversubscribed field scheduled to go 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Each race is for 3-year-olds and up and carries a $16,000 optional-claiming provision.

Meanwhile, the Gulfstream stakes cupboard will be barren for weeks following the Summit of Speed, which featured nine stakes last Sunday. The next stakes will be part of a six-pack of Florida-bred races Aug. 8.

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Key contenders

Hectors Pride (Last 3 Beyers: 82-70-81)

Florida-bred colt just won at a similar level, albeit in statebred company, when earning a Beyer Speed Figure that ranks with the best of these.

Will be ridden by Edgard Zayas, who comes off a terrific weekend during which he won the Summit of Speed headliner, the Grade 2 Smile Sprint, aboard Favorite Tale. Zayas also rode five winners June 30 at Gulfstream.

Hear That Tune (Last 3 Beyers: 44-84-76)

Jacks or Better homebred will have to be excused for his last race, a June 27 sprint run in the slop. He finished a dismal last of eight as the 8-5 favorite for this same allowance condition.

His two-back effort May 30 seems more representative of his capabilities, as he was beaten less than a length by Shinning Powers, who was winning for the third straight time.

More Applause (Last 3 Beyers: 69-84-74)

An eye-popping maiden score May 30 makes this Peter J. Mirabelli homebred an obvious threat, even though he was a somewhat-disappointing third when subsequently taking his first crack at this condition. He looms a real danger as the outside speed.

Old Times Sake (Last 3 Beyers: 80-88-78)

Gelding has changed hands on a number of occasions in his 18-race career and now adds blinkers for Herman Wilensky, who has claimed him three times already. He’s liable to be haltered yet again as he’s one of three in this spot entered for the $16,000 option.