Ideally, improving Poiema will make an easy lead

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Larry Bates has been in the business 62 years but said he gives his exercise rider Lisa Bartkowski all the credit when it comes to the improvement his filly Poiema has shown over her last three starts.

A repeat of those efforts likely makes her the horse to beat in Friday’s $43,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The race is carded at a mile for Florida-bred fillies and mares.

Poiema won an open allowance race for 3-year-old fillies by 8 3/4 lengths while earning a career best 85 Beyer Speed Figure when stretching to a mile for the first time on June 17. She finished a tiring fifth against the best of her division, including five-time stakes winner Last Leaf, in the seven-furlong Azalea four weeks later. She bounced back to finish second, again at seven panels, under similar conditions as Friday’s main event when run down late by 14-1 Sea Art, who exploded to a career best effort that afternoon.

“I was adamant all along that this filly was strictly a sprinter, although Lisa had been suggesting I run her longer for quite a while before I finally listened, and you see the results,” said Bates. “Needless to say, I guess I’ll have to be in this game another 60 years before I figure it out.”

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Bates conceded that with her speed, Poeima can make the lead and make it easily enough to carry it up to a mile, which seemingly has led to her recent improvement.

“Making the lead is definitely a plus,” said Bates. “You don’t want to fight her, just let her do her thing and get out of her way, so to speak. Even though she got beat last time, I wasn’t disappointed in her performance. That was a nice filly who beat her. Lisa was at Saratoga for the summer, but everything is back to normal [in the barn] since she’s here again now.”

Several of Poiema’s rivals have already won at the condition level of Friday’s headliner but remain eligible by competing for a $20,000 claiming tag. That group of key contenders includes Bion Magic, Let’s Be Honest, and Our Fantasy.

Bion Magic rallied to a two-length victory going six furlongs under the same conditions on July 3 and returns to the proper spot after finishing seventh in the Sheer Drama Stakes in her most recent appearance. The one-mile distance is the question for Bion Magic, who has never raced beyond seven furlongs in 24 previous starts.

Let’s Be Honest won at this level going a mile on July 1 with a modest 73 Beyer, was claimed that day for $20,000 by her present connections, and has run just once since, finishing a distant sixth against open allowance competition on Aug. 12.

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Our Fantasy has proven a very popular item at the claim box throughout the spring and summer, having changed hands five times in her last six starts. She won at this condition with an 80 Beyer during the 2021-2022 championship meet in March but has gone winless in five subsequent tries.

◗ Saturday’s main event is the $65,000 Armed Forces Stakes for 2-year-olds going a mile and 70 yards over the Tapeta. The race lured a field of eight topped by the stakes-placed Cheerful Charlie along with the Mark Casse-trained duo of last-out maiden winners Lights of Broadway and Eyes On the King.

The filly counterpart to the Armed Forces, the Our Dear Peggy, was captured here last Saturday by the 8-5 Blind Spot, who registered a three-quarter-length decision over Stefanie’s Charm while making her debut over the Tapeta for leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Stefanie’s Charm ran huge in defeat, finishing second despite ducking out at the start and racing wide throughout.