Inside Information coming up light

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Only 11 fillies and mares were nominated to next Saturday’s $200,000 Inside Information, the final graded race on the local stakes schedule until Florida Derby Day, March 31.

The list is led by Grade 3 winners Jordan’s Henny and Rich Mommy, the first and third finishers in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie earlier in the meet.

Curlin’s Approval, the Hurricane Bertie runner-up who finished off the board as the odds-on favorite in the 2017 Inside Information, was conspicuous by her absence on the nomination sheet.

Optional claimers top Sunday card

Two first-level optional-claiming races highlight Sunday’s 13-race program. The first, carded at 7 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares on the turf, drew a field of 11 led by Summer Luck, runner-up in the 2017 Davona Dale. Summer Luck has been freshened since finishing fifth as the 2-1 favorite when facing older horses for the first and only time last fall at Keeneland.

The co-featured 12th event will be for older horses at six furlongs over the main track. Only seven signed on, topped by The Hardest Way, Uno Mas Modelo, and Adulation.

Apprentice gets first U.S. win

Apprentice jockey Heriberto Figueroa registered his first victory in the U.S. here on Thursday, riding Mr G T for trainer Alexis Cordero-Lopez in the fourth race.

Figueroa, 18, graduated from Puerto Rico’s famed jockey academy on New Year’s Day and won three races from 10 mounts in his native country before coming to Gulfstream Park last month. Figueroa has been taken under the wing of Hall of Fame rider Angel Cordero Jr.

Figueroa, whose older brother Luis rode here last spring and summer, said he plans to remain here through the end of the Championship meet and then hopes to move on to New York later this spring.

◗ Future Major League Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz was on site here Friday filming an edition of his new show, “Big Papi Needs a Job,” which premiered earlier this year on Fusion TV. The premise of the show has Ortiz trying out a variety of new jobs after “puttering around the house” following his retirement from baseball at the end of the 2016 season. Ortiz was checking out the prospects of a future as a racehorse owner while getting a complete tour of the grounds and barn area before and during Friday’s racing program.