Joseph brings quality and quantity to pursuit of training title

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After winning 27 races during the 2018-19 Gulfstream Park Championship meet and 38 races during the 2019-20 meet, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. believes he has a legitimate chance to make a run at the training title at the current meet. Todd Pletcher has won the meet title 16 of the last 17 seasons.

Joseph will begin the winter meet with easily his most potent arsenal yet, from both a quality and quantity standpoint, with quantity perhaps the key to coming out on top at the end of the 90-day session, which runs through March 28. Joseph finished third and fourth in the trainer standings for the last two winter meets.

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“I think we’re finally in a position to give Todd a run for his money this year, although Mike Maker has a ton of horses and also figures to be in the race for the title,” Joseph said just hours before the 2019-20 Championship session began Wednesday. “Last year we went into the meet with 45-50 horses. This year we have almost double that, nearly 100 horses, stabled both here and at Palm Meadows.”

Joseph also will fan out to other areas in the months ahead, with plans to keep 25 horses at Tampa Bay Downs and another 15 or so ticketed for Oaklawn Park when that meet opens in January.

“We’ve never had this kind of opportunity here before, enough horses to compete for a title, but I have the kind of owners behind me now who have put us in that position,” Joseph said. “And a great team, my staff and all our help, that is also necessary to win training titles. We had a great Championship meet last year, and I believe we should be able to continue to build on that this winter.”

Joseph declined to single out any highlights or disappointments during the opening 11 months of the 2020 season. Chance It won the Mucho Macho Man Stakes on Jan. 4, and Joseph pointed him to the Kentucky Derby. But Chance It hasn’t raced since finishing fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7. Ny Traffic was beaten a nose by Authentic in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in July, and then finished far back in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

“Chance It was a bump along the road,” said Joseph, who had totaled 119 victories this year into Wednesday. “He was our best 3-year-old, no doubt, early in the year and the horse we expected to take us to the Derby this year. He got hurt and then all of a sudden Ny Traffic came out of nowhere and got us there. Now the goal is to get back to the Derby every year. I think if there was any real highlight to the year, it was our consistency and, again, a lot of that goes back to the owners and our crew.”

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Joseph has entered seven horses for Saturday’s Claiming Crown card, including three for the Emerald and two in the Rapid Transit. He also had planned on running Grade 1 winner Math Wizard in the $150,000 Jewel, the day’s main event, but had a last-minute change of heart.

“I missed a work with him a couple of weeks ago and just ran out of time,” Joseph said. “I don’t think I have him where he needs to be to run this weekend. He’ll work again Sunday, and if all goes well I might try him in the Harlan’s Holiday the following Saturday. That gives us one more week to have him prepared properly.”