Joseph has them coming and going in Thursday feature

The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Fuddled is the speed of the speed and could be gone if she breaks alertly in a five-furlong turf dash scheduled to be run Thursday at Gulfstream Park. However, she is vulnerable as she will be under pressure early and has not raced since she romped in a maiden special weight race on July 1. If she does not fire, Joseph could win the first-level allowance race with a $25,000 claiming option with Merseyside, who will be rolling late with leading rider Edgard Zayas aboard.

Barring scratches, nine fillies will run if the race stays on turf. Sayonara Baby and R Perogative will go if the race gets moved to the main track.

It goes as race 5 on a nine-race card that begins at noon Eastern.

An Irish-bred 4-year-old, Fuddled has started just three times and could have considerable upside. Although she took them all the way in her easy win in her last start, she does not appear to be a one-trick pony. In her debut on March 27, she sat behind a three-horse duel while saving ground and then finished well when she shifted outside at the top of the stretch.

The daughter of Invincible came back with a disappointing effort when she finished sixth as the even-money favorite. She did have an excuse, though. With Emisael Jaramillo riding, she broke from post 11 in the 12-horse field and faded after contesting a quick pace while going three wide.

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Fuddled drew post 3 on Thursday. Catch her if you can.

Merseyside is not only a threat if the race stays on turf, but considering she won a race washed off the lawn in her third start as a 2-year-old last year she should be fine if the race is contested over the main track.

The 3-year-old filly by Maclean’s Music won a first-level allowance for Florida-breds that carried a $12,500 claiming option July 17 before finishing fifth going 7 1/2 furlongs on turf in the $75,000 Miss Gracie in her last start Sept. 5.

In her July 17 win, she came from well back in the five-furlong turf sprint.

Merseyside drew post 6, and Zayas can be expected to ease her off what should be an honest pace.

The one they will both have to beat is 2-1 morning-line favorite Catch a Thrill. She will be making her first start since being the runner-up in a first-level allowance race going six furlongs on turf June 5 at Belmont Park. Trained by Mark Casse, the 4-year-old filly by City Zip is versatile, so Cristian Torres will have options after she breaks from the outside post.

The layoff is a concern, as is the possibility of her losing ground on the first turn. Nonetheless, she did win her debut over this course and just missed coming off a more than three-month layoff in a first-level allowance race going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Saratoga last year.