Joseph, Hughes team up to sweep turf stakes with Gran Oriente, Turino

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After winning a pair of stakes on Friday at Laurel, including the Black-Eyed Susan with My Miss Mo, what could trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. do for an encore? Win two more stakes the following afternoon over his home base at Gulfstream Park, where he combined with jockey Rasheed Hughes to capture the $100,000 Mr. Steele with Gran Oriente and its filly counterpart, the $100,000 Monroe, with Turino.

Gran Oriente was purchased privately and turned over to Joseph following a three-quarter-length allowance victory last month at Santa Anita. There, he upset a graded stakes-quality field that included Grade 2 winner The Padre and Grade 1-placed Cabo Spirit.

Gran Oriente benefited from a perfectly orchestrated trip by Hughes, who rated the Group 1-winning Chilean bred in midpack about four lengths off the early leaders in the run down the backstretch. Hughes angled Gran Oriente out four-wide, commencing his bid approaching the stretch. The 5-year-old finished full of run once in the clear to readily run down Indecisiveness near midstretch and win going away.

Missed the Cut, an allowance winner here in his last start, finished strongly down the center of the course to be second best while never menacing the winner. Horsepower, the 2-1 favorite, was fifth.

Gran Oriente completed a mile and one sixteenth on a firm course in 1:39.44 seconds and paid $8.40.

The Monroe

Turino started the day on a high note for Joseph and Hughes about two hours before the Mr. Steele. Vastly improved since returning to the turf early this winter, she made her stakes debut a winning one, rallying to a neck decision over Miss Mary Nell in the Monroe with Little Jamie a length further back in third.

Turino and Little Jamie are both trained by Joseph, who also sent out the fifth- and seventh-place finishers, Make the Boys Wink and Public Defender, in the one-mile Monroe. A fifth member of the potent Joseph stable, Silver Moonlight, was scratched.

Turino, who led at every call to win her previous start, benefited from another picture-perfect trip under Hughes, one which mirrored that of Gran Oriente in the Mr. Steele. Turino rated off the early leaders before angling out to commence her bid in early stretch and ultimately wear down Miss Mary Nell in the final strides. Miss Mary Nell prompted the pace of Minty from the outset and stuck her head in front near midstretch, but she could not last.

Turino, a 5-year-old daughter of Kantharos, registered her third win in 10 career starts and paid $5 as the favorite after completing the distance over a firm course in 1:33.82 seconds.

“She got a good trip. She relaxed today and she’s better when she relaxes,” said Joseph, who watched both stakes from Laurel Park prior to saddling Bull by the Horns in the Preakness. “She got a winning ride. She found a seam and she got it done, and it’s nice to get a stakes win on her résumé."