Joseph, Orseno duke it out with multiple Azalea entrants
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Late Night Text, who scratched out of a pair of stakes races in May, will finally get back to action Saturday at Gulfstream Park when facing six other 3-year-olds, including stablemate Sorokin and the red-hot Winplaceandshow, at seven furlongs in the $100,000 Azalea Stakes.
Late Night Text was entered in but scratched out of both the Miss Preakness at Laurel Park on May 15 and the Game Face at Gulfstream eight days later.
“We were never really planning on sending her to Laurel. We just entered to take a look at the field,” explained trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. “As for the Game Face, she stepped on a shoe in the paddock, twisted it, and I saw a little blood there, so at that point I decided to scratch her. Those kind of things can get very sensitive and I just didn’t want to take the chance running her.”
Late Night Text joined Joseph’s barn this winter after launching her career with trainer Nolan Ramsey, for whom she was winless in five starts but stakes-placed, having finishing third as the odds-on favorite in the restricted Texas Thoroughbred Breeders’ Futurity at Lone Star Park during July of her 2-year-old campaign. Late Night Text graduated at first asking for Joseph, winning a well-graded maiden special weight dash going seven furlongs on April 23 while earning far and away a lifetime-best 83 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She worked very well going into the maiden race and we were optimistic she’d run well. But they still have to go out and prove it in the afternoon, and she obviously did just that,” Joseph recalled. “Those were maidens, however, and she’ll be facing much more seasoned horses Saturday. But she’s come back with two good works since scratching from the Game Face, and I expect her to step up with another big effort here.”
Sorokin has started just twice, and not since winning a maiden race with a strong effort going seven furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs on March 27.
“She was entered in a digital sale, which she ultimately scratched out of, although as a result it messed up her training a bit,” Joseph said, referring to the nearly two months between starts and the more than one month between works earlier this spring. “But I thought her maiden win was visually impressive. She’s doing well and I think she’s another who should move forward quite a bit off her last race.”
Winplaceandshow is the most accomplished member of the Azalea lineup, having won three of five starts, including a high-priced optional-claiming dash at seven furlongs by 7 1/2 lengths on May 10 for trainer Joe Orseno.
“She’s been a pretty honest filly for us. She ran the way I thought she would in her last start and earned a spot in here for sure,” Orseno said. “She can sit off the pace. She’ll do whatever you want her to do. She’s a young filly and her future is in front of her.”
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Like Joseph, Orseno entered two fillies in the Azalea, with Win Bet Only also in the prospective starting lineup.
Flowko is multiple stakes-placed against statebred company and comes into the Azalea off arguably her best effort yet, a very popular 6 3/4-length entry-level allowance victory against Florida-bred fillies on May 31. She’ll round out a lineup that also includes the improving last-out allowance winner Permian Basin, along with Wander Woman off an easy maiden win of her own in her 2026 debut four weeks earlier.
White Abarrio ready for Foster
White Abarrio turned in his final work for next week’s $2 million Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs when breezing an easy half-mile in company in 49.80 seconds Thursday at Gulfstream.
“Strictly maintenance today. We’re just trying to follow the same schedule that worked so well going into his last race at Oaklawn Park,” Joseph said. “And thus far, everything has gone according to plan.”
Joseph said White Abarrio, who upset reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty in the Oaklawn Handicap, is scheduled to ship to Churchill on Monday.
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