Joseph runners should handle turf or Tapeta

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saffie Joseph Jr. knows how hard it rained Thursday night in South Florida – some 2 1/2 inches pounded the local area into Friday morning – so he’s guessing the five-furlong feature Sunday at Gulfstream Park will have to be moved from the turf to Tapeta.

Again, a guess. Conversely, Joseph is more confident that his new trainee Mamba Queen will show big speed on either surface – and that Zia’s Song, his second filly in the $61,000 allowance, also rates a solid chance either way.

Mamba Queen “is very quick, in my opinion,” Joseph said after watching the 4-year-old California-bred train at Palm Meadows in recent weeks. “She’s here with us because there aren’t any five-eighths races in California right now. She’s shown a lot of speed in her works, and she’s already shown she’s fast enough in her races out there.”

Zia’s Song, unraced in more than six months, also has trained very well at Palm Meadows and “is going to run a big race,” said Joseph, the leading trainer nearly halfway through the four-month championship meet.

“She’s a sleeper,” he said. “If the race is moved to the Tapeta, it’ll be a surface that’s an unknown for both of them, but I do think they’ll handle it.”

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Mamba Queen, with Tyler Gaffalione to ride from post 6, and Zia’s Song (Leonel Reyes, post 3) are part of an oversubscribed lineup of fillies and mares in the ninth of 10 Sunday races. It’s part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 5-10), which was expected to offer a pool guarantee of about $400,000, assuming the jackpot wasn’t swept Friday or Saturday.

Mamba Queen shows one win and four seconds from seven starts, all in sprints in California for trainer Jeff Bonde. Although her past performances show just two local works, “she’s actually had three or four if I’m not mistaken,” said Joseph.

Besides the Joseph duo, other contenders in the lone allowance of the day include Igloo, Abuse of Power, Phantom Vision, Wicked Workout, and Amusing Antics. Of those, Igloo (post 1, Luis Saez) might attract the most tote action after finishing second under similar conditions here Dec. 23.

First post is 12:30 p.m. Eastern. After Sunday, Gulfstream goes dark for two days before another five-day week begins Wednesday.