Joseph sends out strong contenders in Friday co-features

MIAMI – There are two optional-claiming races for Florida-breds carded Friday at Gulfstream Park West and, not surprisingly, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. appears to hold the upper hand in both.

The co-features, both first-level allowance races with a $20,000 claiming option, are scheduled to be run on the turf, although the course has been closed for business for the better part of two weeks due to rain.

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The first of the two, race 3, is at one mile, with Joseph sending out Til the End, who won a similar allowance test at Gulfstream Park in June and has proven competitive against the same caliber competition in his three subsequent starts. Til the End, claimed by Joseph for $16,000 in May, is coming off a third-place effort, beaten two lengths by winner Rhythmia, after being forced to rally wide into the stretch. Til the End has posted Beyer Speed Figures of 81 in each of his last three outings. Six of his seven victories have come on turf.

Another turf specialist who has been running consistently since the spring is Dominate Themoment, who has registered Beyer Figures from 74 to 80 in each of his last seven starts. Dominate Themoment has been gelded since his last appearance, a fifth-place finish, a couple of heads behind Til the End, on Sept. 6. He has been burning up the main track in the morning, posting a bullet five-eighths drill in 1:00.33 on Sept. 27 at Gulfstream Park and a sensational 45.35-second half-mile clocking over the same strip Oct. 18.

Churchill’s Victory is coming off a 1 1/2-length bottom-level maiden win in a race switched from the turf to a sloppy main track here Oct. 3. He could be in a good spot if the race is moved to the dirt. Churchill’s Victory is another who has caught the eye in the morning of late, posting a bullet five-furlong drill in 59.55 on Oct. 23 at Gulfstream.

About an hour later in race 5, fillies and mares are slated to go five furlongs on the grass. The Joseph stable is represented by likely favorite Daddy’s Joy, who returned from a near nine-month layoff to wire a field of statebred maidens across town on Sept. 3. He defeated Avuncular by a length while earning a 78 Beyer in the five-furlong turf race. Avuncular flattered the effort with a maiden win of her own in her next start.

Got Glee also figures to show some early foot, exiting a wire-to-wire win in a nonwinners-of-three turf sprint Aug. 27 at Gulfstream Park. The Great Kath also figures to be part of the early running, coming in fresh off a 4 1/2-month hiatus. She and Taylor’s in Orbit are the only runners in the field to have won six races. Taylor’s in Orbit goes out for new connections after being claimed for $16,000 out of a troubled fifth-place finish in a turf sprint Aug. 21 at Gulfstream.

New Jersey invader Bramble Berry would be dangerous if the race is moved to the main course, having registered all three of her wins on dirt.