Joseph trio takes on Lennilu in Game Face
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Last Saturday at Gulfstream Park, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. entered five fillies in the Monroe Stakes, ran four, and won the race with Turino. This Saturday at Gulfstream Park, Joseph has entered four fillies in the $100,000 Game Face Stakes with plans to start three of them in search of similar success in the afternoon’s main event to be decided at six furlongs over the main track.
Joseph will send out Late Night Text, Love Like Lucy, and Canton in the Game Face. He also entered the lightly raced Maxitas but said that due to her relative inexperience, he will hold her out to await a more suitable spot down the road.
The Joseph contingent will take on just three rivals led by the very dangerous three-time stakes winner Lennilu, who returns to the main track for the first time since winning the Desert Vixen division of the Florida Sire Series here in September.
Late Night Text appears the strongest of the Joseph trio. She showed marked improvement in her first start since joining Joseph’s stable during the Championship meet, winning her maiden in impressive fashion going seven furlongs on April 23. She rallied to a 1 3/4-length decision over the well-regarded Nahla, the younger sister of Joseph’s Pegasus World Cup Invitational winner Skippylongstocking.
“We weren’t surprised she won but would have been very disappointed if she lost her last start,” Joseph said. “She trained very forwardly going into the race, ran well and the number came back very good.”
Late Night Text earned an 83 Beyer Speed Figure on graduation day, 11 points higher than her previous best posted in her career debut nearly a year earlier at Churchill Downs.
“I like the way she and the second horse were well clear of the others. I think she can become a stakes winner and this is a good spot for her,” Joseph said. “I don’t think the cutback to six furlongs should be a problem, and she’s ideally drawn on the outside with plenty of speed in there to follow.”
Love Like Lucy finished third behind Lennilu last fall in the Desert Vixen Stakes but remains winless in six starts since capturing her career debut in game fashion in August. Joseph will take the blinkers off Love Like Lucy for the Game Face.
“In hindsight, her first two races without blinkers were probably her best two efforts to date,” Joseph admitted. “So we’ll take them off and give her a chance in here. If she can fire back to either of those two races, she should be very competitive.”
Canton turns back in distance after setting the pace into the stretch when finishing a tiring third against entry-level allowance opposition just 13 days ago.
“Canton’s last race was a bit of a mystery,” said Joseph. “I didn’t expect her to stop like that but it was like she hit a wall down the stretch. We’ll probably take her back this race, ride her from behind and see if it gives her more stamina.”
Lennilu, who is perfect in two starts on dirt, has raced exclusively in turf sprints since outgaming Finding Strength by a nose to win the Desert Vixen. She has sandwiched victories in both the Hollywood Beach and Melody of Colors Stakes around a seventh-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Trained by Patrick Biacone, Lennilu finished fourth, beaten 4 1/4 lengths by Slay the Day, in the Grade 3 Limestone Stakes at Keeneland in her most recent start.
Willow Case won three of five starts and was a multiple stakes winner at 2 but has not started since closing out her juvenile campaign finishing a distant third as a prohibitive favorite in a high-priced allowance/optional-claiming race on Oct. 25.
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