Joseph vs. former Joseph in Bear's Den

Saffie Joseph Jr. already has won six stakes this year at Gulfstream Park during his remarkable ascendancy to becoming the track’s dominant trainer, with one of them being the Grade 1 Florida Derby with White Abarrio in early April.

Joseph will take a crack at a seventh 2022 stakes win at Gulfstream when represented Saturday by Treasure King in the $75,000 Bear’s Den, but it’s one of his former trainees, California Frolic, that figures as the horse to beat in the 10th of 11 races at the South Florida track.

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California Frolic, claimed from Joseph for $50,000 out of a maiden victory last November at Gulfstream, has gone on to win three of four starts for his new connections, Julian J. De Mora Jr. and trainer Armando De La Cerda. One of those races was a neck victory May 7 in the English Channel over the Gulfstream turf – currently unavailable as the course undergoes another extensive renovation – while the other three came over the Tapeta layout over which the 1 1/16-mile Bear’s Den will be contested by 10 3-year-olds.

The most recent start for California Frolic, a Kentucky-bred by California Chrome, resulted in another triumph by a neck June 11 in the Not Surprising. The chestnut colt was the 19-10 public choice that day, and he once again figures to come favored breaking from post 2 under Edgar Perez.

Treasure King (post 10, Edgard Zayas) was second in the Not Surprising, but his form has been smudged somewhat in the interim by a dull effort in a July 3 allowance. Joseph, easily the top trainer at the current spring-summer meet, assumed the training of Treasure King for the Mathis Stable after the Florida-bred colt’s original trainer, Todd Pletcher, decamped for northern destinations shortly after the championship meet ended in early April. Joseph was the leading trainer at the four-month championship meet, ending an 18-year Pletcher reign.

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California Frolic and Treasure King both employ off-the-pace running styles, while one of the other prime contenders in the Saturday feature, Grand David (post 7, Edwin Gonzalez), has used front-running tactics in compiling competitive Beyer Speed Figures of 80 and 83 in winning his last two starts. He and his uncoupled Victor Barboza Jr. stablemate Venezuelan Triumph (post 4, Miguel Vasquez) are both making their stakes debut.

The Bear’s Den is the male counterpart to the Miss Gracie, which Perez won last Saturday aboard the 3-year-old filly Omixochitl going this same distance over the all-weather surface. The Bear’s Den is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6, which spans races 6-11 and was expected to offer a pool guarantee of about $300,000, assuming the jackpot was not emptied Friday by a solo winner.

First post Saturday is 12:25 p.m. Eastern, with the Bear’s Den going at 5:07 and the last race at 5:39.

Mostly sunny skies and highs nearing 90 are in the Saturday forecast.