Joseph well stocked for Dream Supreme

No North American trainer has won as many dirt stakes during 2026 as Saffie Joseph Jr. Joseph’s total through Nov. 12 stood at 41, one more than Brad Cox and Bob Baffert. Among those 41 dirt stakes wins, 15 have come in sprints restricted to fillies and mares. Joseph has a barn stocked with that type of horse, as evidenced by the Dream Supreme Stakes on Saturday at Churchill.

The $300,000 Dream Supreme, carded for six furlongs, drew six entrants, and Joseph trains three of them: Mystic Lake, Haulin Ice, and Indy Bay.

Mystic Lake drawn in post 1 and Haulin Ice race with similar front-running styles and, on paper, look like they could compromise each other. All three entrants might or might not run. Joseph at press time hadn’t returned a text message and phone call.

Neither Joseph-trained speed horse seems likely to shake loose from longshot California shipper A. Z. Wildcat, whom trainer John Sadler on Thursday confirmed as a starter. A. Z. Wildcat in her most recent race failed to fire while making her grass debut, and two starts ago she was all but eased after dueling for the lead in the Great Lady M. at Los Alamitos. She’s far better than that on her day, but likely not good enough to win a pace battle with either or both Joseph-trained front-runners and still hang around until the finish.

Mystic Lake hasn’t won since a Tampa Bay Downs score in March, and Haulin Ice hasn’t won since hitting a career peak this past spring at Oaklawn Park, where she ran off the charts in an Arkansas-bred stakes and then the $250,000 Matron. Her recent form is better than Mystic Lake’s. After a second in a modest renewal of the Honorable Miss at Saratoga, where she actually rallied from off the pace, Haulin Ice dueled through fast splits last out in the Liberty Bell at Parx Racing, stuck along the rail over a track favoring outside paths. She did well to finish third.

Indy Bay returns from a freshening after going beyond her best form in the Princess Rooney two months ago at Gulfstream Park. She spent the summer chasing her stablemate Kerry’s Kiss, and looks live Saturday under Jose Ortiz.

Justinqueso has the right running style to capitalize on a fast, contested pace, but even at her best looks slightly too slow to win.

Echo Sound, however, will win if she runs to her best form. After acing her return from an extended layoff three starts ago at Monmouth, Echo Sound finished a solid fourth at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Ballerina, won in a romp by soon-to-be champion female sprinter Ways and Means. Back at her home track, Keeneland, Echo Sound went favored Oct. 3 in the Thoroughbred Club of America but checked in a flat fourth with no apparent excuse.

“We felt she’d come out of the Ballerina in great shape. She just didn’t show up. It wasn’t what we were looking for,” trainer Rusty Arnold said. “She hasn’t missed a beat since then, didn’t do anything different with her. We’ll go back to Churchill and give it one more shot. She’ll probably go to the breeding shed after this.”

A short field in the Dream Supreme, but as many as three Josephs to beat.