Jumeirah drops from stakes to get ready for one
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Potential starting berths for upcoming stakes such as the Glitter Woman and even the Grade 3 Forward Gal could be on the line when a field of seven lightly raced but promising 2-year-old fillies square off in Thursday’s $61,000 main event at Gulfstream Park, carded at six furlongs on the main track.
Jumeirah, who is not only stakes-placed but Grade 1-tested and has the highest lifetime Beyer Speed Figure in the lineup, will likely go postward the favorite for trainer Carlos David in her local debut. A daughter of Twirling Candy, Jumeirah will drop into the allowance ranks for the first time following a steady diet of stakes opportunities that includes a second-place finish in Monmouth’s one-mile Sorority and a bit of a disappointing effort when overmatched against the likes of Echo Zulu in the Grade 1 Frizette.
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In her most recent appearance, Jumeirah finished sixth after prompting a lively pace in Keeneland’s Myrtlewood Stakes on Oct. 29. David will put blinkers on Jumeirah for the first time in Thursday’s feature with Junior Alvarado listed to ride.
A trio of last-out maiden winners will take on the logical favorite, led by Amazing Trip, who ran to her 6-5 backing when wiring a field of $50,000 claiming rivals in her career debut, winning off by nearly five lengths while never seriously threatened at any point down the lane. Amazing Trip was claimed out of the race by trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. for owner Frank Calabrese.
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Datttsafancyfox, who also debuted successfully, under a $40,000 tag, last month at Churchill Downs, and Mi Negrita, an easy maiden special weight winner going a mile when forwardly placed throughout in her last start, are among the other key contenders in a field that also includes Easy Come Easy Go, Divine Connection, and Mabee Luckynwild.
David also may have one of the horses to beat in the afternoon’s co-featured ninth event with Mamba On Three likely deserving top billing in the five-furlong turf dash to be decided under allowance conditions restricted to Florida-breds. Mamba On Three ships in from Kentucky off a solid third-place effort over the Keeneland turf against open allowance company two months earlier and has already shown a distinct fondness for the local surface, having posted back-to-back grass wins here during the spring. He figures to receive a stiff challenge from likely favorite Divine Leader, a winner of three of his last four starts including a well-graded pair of starter-allowance races at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. Claimed for $16,000 by trainer John Ennis out of a winning effort this past summer at Ellis Park, Divine Leader still has to prove his affinity for turf, having made all four previous starts on dirt, although his full sister Mona Stella has already won twice on the grass.