Just Kidding has serious shot in Big Red

Trainer Bob Hess Jr. and his owners were thinking ahead when they reached in to claim the veteran Just Kidding for $32,000 last fall at Del Mar. Fast forward six months to Gulfstream Park, where Just Kidding will go postward among the leading candidate’s in Sunday’s $75,000 Big Red Stakes, a one-mile overnight test that lured a field of just six older horses.

“One of the main reasons we took him is because he’s a Florida-bred, with the intention of bringing him down there for the winter,” Hess explained. “The owners are from the East Coast and they really enjoy going to Gulfstream.”

Just Kidding was slow to come around when he first arrived in South Florida, but has come to hand nicely of late for Hess and the partnership of Paradise Farm Corp. and Steve McCanne. A 7-year-old son of Kiss the Kid, Just Kidding has registered a win and a pair of seconds in his last three starts, with the victory coming in his most recent outing, an impressive 3 1/4-length decision for which he received a 90 Beyer Speed Figure. That was his highest number since earning a 91 competing in a high-priced optional claiming and allowance race at Santa Anita during the winter of 2016.

“It took me a race or two to figure him out,” said Hess. “But he really seems to enjoy this surface and he kind of has his confidence back now and is starting to run the numbers he ran earlier in his career.”

Hess is not worried about stretching Just Kidding back to a mile off a pair of seven-furlong races. He is concerned about the fact Just Kidding will break from the rail.

“He can be a little silly in the gate for an older horse, so a lot will depend on his mood and whether the rider can get him to settle,” said Hess. “But if he breaks well, he should get a beautiful stalking trip and be tough in there.”

The horse Just Kidding will likely have to catch to win the Big Red is Ceevee, a winner of his last two starts, with the first on turf and the most recent moved from the grass to a main track rated good. Ceevee was claim for $50,000 by owner-trainer Happy Alter out of the first of those two wins with Hess, ironically, among the trainers Alter outshook to get the horse that day.

Hy Riverside will make his second start off an eight-month layoff and could be dangerous with a little better racing luck than in his comeback outing, when he encountered all sorts of traffic issues en route to a fifth-place finish in the restricted Big Drama Stakes on May 11.

The multiple stakes winner Mr. Jordan, a wide-running third in the Big Drama, Eye of a Jedi, and Red Crescent complete the lineup.

Jalen Journey eyes Smile Sprint

Jalen Journey may have earned himself a berth in the Grade 3, six-furlong Smile Sprint on June 29 after cruising to a 7 1/4-length optional claiming and allowance win in Thursday’s feature. The victory was the third in a row for Jalen Journey, a 4-year-old son of With Distinction, who has won those races by a combined margin of 17 1/4 lengths.

“The scary thing is he’s still immature and he’s still learning,” said trainer Kathleen O’Connell. “I got a little nervous when they posted those early fractions, but I could see he was doing it easily, and then he just pulled away at the end.”

Jalen Journey ran his opening half-mile in 44.95 seconds and six furlongs in 1:09.22 before completing the mile in an eye-catching 1:34.47. Jalen Journey got a Beyer of 98, matching what he earned for his previous win.

“I really don’t want to turn him back in distance and really believe he can get two turns, but there aren’t a lot of other options right now, so the Smile is a race we will have to consider,” O’Connell advised.