Last Leaf leads trainer's 1-2 sweep of Game Face Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Last Leaf registered a convincing 3 1/2-length victory over her uncoupled stablemate, the 6-5 favorite Freedom Speaks, giving trainer Ron Spatz a sweep of the first two positions in Saturday’s $75,000 Game Face Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Last Leaf, far and away the more experienced and accomplished of the Spatz duo, rated off the early leaders under regular rider Miguel Vasquez. The versatile and graded stakes-placed 3-year-old filly rallied three wide to stick her head in front approaching the stretch, and turned back a bid from Freedom Speaks turning for home before readily increasing her advantage to the wire.

Freedom Speaks, who captured her only previous start in easy fashion racing over the Tapeta surface five weeks ago, broke a bit slow and was forced to race wide thereafter. She momentarily stuck her head in front while widest leaving the turn, but proved no match for the winner while remaining second-best despite racing a bit greenly down the lane.

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Rapturous, slowest to begin, also came well wide off the turn, rallying mildly to best the others.

The Game Face was the third career stakes win for Last Leaf, a daughter of Not This Time owned by Monarch Stables Inc. Her two previous stakes victories came on the grass. She completed 6 1/2 furlongs over the fast track in 1:16.78 and paid $10.80.

“Going in I thought Last Leaf had the perfect post position for her, she likes it out there and not getting a lot of dirt in her face,” Spatz said. “And the other filly (Freedom Speaks) didn’t have a very good trip. She got off a little slow, she stumbled a little, she got shut off and got bumped. Everything happened and she still ran a very good race. She’s a real nice filly. With a better trip it might have been a closer finish for the two of them. Maybe the dead heat I was hoping for.”