Liam's Lucky Charm capable fill-in for Nicks in Dr. Fager Stakes

Ralph Nicks had hoped to make the Dr. Fager Stakes with Positively Awesome, but no such luck. Instead, Nicks will send out Liam’s Lucky Charm when the 2019 Florida Sire Stakes series gets under way Saturday at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.

Positively Awesome “came up with a little shin problem” after winning the Kodiak Island on closing day of the Gulfstream spring meet, Nicks said. “He’s a talented horse, and we’ll look forward to having him back for the fall.”

Liam’s Lucky Charm, a 6 3/4-length maiden winner in June for the Stonehedge LLC of Gilbert Campbell, is among the top challengers to likely favorite Chance It in the Dr. Fager. Chance It, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in a maiden romp on the June 29 Summit of Speed undercard.

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Nicks said that Liam’s Lucky Charm “has moved forward” since his maiden win.

“I don’t know if we can catch Saffie in there, but we’ll see,” he said.

The $100,000 Dr. Fager and its sister race, the $100,000 Desert Vixen, open the annual Florida Sire Stakes, which is restricted to eligible 2-year-olds and dates to 1982. Entries for both six-furlong races were to be drawn Wednesday.

Stonehedge will be represented by the probable Desert Vixen favorite in Lenzi’s Lucky Lady, trained by Kathleen O’Connell. The homebred filly is unbeaten in two starts, ending with a 5 1/4-length score in the June 28 Golden Isles.

Subsequent dates in the $1.4 million Sire Stakes series are Aug. 31, when the $200,000 Affirmed and $200,000 Susan’s Girl are run at seven furlongs, and Sept. 28, when the $400,000 In Reality and $400,000 My Dear Girl are run at 1 1/16 miles.

Two allowances on tap

A pair of $47,000 optional claimers for 3-year-olds and up are the highlights of a nine-race Friday card that gets away at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.

Race 3 will have Wingman going for a fourth straight victory when entered for a $25,000 claiming tag. The 6-year-old gelding was claimed from his last start by Bob Bone and will be making his first start for trainer Fernando Abreu when he faces six others at a mile on turf.

Race 6 could have Allurstra as the favorite in a field of seven Florida-breds going 5 1/2 furlongs on the main track. It’s part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 4-9), which had a jackpot of $356,445 when a rare five-day race week began Wednesday.

◗ Apprentice Miguel Arroyo notched his first riding triumph when Stay Again rallied to win the fourth race Saturday at Gulfstream. It was the 13th career mount for Arroyo, who was born in Peru and grew up in Miami Gardens, Fla.

◗ A rare double dead heat occurred Sunday in the last race at Gulfstream when the photo-finish camera couldn’t separate Karenina and Oblio’s Wish for third, nor Mi Karlita and Regal Romance for fifth.