Limehouse loaded with speed, one of four undercard stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – If you think Gulfstream Park offers a multitude of stakes every Saturday during its championship meet, you’d be a little more than half-right: four or more stakes are scheduled on 10 of the 18 Saturdays at the 2019-20 meet.

To that point, five stakes, all for 3-year-olds, are carded this particular Saturday, with the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man (race 10 of 11) being a deserved focal point. The other four directly precede it on a program that starts at noon Eastern, with all five being included in a 20-cent Rainbow 6 wager (races 6-11) that into Thursday boasted a carryover jackpot of more than $1.3 million.

In order, here’s a rundown of those supporting stakes:

$75,000 Limehouse

There’s a ton of speed in this six-furlong race, so early tactics should prove critical to the outcome. Zaino Boyz and Cajun Casanova figure to set sail from the two outer posts in a field of six when they are rematched out of the Inaugural at Tampa Bay Downs four weeks ago. They’ll help to establish the tempo in a lineup that also includes Shivaree, who earned a field-high 88 Beyer Speed Figure when capturing the Buffalo Man on opening day.

“We’ll just have to see how it sets up with him being in the one-hole,” said Ralph Nicks, who trains Shivaree for the Jacks or Better Farm of owner-breeder Fred Brei.

Indeed, Emisael Jaramillo will have decisions to make aboard Shivaree. In the six-furlong Buffalo Man, Shivaree contested all the pace, fighting back after seemingly beaten in midstretch.

“He’s run from behind before,” said Nicks.

$100,000 Kitten’s Joy

The only graded race of the day, this Grade 3, 7 1/2-furlong turf race seems a prime example as to why handicappers enjoy delving into Gulfstream racing: eight of the nine entries raced over different surfaces in their last start.

The poster child for this fascinating mix-and-match dynamic is Yesterdayoncemore, the lone filly in a field of nine otherwise made up of seven colts and one gelding. Yesterdayoncemore will be making her first start in the care of trainer Patrick Biancone after having last raced in California, where in September she won a two-turn turf stakes at Del Mar.

“We gave her time to acclimatize, let her relax and enjoy the weather in Florida,” said Biancone. “She’s really, really talented.”

Other top contenders in a well-matched cast include Irish Mias, winner of the Laurel Futurity in September; Island Commish, a three-time winner from five starts; and the uncoupled Todd Pletcher duo of Mystic Lancealot and Summer to Remember.

The Kitten’s Joy is named for the 2004 turf champion campaigned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who have won two of the seven runnings with Charming Kitten (2013) and Kitten’s Cat (2017). The Ramseys are represented here by Bless the Kitten, a last-out maiden winner over the Churchill Downs turf.

$75,000 Glitter Woman

The respective one-two finishers in the opening-day House Party, Spanish Point and Sound Machine, are rematched among a field of eight fillies in a 6 1/2-furlong race that’s a sixteenth of a mile longer than its male counterpart, the Limehouse.

Spanish Point, based at Palm Meadows with Jorge Abreu, got first run on favored Sound Machine in the House Party and stayed unbeaten in two career starts. She’ll have Jaramillo back aboard when she breaks from post 6, while Tyler Gaffalione regains the mount on Sound Machine, who leaves from post 8.

Fringe players include Tale of Success and Lady Anna, two of four in here entered off a maiden win.

$100,000 Ginger Brew

This is probably the deepest of the five stakes, with Grade 1 winner Abscond and a number of other promising turf fillies being part of a field of 12 in this opposite number to the Kitten’s Joy.

Abscond, trained by Eddie Kenneally, ran seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf after prevailing in a three-horse photo in the Grade 1 Natalma at Woodbine. She’ll have Irad Ortiz Jr. back aboard and is likely to be sent away a lukewarm choice in a 7 1/2-furlong turf race, which follows her five interim workouts at Palm Meadows.

Others sure to draw interest include Cheermeister, Sunset Promise, and American Giant – the respective 1-2-4 finishers in the opening-day Wait a While – along with a pair of last-out maiden winners, Moral Reasoning for Chad Brown and She’s My Type for Christophe Clement.