Off long layoff, Dreamlike tries new surface in 5-year-old debut

Dreamlike, a graded stakes-placed runner for trainer Todd Pletcher, will make his 5-year-old debut in a $56,000 allowance at Gulfstream Park on Sunday. He was gelded in January and is returning from a layoff of nearly 10 months to make his first career start on a synthetic track.

As a 3-year-old maiden in 2023, Dreamlike finished third by a head in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial. Later that year, he finished second in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and participated in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. His 4-year-old season only lasted three races, ending with an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs on June 29.

Dreamlike has never raced on anything besides dirt in his 10-race career. Between the surface switch, long layoff, and his new status as a gelding, he will enter the allowance at Gulfstream Sunday with multiple adjustments to make. There are smaller changes to consider, too. Irad Ortiz Jr., his go-to rider for most of his career, will be in Kentucky and Arkansas this weekend, leaving jockey Joe Bravo to pick up the mount in Florida.

Returning in an allowance certainly provides class relief for a runner accustomed to graded-stakes company, but even if Dreamlike returns sharp as the 8-5 morning line favorite, this won’t be a walkover by any means.

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King d’Oro, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Jose D’Angelo, has won three of his last four starts at Gulfstream, with all of those victories coming on the synthetic track. D’Angelo claimed King d’Oro out of a turf race for $25,000 last October.

His recent string of victories has forced him to gradually step up in class, but he has responded to each challenge well, with a consistent running style from off the pace.

“I know the race Sunday isn’t easy, but I think he’s doing pretty well and getting to the inside should work perfect for him,” D’Angelo said. “He’s a fighter.”

In February, King d’Oro won by a neck over Talbingo, a 4-year-old gelding who has now won three of four career starts. On Sunday, King d’Oro will stretch out to 1 1/8 miles, a distance he has previously only tried on the turf, but his recent performances around 1 1/16 miles suggest that he can handle it. He is listed as the 5-2 second choice on Sunday.

Dear Dad, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Mark Casse, and Soulmate, a 9-year-old gelding trained by Martin Drexler, both figure as outside contenders. Dear Dad just missed in a similar allowance race on the Tapeta course in February, finishing a half-length behind Tucson, another talented runner in Pletcher’s barn.

Soulmate won a synthetic marathon going 1 1/2 miles at Woodbine in December and last raced on this Gulfstream surface in February, winning a starter allowance by 2 3/4 lengths.

Drexler also entered the 5-year-old gelding Jim’s Hope, who hasn’t run since winning a $25,000 claiming race at Woodbine in December.

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