Lovely Luvy wins Ginger Punch; Hot Blooded takes Soldier's Dancer
Lovely Luvy was a half-length winner over stablemate Sugar Fix to give trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. a sweep of the top two spots in the $65,000 Ginger Punch on Sunday at Gulfstream Park.
The race was one of two stakes on the card, with Hot Blooded ($17.60) winning the $65,000 Soldier’s Dancer. The Florida-bred stakes were both scheduled for 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, but were moved to the Tapeta and contested at one mile, 70 yards.
The card also featured a mandatory payout in the Rainbow 6 jackpot and tickets with 6 of 6 returned $62,565. The pool was more than $3.5 million, according to an announcement made by Gulfstream. The winning numbers were 2-7-7-3-2-12.
Lovely Luvy ($6.80) trailed the field for much of the Ginger Punch for fillies and mares, with Tracy Ann’s Legacy setting a pressured pace of 24.12 for the opening quarter, 48.68 for the half-mile and 1:12.86 for six furlongs. Lovely Luvy came five wide into the stretch and worked past 3-5 favorite Sugar Fix in the late stages to cover the distance on a fast track in 1:41.53.
Junior Alvarado was aboard for Sonata Stable.
Lovely Luvy is a daughter of He’s Had Enough. She has now won 5 of 33 starts for earnings of $308,333.
Hot Blooded made a splash in his synthetic track debut when he won the Soldier’s Dancer by a half-length over Me and Mr. C. It was another half-length back in third to Uno Tiger.
Hot Blooded settled off the pace set by Shivaree, who took the field through an opening quarter in 23.73 seconds and a half-mile in 47.97. Max K.O., the favorite, moved to the fore through six furlongs in 1:12.02 as Hot Blooded advanced and unleashed a serious closing kick to catch that one and Me and Mr. C. The winner covered the distance in a posted 1:41.49.
Miguel Vasquez was aboard for trainer Carlos David.
Hot Blooded is a son of Declaration of War who is owned by Palm Beach Racing Partnership. He has now won 3 of 17 starts for earnings of $177,840.