Maker expecting big things from Zulu Alpha in Pan American

Though he wasn’t initially pointing Zulu Alpha to Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Kitten’s Joy Pan American Stakes at Gulfstream Park, trainer Mike Maker doesn’t feel the 7-year-old’s two dynamic performances earlier this meet will preclude him from offering another top effort in the 1 1/2-mile race.

“He’s a horse that carries a lot of flesh and hasn’t lost any of it off those two efforts,” Maker said Thursday from Kentucky. “I expect another big effort.”

Zulu Alpha stands out as one of the shorter-priced favorites on a sensational 14-race Curlin Florida Derby Day program at Gulfstream Park. He is 4 for 5 over Gulfstream Park’s turf course, including victories this winter in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational on Jan. 25 and the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida on Feb. 29, for which he earned Beyer Speed Figures of 106 and 107, respectively.

Maker was planning to wait to run Zulu Alpha in the Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 4, but that Grade 1 race is now pushed back to September. With racing schedules in flux nationwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, “This is the only place we saw we could run,” Maker said.

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In the Mac Diarmida, Zulu Alpha had a very swift pace to close into, rallying from 14 lengths back. That same pace scenario is unlikely Saturday, but Maker is okay with that provided Zulu Alpha breaks well from post 9 under Tyler Gaffalione.

“Sometimes he’s his own worst enemy leaving the gate, leaving himself too much to do,” Maker said. “I’d like to see him maintain a stalking position.”

One of the biggest threats to Zulu Alpha could be his own stablemate Bemma’s Boy. A 5-year-old gelding by Into Mischief, Bemma’s Boy is coming off a second-place finish with trouble in the Grade 3 John B. Connolly Turf Cup at Sam Houston on Jan. 26.

“He got checked into the first turn, left him further off the pace on a soft pace than you would have liked,” Maker said. “He was the best horse in the race. I expect a real big effort from him.”

Maker also sends out Go Poke the Bear, who is stepping up in class following a first-level allowance win on Jan. 1.

A seeming lack of pace could make Channel Cat dangerous in the Pan American. He hasn’t won since recording a gate-to-wire victory in the Grade 2 Bowling Green at Saratoga last July. He is coming off a 10th-place finish in the Pegasus Turf.

“It was a very roughly run race going into the first turn and he was never able to recover,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We decided to freshen him up a touch, skip the Mac Diarmida with this in mind. He’ll really appreciate getting back to a mile and a half and seems to be coming up to it like he’s ready to go.”

Focus Group, who won this race last year for Chad Brown, is making his first start for Christophe Clement.

Deep field of 12 in Orchid

Elizabeth Way and Mean Mary have combined to go 4 for 4 at this meet but there will be little room for error for either to maintain that perfect mark when they head a deep field of 12 entered in the Grade 3, $100,000 Orchid Stakes at 1 3/8 miles.

Elizabeth Way, an Irish-bred daughter of Frankel trained by Roger Attfield, rallied from last to win a maiden race going 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 19, then scored a front-running victory in the Grade 3 The Very One on Feb. 29. She was double-digit odds both times and is likely to offer little value on Saturday. Moreover, she must carry 124 pounds and break from the outside post under Paco Lopez.

Mean Mary, a 4-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy trained by Graham Motion, won a first-level allowance on Dec. 22 and the Grade 3 La Prevoyante on Jan. 25. She was not necessarily targeting this spot, but wound up here due to the uncertainty over future racing schedules elsewhere. She figures to be a forward factor under Luis Saez.

The Orchid marks the return to the races of Gentle Ruler, who went 6 for 7 last year including four stakes wins. Though she hasn’t been out since last Oct. 20 when she won the Garde 3 Dowager at Keeneland, Gentle Ruler signaled her fitness level when she worked five furlongs in 57.20 seconds over the Palm Meadows turf course on March 16.

“She’s actually come back really nice, I’m very pleased the way she’s worked,” trainer Ian Wilkes said. “She hasn’t run for a while, but she’s a clean-winded filly. I’m quite happy with her fitness level.”

Cap de Creus is only 1 for 12, but she didn’t have a very good trip when beaten just four lengths by Elizabeth Way in the The Very One. She gets a rider switch to Joel Rosario. Beau Belle is another viable longshot. She may have moved too soon and then encountered traffic in upper stretch in the slow-paced Zagora last Nov. 3 at Aqueduct.