Mattingly safe at home in Hollywood Beach
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although he had more lucrative options out of town for his promising 2-year-old Mattingly, trainer Joe Orseno opted for some home cooking instead, entering the multiple stakes-placed youngster against six others in the $65,000 Hollywood Beach Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The Hollywood Beach will be decided at five furlongs over the Tapeta course.
Mattingly opened his career with a huge effort in the Royal Palm Stakes on turf here May 13 only to have the misfortune of running into and finishing second best behind No Nay Mets in a race that offered an automatic berth to compete the following month at Royal Ascot. No Nay Mets is now a three-time stakes winner, having captured turf stakes at both Monmouth Park and Colonial Downs following his ninth-place finish in the Grade 2 Norfolk at Ascot.
Orseno switched Mattingly to the Tapeta track to win his maiden by nearly six lengths six weeks later before shipping the speedy son of Bucchero to Woodbine, where he finished second behind the still undefeated, stretch-running filly Pipit after being hard-used contesting a grueling pace from the outset of the 5 1/2-furlong Victoria Stakes.
“It’s a shame that other horse decided to go with us in the race at Woodbine, he just wore us down, although to our colt’s credit he kept running even though he was exhausted at the end,” Orseno said. “I freshened him up after that and nominated to turf stakes at both Keeneland and Aqueduct as possible preps for the Breeders’ Cup, although ultimately decided he’d probably benefit coming back here and breezing over the Tapeta, which he really likes.
“And he worked so well over it the other day, I just decided to stay and run here rather than start shipping him around again.”
Although Mattingly has been on or with the lead in all three previous starts, Orseno said he doesn’t believe he needs to be in front to win.
“He drew right where I wanted, in the middle of the field (post 4), from where I think he can sit and get a stalking trip, that would be perfect for him,” Orseno said.
The Hollywood Beach came up a very competitive event and also includes three last-out maiden winners over the Tapeta – Esperon, Hermoso Hombre, and El Principito – along with Prevent and Okiro, who finished second and third, respectively, behind the odds-on favorite and still undefeated Grand Mo the First under entry-level allowance conditions over the synthetic strip on Sept. 1.
◗ Choose Joy will go postward the likely favorite and starting highweight at 123 pounds in Saturday’s co-feature, a $60,000 overnight handicap to be contested at 5 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta track.
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Choose Joy, who has had the bulk of her success over the last several seasons on grass, will be making only her third start over the synthetic track and first since finishing a tiring sixth as the tepid favorite in a similarly conditioned overnight handicap here June 17.
She did capture her only previous outing on Tapeta nearly two years ago but sustained a soft-tissue injury that kept her sidelined for the next 17 months.
The in-form David’s Rose, the only other member of the field who has won over a synthetic track, also is likely to garner plenty of support as should the idled Alwayz Late and speedy Baby Steps.
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