Moonlite Strike takes Roar Stakes, Shifty She first in Powder Break
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. sent out the first three finishers in Saturday’s $75,000 Roar Stakes at Gulfstream Park, just not in the order either he or the betting public expected.
Moonlite Strike parlayed a pace-stalking trip into a fairly convincing 3 1/4-length victory over Lauda Speed with Collaborate finishing a disappointing third following a bit of an eventful trip as the 2-5 favorite in a scratch-reduced field of just five 3-year-olds who contested the 6 1/2-furlong Roar.
Moonlite Strike was the highest priced of the three Joseph trainees, going postward at 7-1. He paid $17.20 after completing the distance in 1:17.15 over a fast track.
“I’m glad to win. I train the three horses for three different ownerships although, to be honest with you, I thought because of my knowledge, having trained them all, that Collaborate was the best of the three," Joseph said after the race.
"And it was a little disappointing seeing him perform like he did. Moonlite Strike obviously has good form lines, and Lauda Speed I thought was the third best of them. The first two both ran good. In my opinion, Collaborate was disappointing.”
Joseph acknowledged that Collaborate, who broke slow and raced wide, didn’t have the best of trips, but offered no excuse for the favorite after the race.
“For the class he has, he should have run better even with the trip,” Joseph said. “Maybe I made a mistake running him too short, that he really wants to go a mile. It’s hard to see Lauda Speed beating him. Not that he’s a bad horse, but in the morning, when they work together, he beats him every time. In one sense you’re happy to finish one-two-three, but in another you feel bad for one of the owners. That’s just horse racing.”
Joseph returned several hours later to complete a sweep of the afternoon’s two stakes races when Shifty She rallied from off the pace of stablemate Katama Moonlight to upset the $75,000 Powder Break for older fillies and mares on the turf. Shifty She held off the 8-5 favorite Morning Molly to win by a neck with Mo of the West finishing another three parts of a length farther back in third.
Shifty Sue, a lightly raced daughter of Gone Astray, joined Joseph’s stable earlier this year, finishing a tiring fourth following an extended pace duel making her first start in 16 months under allowance conditions on April 9. Shifty She was ridden to victory by Edwin Gonzalez and paid $24.40 after completing the distance over a “good” course in 1:34.62.