Morning Calm well suited for Gleaming distance but an erratic performer
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – On his best day, Morning Calm is certainly good enough to win Saturday’s $75,000 Gleaming Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The question is, will Morning Calm bring his “A” game for the overnight stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf?
Morning Calm is a stakes winner but is winless since capturing the Raymond Earl Handicap, also at 12 furlongs, over this course one year ago.
“He certainly can be a little frustrating, and he’s definitely better the further he goes because sometimes it takes him a while to get his mind into the race,” said Michelle Nihei, who trains the New York-bred Morning Calm for Great Hill Stables. “He’s kind of like a high-school athlete who only tries enough to make the team. You just have to get him to outperform his own expectations. He certainly has run some races in the past that would be good enough to beat this field.”
Morning Calm faces seven rivals in the Gleaming, a group led by Xaverian, who finished sixth behind Kaigun in the Grade 2 Pan American in his last start, and Quiet Force, a Grade 3 winner haltered for $35,000 by his present connections here last winter.
Xaverian, like Morning Calm, has run some big races against top-flight competition but is winless since July 2014.
“It’s a shame he doesn’t have any wins for us because he’s been in so many close finishes or had bad trips, races he could have and should have won,” said trainer Chuck Simon. “He got beat four lengths in his last start by a horse who just won a Grade 1 in New York, so I figure he should have a pretty good shot in this spot.”
Gleaming, Race 4
Key Contenders
Morning Calm, by Broken Vow
Last 3 Beyers: 88-87-76
◗ He’s not only the lone member of the field with a win at this grueling distance, but he’s also got a victory at 1 7/16 miles on his résumé and should be running best of all at the end.
Xaverian, by Sky Mesa
Last 3 Beyers: 92-92-95
◗ He ran arguably the best race of his career when finishing second behind the odds-on Charming Kitten going two miles in the Allen Jerkens on Jan. 23. Simon served as a longtime assistant for Jerkens before striking out on his own in 1999.
Quiet Force, by Dynaformer
Last 3 Beyers: 87-88-86
◗ He’ll try three turns for the first time since finishing far back in the Grade 1 Turf Classic last fall at Belmont Park.