HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer George Weaver said he considered entering his impressive debut maiden winner Epic Summer in Friday’s entry-level allowance race going seven furlongs, as several of his colleagues opted to do, rather than wait another 24 hours for Saturday’s $175,000 Mucho Macho Man Stakes on the Gulfstream Park dirt. But it was Weaver’s desire to see if his horse could handle stretching out to a mile, with some important two-turn races just around the corner in the division, that prompted his decision to try Epic Summer against eight other 3-year-olds in the Mucho Macho Man, which shares top billing on the card with the $175,000 Ginger Brew for 3-year-old fillies, also at a mile, on the turf. The Mucho Macho Man is a prep for the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes here Jan. 31. Epic Summer withstood an early pace duel before drawing away to a 3 1/4-length victory going 6 1/2 furlongs in his only previous start Oct. 26 at Aqueduct. For that, he received an 80 Beyer Speed Figure after defeating both Schoolyardsuperman and Nearly, both of whom flattered the effort by winning their subsequent starts in one-sided fashion as well. :: Play Gulfstream Park with confidence! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports are available now.  “He’s kind of an idle horse who only does what you ask him to do, so we weren’t sure what he was going to do in his first start. So, obviously, we were very pleased with his performance,” Weaver said. “He not only ran a very nice race, but if they went further, he was going to open up more on them, which gives us confidence he can handle the extra distance.” Weaver entered Epic Summer in an allowance event here Dec. 6 but had to scratch his horse the morning of the race. “It was a beautiful spot. I was looking forward to running him, but when we put him on the van to ship down from Palm Beach Downs, he broke out in hives,” Weaver said. “He’d never done it before and hasn’t done it since. We still don’t know what caused the problem. Hopefully, he doesn’t do it again this time.” As for staying a mile, Weaver feels his horse has the breeding to do so, being out of an Empire Maker mare, while also feeling confident he can rate off the pace despite engaging for command right off the bat in his debut. Epic Summer will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione in the Mucho Macho Man. “I’m not going to tie Tyler’s hands, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him sit a little off it a bit if he can this time,” Weaver said. Epic Summer could vie for favoritism in the Mucho Macho Man with Commandment, an easy and relatively well-graded maiden winner at second asking going seven furlongs Nov. 1 at Churchill Downs for trainer Brad Cox. He will break from the rail with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard. Cabourg, Roger That Dana, and Blame Yasself all figure to assure a lively pace scenario. Cabourg led until deep stretch before dropping a neck decision to Timeless Victory going a mile under allowance conditions last month. Roger That Dana has been idle since setting the pace into the stretch before fading to finish a well-beaten third going 1 1/16 miles in the In Reality on Nov. 29, while Blame Yasself led at every call to win his only previous start going seven furlongs Nov. 15. A contested pace could favor Tripp’s Promise, who rallied to finish third behind the undefeated Stop the Car going a mile five weeks earlier at Churchill Downs. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Ginger Brew Spirit Doll and Sister Troienne, who closed their juvenile campaigns with relatively easy stakes victories locally, are strictly the ones to beat in the Ginger Brew. Spirit Doll turned in a huge effort making her turf and two-turn debut in the one-mile Our Dear Peggy, blowing by the leaders turning for home en route to a 6 1/2-length victory, for which she received a career-best 74 Beyer Figure. “She was impressive, more impressive than we envisioned in her first start on turf,” admitted her trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr. “She has grass pedigree, but she trained well on the dirt, so that’s why we started her out there first.” Spirit Doll was scheduled to meet Sister Troienne on Nov. 27 in the Wait a While, only to be scratched when the race was switched from grass to the Tapeta course. She is one of two fillies Joseph will run in the Ginger Brew, along with R Slew of Cash, who finished third, beaten 3 3/4 lengths by Sister Troienne, in the Wait a While. Sister Troienne closed her 2-year-old campaign winning three straight races by a combined 11 lengths, the first two of those victories on the grass and the last as a prohibitive 3-5 favorite in the Wait a While. “I think she can run on just about anything. She’s just a very nice filly, and I wouldn’t hesitate to run her on the dirt if the occasion ever rose,” trainer Brian Lynch said of Sister Troienne. “But we’re not going to try to fix something that’s not broken at the moment.” Like Joseph, Lynch also entered a pair of fillies in the race, with Storm’s Wake looking to bounce back from a very disappointing sixth-place finish in the Our Dear Peggy after launching her career with a pair of turf wins in Kentucky. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.