HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The much-anticipated return of Chance It will finally take place Saturday at Gulfstream Park when the undisputed local 2-year-old champion of 2019 launches his 3-year-old campaign in the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man. The one-mile Mucho Macho Man lured a very strong field of seven and is the last of five stakes on an 11-race program that begins at noon. Nobody has anticipated getting Chance It back to the races more than his trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr., who had to endure a couple of roadblocks since the multiple stakes winner dominated the 1 1/16-mile In Reality by 7 1/4 lengths here on Sept. 28. Chance It missed a scheduled start in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club after having his training briefly disrupted due to a minor illness, and then missed the Springboard Mile at Remington Park three weeks ago due to the equine herpesvirus outbreak at that track. Chance It, who has trained regularly and at times spectacularly for his comeback, captured three of five starts at 2, taking the six-furlong Dr. Fager along with In Reality after winning his maiden in June. He missed sweeping the Florida Sire Series by a head, the margin Liam’s Lucky Charm beat him in the seven-furlong Affirmed, a setback Chance It readily avenged in the In Reality. “We had always planned to skip the Breeders’ Cup after the In Reality and give him a break,” said Joseph, who trains Chance It for Shooting Star Thoroughbreds. “He just wound up getting a longer break than we expected because of the circumstances. He’s really gotten some solid works under him. I really feel he’s gotten back to his ‘A’ game over the past month, but coming off a layoff like this, it’s always in the back of your mind whether you have him fit enough.” Joseph said he doesn’t believe turning Chance It back to a one-turn mile on Saturday will prove an issue for the versatile son of Currency Swap. “There are some solid horses in this race, this will be his first time going up against open company, and it will be no walk in the park,” said Joseph. “But the distance shouldn’t be an issue. The ability is definitely there and he has relaxed really well in his works. He’d sit off a target, and when we asked him he was gone, which is an ability he’ll need to have in the better races. The only question I have is if he’s tight enough coming off the long break.” Chance It will break from post 2 under jockey Tyler Gaffalione while conceding from two to six pounds to his six rivals under the allowance conditions of the race. Among his opponents is South Bend, who won his first three starts including the one-mile Street Sense at Churchill Downs before suffering his lone defeat in the Kentucky Jockey Club over a sloppy track at Churchill Downs on Nov. 30. He is drawn inside Chance It on the rail with regular rider Julien Leparoux aboard. “He overcame a lot in his early races, all three of them, really,” said trainer Stanley Hough. “It’s not like he ran like some freak, but he did come from way off of it and found a way to win. The Jockey Club was a very disappointing race. It was on a muddy racetrack. I’m not sure if he disliked the track or the two turns. He didn’t run his race for whatever reason.” The late-striding South Bend should have plenty of pace to run at in the Mucho Macho Man. Along with Chance It, who figures to be forwardly placed from the outset, the field includes the speedy pair of As Seen On Tv and Smash Factor, both of whom are also expected to prompt the early-running Inter Miami. As Seen On Tv has improved with every start from a Beyer standpoint, topping off his brief but successful 2-year-old campaign earning a 91 for his 1 1/2-length triumph over Smash Factor in the 6 1/2-furlong Juvenile Sprint eight weeks ago at Gulfstream Park West. Trainer Kelly Breen believes the added distance will be a plus for the son of Lookin At Lucky, who tries a mile for the first time on Saturday. “His breeding suggests the further he goes the better, being out of a Pulpit mare,” said Breen. “That’s what we thought when we first bought him. That he was a two-turn horse.” The most intriguing member of the lineup may be the undefeated stakes winner Sole Volante, who makes his main track debut in the Mucho Macho Man. A lively pace scenario would also play into his favor. He comes off a last-to-first two-length victory in the one-mile Pulpit on turf here Nov. 30. New York invader Ashaar, who finished a distant fifth as the surprising 9-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Nashua in his 2-year-old finale, and Inter Miami, runaway winner against maiden $50,000 claiming opposition in his only start, complete the lineup.