Mucho Macho Man sends 3-year-olds on road to Florida Derby
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla – Seven 3-year-olds will take their first step on the road to the $1 million Florida Derby on April 2, Gulfstream Park’s marquee event, when they square off at a mile in Saturday’s $150,000 Mucho Macho Man Stakes.
The Mucho Macho Man is the last of five stakes on Saturday’s card, all for 3-year-olds, and the first of three major 3-year-old preps here prior to the Florida Derby. The others are the Grade 2 Holy Bull (Feb. 5) and Grade 2 Fountain of Youth (March 5).
The other stakes on the card, each worth $100,000, are the Cash Run and Ginger Brew for fillies, and the Dania Beach and Limehouse for 3-year-olds. Post time for Saturday’s 11-race program is noon.
White Abarrio and My Prankster are the most prominent horses among the 19 nominees for the Mucho Macho Man, but neither was entered. White Abarrio is awaiting the Holy Bull, and My Prankster will run in the Feb. 5 Swale.
The field for the Mucho Macho Man came up a modest one. It is led by recent allowance winner Strike Hard, sensational maiden winner Simplification, the newly blinkered Skippylongstocking, and debut winner Graphic Detail.
Strike Hard has certainly proven his effectiveness at a mile, having won his maiden at that distance by 2 1/4 lengths on Aug. 29 and a first-level allowance race going a mile by four lengths here four weeks ago. In the allowance, Strike Hard rallied from mid-pack to to defeat trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.’s promising duo of A. P.’s Secret and Skippylongstocking while equipped with blinkers for the first time and despite finishing on his left lead, a trait he showed in previous races.
Strike Hard, a son of Flashback who fetched a bargain $25,000 at the OBS March sale, is trained by Matthew Williams, who like his 3-year-old prospect will be seeking his first stakes win on Saturday.
“I’m going into the race with a lot of confidence,” said Williams, 25, who has had just 143 starters in a training career that began three years earlier. “I definitely think he’s up to the challenge, especially based on his last performance. They regarded A. P.’s Secret very highly and we beat him by four lengths, and did it in good time, too.”
While Joseph will leave White Abarrio and A. P.’s Secret on the bench for the Mucho Macho Man, he will send Skippylongstocking back out for a second time against Strike Hard, this time adding a set of blinkers to the equation. Skippylongstocking is a half-brother to 2021 Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Moonlight Strike.
“The horse that beat him last time beat him pretty convincingly, so we’ll try some blinkers on him and hopefully it will help him jump forward,” said Joseph, who won the 2020 Mucho Macho Man with Chance It. “I know he’s a decent horse. We’re going to give him one more chance to find out, but the question is can he make that jump?”
Simplification became an instant sensation by winning a six-furlong Florida-bred maiden special weight dash by 16 3/4 lengths on Oct. 23. He earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, among the highest of any juvenile in the country. But he was a major disappointment when he wheeled back against open allowance company just three weeks later, finishing a tiring third after contesting the early pace as a 1-5 favorite.
Simplification, who has never raced beyond six furlongs, has put in a couple of stamina-enhancing six-furlong works over the past two weeks.
Graphic Detail will also be trying a mile and stakes competition for the first time in the Mucho Macho Man. Trained by Bill Mott, he rallied to win his only start by a half-length going six furlongs at Belmont Park on Nov. 6.
In the other stakes on the card:
Cash Run Stakes
Joseph has the horse to beat in the Cash Run, for 3-year-old fillies going a mile, with recent maiden winner Surreal Fantasy. She drew off to a 13-length victory going a mile and 40 yards at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 4, earning a 79 Beyer Speed Figure, easily best of the seven fillies in this lineup.
Both Jumeirah and Fast and Flirty also demand consideration. Jumeirah ran second going a mile in the Sorority at Monmouth Park in September, and missed by a neck in an allowance sprint here last out. Fast and Flirty comes off a one-mile maiden victory at Churchill Downs.
Kathleen O. turned in a strong last-to-first rally going seven furlongs at Aqueduct in her only start. That race came on a muddy track, and she will have to prove she can handle a dry track as well.
Limehouse Stakes
Perhaps the most intriguing horse on the card is Of a Revolution, who will get a class test in the Limehouse, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds. Unbeaten in two starts, Of a Revolution makes his stakes bow against more experienced youngsters like two-time stakes runner-up Lightening Larry and three-time winner Concrete Glory.
Of a Revolution won a maiden race here in May, and then didn’t race again until Nov. 13. He overcame trouble at the start that day to defeat a strong allowance field here that included the odds-on Simplification.
Of a Revolution already has Joseph, his trainer, comparing him to his Grade 1 winner Drain the Clock, who captured the 2021 Limehouse.
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“He’s showed us a lot of talent from Day One,” Joseph said. “Around the barn we call him Drain the Clock Jr. He’s all speed. We think he’s going to become a very good sprinter.”
Dania Beach Stakes
The wide-open field of eight in the Dania Beach, for 3-year-olds going a mile on turf, is led by the Todd Pletcher-trained pair of maiden winners Chanceux and Grand Sonata. Other contenders include Biz Biz Buzz, Smokin’ T, and Gingrich.
Grand Sonata owns the best last-race Beyer Speed Figure in the field, a 76 earned for his fifth-place finish in the Central Park Stakes at 1 1/16 miles over the Aqueduct turf on Nov. 27. Chanceux was a wire-to-wire maiden winner over the Aqueduct turf course Nov. 13, and will try to stretch her speed beyond six furlongs for the first time in the Dania Beach.
Biz Biz Buzz, who is also entered in an allowance race on the dirt here Friday, comes off a third-place finish after setting the pace through midstretch of the 7 1/2-furlong Pulpit on the turf here.
Ginger Brew Stakes
Fillies get their chance to go a mile on turf in the Ginger Brew. Opalina will be among the favorites coming off a late running fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Jessamine on the turf at Keeneland, along with the Joseph-trained duo of Strategy Queen and Li Li Bear.
Strategy Queen switches to grass off back-to-back sprint victories over the Tapeta course. She is the only multiple winner in the field.