One Liner returns from layoff in one of three Thursday allowances

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It must be a big week at Gulfstream Park. How else to explain an 11-race card on a Thursday that includes three allowances?

Indeed, with the inaugural Pegasus World Cup set for Saturday, the Gulfstream racing office has been intent on stepping up the quality of racing as this historic event approaches. Ten races are the norm for Thursdays, sometimes even without so much as one allowance.

The first Thursday allowance (race 4) is a $48,000, six-furlong race for 3-year-olds that features the return of One Liner for WinStar Farm and the China Horse Club. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the Into Mischief colt was impressive in winning his career debut in July at Saratoga and now returns from a six-month layoff.

“One Liner is doing well, and we’re excited to have him back,” WinStar president Elliott Walden said. “He bucked his shins in that first race at Saratoga and hasn’t missed a beat since we brought him back.”

One Liner will have John Velazquez aboard when breaking from post 6 as a solid favorite. The colt has had six workouts at Pletcher’s winter base, Palm Beach Downs, since mid-December.

Back-to-back $49,000 allowances follow later in the day as races 8 and 9.

The eighth race, scheduled for 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, could have Dad’s Princess as a lukewarm favorite in a field of 11 fillies and mares. Dropping in class after five straight starts in stakes company, she’s one of two 5-year-old mares entered in this spot by trainer Patrick Biancone, along with Vendita.

In addition, Peru, a British-bred getting first-time Lasix while making her stateside debut for Christophe Clement, figures to draw close scrutiny from Gulfstream bettors, as do Elegant Supermodel and Somethingelse.

The ninth race drew an evenly matched field of seven going six furlongs, with He’s Got Talent and Flashy Jewel likely to vie for favoritism in a lineup that also includes Yellow Chips and Island Town as viable contenders.

As usual, the 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence encompasses the last six races of the day (races 6-11). First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern, with the final race set for 5:32.