Promising Gargan runners to make 3-year-old debuts in turf stakes

Trainer Danny Gargan will use the two overnight turf stakes Saturday at Gulfstream Park as the seasonal debuts for a pair of promising 3-year-old progeny of Kitten’s Joy.

Don Juan Kitten, who went 1 for 2 as a 2-year-old, will make his 3-year-old debut in the $75,000 English Channel Stakes, while Astoria Kitten, who went 1 for 3 as a 2-year-old, will return in the $75,000 Honey Ryder Stakes. Both races are scheduled for 1 1/16 miles.

Don Juan Kitten won his debut Oct. 5 at Belmont Park and then finished third, beaten 1 3/4 lengths, in the Awad Stakes three weeks later.

“I think he can win the race,” Gargan said Wednesday even before the field was finalized and post positions drawn. “I think he’s going to be one of the better horses in the race but he hasn’t run in a long time.”

Gargan said he was going to run Don Juan Kitten in a first-level allowance race earlier this month, but felt the horse needed a few more workouts.

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“His last work on the dirt was really impressive,” Gargan said. “If he’s fit enough, he’s talented enough to win.”

Don Juan Kitten drew post 9 in a race that drew 13 for the turf – it will be limited to 12 starters – and two horses only for the main track.

Also in the field are Doc Boy, a two-time stakes winner; Island Commish, who won three straight races including the Grade 3 Kitten’s Joy; and South Bend and Summer to Remember, second and fourth, respectively, behind Decorated Invader in the Cutler Bay Stakes.

Astoria Kitten, Gargan’s entrant in the Honey Ryder, won her maiden against New York-breds last Sept. 27 in her second career start. She ran fourth in the Chelsey Flower Stakes run over an Aqueduct turf course labeled good on Nov. 3.

“I ran her back a little fast and the turf came up really, really soft that day,” Gargan said. “She’s more of a speed-type horse, and I don’t think that track really suited her. I think this track will suit her. She likes it firm and fast, and that’s what you get at Gulfstream.”

The Honey Ryder, with a field of 12 for the turf, is led by Highland Glory, who is 2 for 2 on turf including a neck victory in the Sanibel Island on the Florida Derby Day undercard.

Micheline, winner of the Sorority Stakes on turf as a maiden last September at Monmouth Park and runner-up in the Sweetest Chant, is another contender.