Rematches likely in Florida Sire Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The winners in the first round of Florida Sire Stakes events for juveniles can be expected to face some of the same horses who chased them home Saturday at Gulfstream.

Go Astray was a 10-1 winner of the fillies division, the $100,000 Desert Vixen, while the heavily favored runner-up, Awesome Mass, was compromised after grabbing a front quarter at the start of the six-furlong race.

“She tore up both sides of the foot pretty good,” said Stanley Gold, the trainer of Awesome Mass. “I’m hoping it won’t keep her from running in the next race,” the $200,000 Susan’s Girl on Sept. 2. “We’ll have to miss a few extra days with her, and then we’ll see how she responds. Something like that bothers some horses, and some act like it’s nothing.”

The colts-and-geldings counterpart, the $100,000 Dr. Fager, was won some 30 minutes later by Phantom Ro, with the Gold-trained Dunk finishing second in a three-way scramble, just ahead of Soutache and Majestic Secret. All four are likely to run back in the $200,000 Affirmed on Sept. 2.

Gulfstream officials reported all-sources handle of $8.2 million for the 13-race Saturday card, up 6 percent from the corresponding program last year.

Galleon Mast in a photo

Besides the Tangelo, a 12-race Sunday card included the $75,000 Eight Miles East Stakes for older turf horses, with Galleon Mast narrowly prevailing in a hard-fought battle with My Point Exactly.

Leading jockey Tyler Gaffalione was aboard Galleon Mast for owner Anne Scott and trainer David Fawkes in the one-mile race, which was run in 1:33.66 over a firm course. It was the fifth win in 18 career starts for Galleon Mast, who earned an 89 Beyer.

Well-matched Thursday feature

There’s no clear-cut favorite in the lone allowance on a 10-race Thursday card that kicks off another four-day race week at Gulfstream, with more than half of the eight filly-and-mare sprinters meriting solid chances. Main players in the $43,000 headliner include Rich Mommy, Sweet Tooth Haven, Fergielicious, and Truge.

The nominal race 9 feature is part of a Rainbow 6 sequence (races 5-10) that offers a $71,515 rollover jackpot. First post is 1:15 p.m. Eastern.

Jockeys nearing milestones

Jockey Jesus Rios, who bookended the Sunday card by winning the first race on Venezuelantreasure ($8.80) and the last race on Lady Freedom ($17.60), is just two away from the 2,000-win mark, according to Equibase statistics. Most of Rios’s wins came in his native Puerto Rico; he has 482 wins since he began riding in the U.S. in 2009.

Similarly, Edgard Zayas could hit the 1,000-win milestone sometime this week, as his triumph aboard Gunnevera in the Tangelo Stakes on Sunday was the 996th of a career that began in 2012.