Romans comes into Holy Bull off three-win weekend
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Long before Saffie Joseph Jr. stole the show, winning three of the last four graded stakes on the Saturday card, including the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, it was trainer Dale Romans who held the spotlight. Romans won back-to-back stakes during the early portion of the 13-race Pegasus program, the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint with Coppola and the South Beach Stakes with Dreaming of Mo.
Coppola has found himself a home over the local turf course, having won his last four starts here, all stakes, over the inner strip. The streak includes the 2024 Turf Sprint, which he captured by rallying to victory from near the rear of the field, a far different strategy than he employed when successfully defending his title in wire-to wire fashion on Saturday.
“He loves this racetrack and he loves five-eighths of a mile, it’s a pretty good combination for him,” Romans said shortly before sending out Cyclone Mischief to an impressive allowance victory over the main track on Sunday. “We broke and won from the outside with him the previous time [Janus Stakes], so we weren’t going to change anything this time. I’ve never had a horse go a half-mile in 42 and change before and keep going like he did.”
Romans is uncertain of what is next for Coppola but did acknowledge he has been nominated for the Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup undercard on April 5 at Meydan.
While Coppola went postward as the 2-1 favorite in the Turf Sprint, Dreaming of Mo came as a bit of a pleasant surprise for Romans, finishing strongly along the inside under Javier Castellano to upset the South Beach at odds of 6-1 for her first stakes victory in 14 career starts.
“She was training that good, put it all together, got a perfect trip and a perfect ride from Javier,” Romans said. “I think she’s going to have a big future.”
Romans is hoping to stay hot through Saturday when he sends out Kinetic Control against six rivals in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, the first of two major 3-year-old preps to be decided here leading up to the $1 million Florida Derby on March 29.
Kinetic Control comes into the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull off a wire-to-wire, 1 1/2-length maiden win going the same distance in his 2-year-old finale on Nov. 23 at Churchill Downs. Romans is confident his Kentucky Derby hopeful can build off that performance in his 3-year-old bow.
“I think he’s going to run big in there,” Romans predicted. “I didn’t think he’d be on the lead in his last start. I just told him [jockey Corey Lanerie] to let him run out of there because he’d had some traffic problems in his previous two starts. I’m looking for him to move forward in a big way the way he’s been training here.”
Kinetic Control is one of two Derby hopefuls Romans has locally along with Keep It Easy, a one-sided winner of the 6 1/2-furlong Ed Brown Stakes at Churchill in his 2-year-old finale who Romans said will make his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth here March 1.
The Holy Bull is the most important of five stakes for 3-year-olds to be decided on Saturday’s 12-race program. The important Kentucky Derby prep drew a field of seven, topped by the multiple Grade 1-placed Ferocious, idle since his troubled fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and Guns Loaded, a popular, wire-to-wire winner of the one-mile Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 4.
The remainder of the Holy Bull lineup includes He’s Not Joking, runaway winner of the Grade 3 Grey Stakes over a synthetic track during the fall at Woodbine, along with last-out maiden winners Tappan Street, Burning Glory, and Burnham Square.
Casse sends out four winners
Trainer Mark Casse was the No. 1 star here Sunday, sending out four winners on the 11-race card, starting with Sugar Buzz in the opener and continuing with Lord of War (fifth race), Corruption (sixth race), and Classic Q, who registered an impressive maiden win over the turf in the finale.
Casse’s big day upped his win total to 24 for the meet, vaulting him into second place in the Championship meet standings behind only perennial leader Joseph, who has amassed 31 victories.
Dilger likely favorite
Racing resumes Wednesday with a nine-race program topped by a $96,000 allowance and optional-claiming feature to be decided by older horses at seven furlongs on the main track. The race lured a field of just six starters, with Dilger likely to be favored off a third-place finish in the seven-furlong Harrods Creek Stakes on Sept. 21 at Churchill.
Dilger, who is trained by Joseph, finished behind only 2024 Iowa Derby winner Henro and the graded stakes-placed Jefferson Street in his 3-year-old finale. He could face his stiffest challenges from recent maiden winners Into Pleasure and Top Gun Rocket.
Into Pleasure has been gelded since earning his diploma at second asking with an 84 Beyer Speed Figure in his 2-year-old finale on Dec. 21 for trainer Brian Lynch. The effort was flattered when the runner-up, the Romans-trained Wistucky, returned to defeat similar competition by 10 lengths in his next start.
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