Seven last-out winners meet in starter allowance
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Seven horses coming off victories in their most recent starts at various class levels will meet up under the same roof in a mid-priced starter allowance on Friday at Gulfstream Park.
The headliner is carded for fillies and mares at one mile on turf, although, with rain earlier in the week and more in the forecast, there is a chance the race could end up being switched to a mile and 70 yards over the Tapeta strip.
Zo Zucchera, who has captured her last two starts, including a $25,000 conditioned claimer by four lengths on the grass here just 12 days earlier, figures to be the public’s choice. She earned a career-best 75 Beyer Speed Figure and was claimed by trainer Jose D’Angelo.
Zo Zucchera is a pace-stalking type who figures to sit a nice trip behind the speed of No Mo Cookies and I Love Venezuela, both of whom are at their best on the lead. The pair have combined to win their last five starts. No Mo Cookies is riding a two-race winning streak, and I Love Venezuela has captured her last three outings over the synthetic track in wire-to-wire fashion against bottom-level claiming opposition.
Smart Style, the lightly raced Mary Marguerite, Celestial Express, and Gexi’s A also enter off recent wins while competing at claiming levels ranging from $12,500 to $25,000. Of that group, the much improved Smart Style may have the best chance of pulling off an upset, especially if the race moves to the Tapeta where she posted a popular, three-length, come-from-behind victory and earned a career-best 66 Beyer for trainer Roger Laurin on Sept. 12.
◗ There will be another mandatory force out of the Rainbow 6 here Sunday, although the carryover will be a modest one considering the fact the popular gimmick was hit twice within a three-day period here last week. The Rainbow 6 returned $143,083 for a 20-cent ticket to one lucky winner last Friday and $50,554 after Mimi Willy (8-1) rallied up the rail to complete the sequence Sunday.
◗ The second leg of the popular Florida Sire Series is on tap here Oct. 18, featuring the $150,000 Affirmed and Susan’s Girl stakes, both to be decided at seven furlongs.
Trainer Michael Yates, whose Rated by Merit swept the open division a year ago in dominant fashion, brings a strong hand to the table this year with Fourth and Central and the filly Finding Strength among the leaders of their respective divisions. Fourth and Central upset the six-furlong Dr. Fager. Finding Strength returns following a near miss to the favored and Breeders’ Cup-bound Lennilu in the Desert Vixen.
◗ A pair of locally based horsemen, Garrett Arscott and Sebastian Pulgarin, turned in milestones on last Saturday’s program, notching their first U.S. training victories. Arscott won the sixth race with Antillean. Pulgarin upset the nightcap with 15-1 Kalik.
Arscott trained at Caymanas Park in Jamaica before coming to the United States. He worked for trainer Gary Contessa before going out on his own again.
Pulgarin, a native of Colombia, previously worked for trainer Carlos David prior to taking out his trainer’s license late this summer.
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