Six-figure turf stakes among opening acts on Florida Derby card
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A flurry of action over a firm Gulfstream Park grass course will take place Saturday prior to the Florida Derby, with a trio of ungraded turf stakes being interspersed with some of the more high-profile events. Here’s a quick rundown of those one-mile races, worth $100,000 apiece:
Sand Springs (race 9)
Newspaperofrecord won all three starts as a 2-year-old, including a romp in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, but went winless in three starts as a 3-year-old. Duly regrouped by Chad Brown after finishing ninth in the Belmont Oaks in July, the Irish-bred filly will make her 4-year-old debut as a heavy favorite in a field of 12 fillies and mares.
Owned by the Klaravich Stables of Seth Klarman, Newspaperofrecord returned to Brown’s care over the winter and has breezed nine times at the Palm Meadows training center since Jan. 20. Brown initially intended her for the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley on April 11, but with Keeneland having canceled its spring meet, she will get an earlier start to the year. Newspaperofrecord breaks from post 5.
Twelve others, including one also-eligible, are poised to foil Newspaperofrecord. Foremost among the opposition are Getmotherarose, an 11-1 winner of the Grade 3 Honey Fox four weeks ago, and the late-running Zofelle, a two-back winner of the Pago Hop at Fair Grounds.
The Sand Springs figures to carry a little more importance with bettors than its earlier counterparts for 3-year-olds, and that’s because it’s the opening leg in the Rainbow 6, which spans races 9-14 and is being forced out Saturday as the championship meet nears its end. The Rainbow 6 jackpot stood at $1,416,111 after Wednesday action and can be expected to attract another $10 million or so in new wagers Saturday, assuming the pool wasn’t emptied by a solo winning ticket Thursday or Friday.
Sanibel Island (race 7)
Cheermeister has led all the way in winning three of the four stakes run already at the meet for 3-year-old turf fillies – the Wait a While, Sweetest Chant, and Herecomesthebride – but it’s unlikely she’ll be favored in this oversubscribed field. That’s not only because there’s plenty of opposing speed signed on, but she’ll also have to run her best race yet when she is asked to hold off She’s My Type and Walk In Marrakesh.
Cheermeister, trained by Armando De La Cerda for David and Teresa Palmer, may have to deal with Fujairah and a fresh Seducer before finding the stalkers and closers hot on her heels. She’s My Type, winner of the other Gulfstream race in this niche, the Ginger Brew, is a late threat, as is Walk In Marrakesh, who ships in from Tampa Bay Downs after finishing a just-miss second behind the highly regarded Outburst three weeks ago in a promising seasonal debut.
Cutler Bay (race 4)
It won’t take long at all for meaningful action to get under way as Decorated Invader and Vitalogy – two of the best in the 2019 class of 2-year-olds on turf – will clash among another full field in this first of the 10 Saturday stakes.
Vitalogy, trained by Brendan Walsh, has the edge in recency, having won the Grade 3 Palm Beach here Feb. 29 in his 3-year-old debut. Decorated Invader will be making his first start since finishing a late-closing fourth as the second choice in the BC Juvenile Turf last November at Santa Anita.
Fringe players in a terrific renewal of the Cutler Bay include Get Smokin, Summer to Remember, South Bend, Moon Over Miami, and Mr. Hustle. Mr. Hustle has won his three starts by a combined 12 lengths but has never raced beyond 6 1/2 furlongs and is coming off a six-month layoff.