Smile Po set for tactics change in allowance

Smile Po could roll out some new tactics Sunday when she starts as the probable favorite in a first-level allowance for 2-year-old fillies at Gulfstream Park.

The 1 1/16-mile race on Tapeta goes as the 10th on an 11-race card that has a first post of noon Eastern.

Smile Po enters off a runner-up finish in an entry-level allowance on Tapeta on Oct. 5. It was her first start at two turns after she won her debut in a maiden special weight sprint on Tapeta in August. Smile Po was favored in the allowance and set the pace to the later stages before being overtaken by Hello Hello Hello.

“That filly that beat her last time, she’s a pretty nice filly,” said David Fawkes, who trains Smile Po for Brazil Stables.

Fawkes said he is very comfortable with the two turns for Smile Po and suspects she could sit off the pace this time around. She will break from post 7 under Miguel Vasquez.

“She’s a very manageable horse,” he said. “She’s super smart.

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“After you get a race under their belt, they usually settle more. I’m thinking she’ll kind of be maybe midpack-ish. Miguel knows her. You break, as long as you’re not 10 wide around the first turn get yourself some position there about middle pack, and I think she’ll be fine once she gets covered up.”

Down the line, Fawkes hopes to get a turf race for Smile Po. The allowance last time was moved from turf to Tapeta.

“I’ve been wanting to get her on the grass,” he said. “I think she’s kind of bred for it. She handles Tapeta pretty well. I expect her to enjoy the grass.”

Smile Po is a daughter of Karakontie, a Breeders’ Cup Mile winner who is getting a strong 17 percent winners from his first-time turfers.

In the Sunday feature, Kurutu could set the pace when she breaks from post 2. She is stretching out around two turns for the first time after running fourth in an entry-level allowance sprint won by Me Governor, who was to have run Saturday in the Stewart Manor at the Belmont at the Big A meet. Emisael Jaramillo has the mount on Kurutu.

Another leading contender is Paradise Won, who closed from off the pace to win a maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Laurel in her last start Sept. 8. She is a half-sister to Souper Blessing, a past winner of the Tropical Park Derby. Edgard Zayas has the mount from post 4 for Live Oak Plantation and trainer Michael Trombetta.

Noble Drama to Old Friends

Noble Drama, a five-time stakes winner who earned $876,562, has been retired and arrived at Old Friends in Kentucky on Wednesday, according to Fawkes.

Noble Drama overall won 10 of 48 starts and had 12 runner-up finishes during his career. He is a 9-year-old gelding by Gone Astray, and his stakes-winning dam, Queen Drama, is a half-sister champion Big Drama. Noble Drama was bred in Florida by Harold Queen.

“He arrived at Old Friends yesterday,” Fawkes said Thursday. “When he was a 3-year-old, he won a stakes at Tampa. It was a Win and You’re In to Old Friends. When I called, they were so excited.”

Noble Drama could be considered the Silky Sullivan of South Florida.

“It was so cool to watch him finish because he would be so far out of it,” Fawkes recalled. “The sad thing was he always had to have pace in a race. As long as he was a happy horse, he’d give you all he had.”

Back in March in a Gulfstream allowance, Noble Drama ran second to Arthur’s Ride, who would go on to win the Whitney and who was to have run Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

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