Smooth Daddy eyes first stakes win in Tropical Park Derby
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Three-year-old turf specialists will get their final opportunity to race against their own kind and pick up some all-important black type this season with both the $75,000 Tropical Park Derby and its filly counterpart, the $75,000 Tropical Park Oaks, headlining Saturday’s 10-race program at Gulfstream Park.
As expected, both races are wide open and lured full, 14-horse fields. The Derby lineup is headed by multiple graded stakes-placed Smooth Daddy, Grade 2 winner Wallyanna, multiple Grade 3-placed Other Cheek, and stakes winner Cabo Cat.
Smooth Daddy set the pace before proving no match for Ring Weekend in both the Saranac at Saratoga and the Hill Prince at Belmont Park, ultimately tiring to finish second and third, respectively, in the two Grade 3 events.
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“He’s coming off a couple of nice races and has been training well into this race,” trainer Tom Albertrani said. “He ran a couple of good races loose on the lead, but I don’t think he needs to be on the lead to win.”
Wallyanna will put blinkers on for the first time, trying to resurrect the form that saw him rally to victory over eventual Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Bobby’s Kitten in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame this summer at Saratoga.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 13 Wallyanna. Trainer Michael Pino is 14-5-5-0 with a $3.65 ROI over the past five years adding blinkers in route races.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Other Cheek enters the Tropical Park Derby off a career-best performance when finishing second, three-quarters of a length in front of Bashart, in the Commonwealth Turf.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Sky Flight. Trainer Mark Casse is 29-10-3-2 with a $4.95 ROI over the past five years in turf route non-graded stakes with last-out winners.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
TROPICAL PARK DERBY (RACE 8)
KEY CONTENDERS
Smooth Daddy (Last 3 Beyers: 93-94-85)
◗ He won his maiden over the local strip in February but is likely to encounter early pace pressure from Breitling Flyer and Cement Clement.
Wallyanna (Last 3 Beyers: 85-79-77)
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past three years, trainer Michael Pino owns a 24 percent success rate with a $2.10 return on investment when adding blinkers.
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Other Cheek (Last 3 Beyers: 92-84-83)
◗ He continues to improve from a Beyer Speed Figure standpoint.
◗ He chased but proved no match for the super red-hot Heart to Heart in the Commonwealth Turf.
TROPICAL PARK OAKS (RACE 10)
The starting gate for the Oaks will be bulging with any number of key contenders, including Granny Mc’s Kitten, Sandiva, Party Now, and Dancing House.
Granny Mc’s Kitten, a stakes winner at 2, has made just two starts since May and none since finishing third as the favorite in Saratoga’s Riskaverse on Aug. 29.
“She’s had a lot of little setbacks all year,” trainer Chad Brown said of Granny Mc’s Kitten. “But she’s finally gotten into a steady rhythm of works, and I’m really glad to get her back running again.”
Sandiva is one of two fillies trainer Todd Pletcher sends out in the Oaks along with Patsy’s Holiday. A Group 3 winner in Europe at 2, Sandiva has yet to hit the board in three U.S. appearances.
Party Now continues to improve for trainer Shug McGaughey and enters the Oaks off a career-best effort, a wire-to-wire, four-length optional-claiming victory over yielding turf at Aqueduct on Nov. 14.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Party Now. Trainer Shug McGaughey is 16-6-1-1 with a $6.15 ROI over the past five years in turf route non-graded stakes with last-out winners.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Dancing House is another filly on the improve. She showed surprising speed, leading throughout, to register a popular triumph over older, entry-level allowance company in her last start at Keeneland.
KEY CONTENDERS
Granny Mc’s Kitten (Last 3 Beyers: 81-83-80)
◗ She reunites with Joel Rosario and has already proven the ability to run well fresh. She finished second at Keeneland off a five-month layoff this spring and won an optional claimer at Saratoga after being sidelined three months this summer.
Sandiva (Last 3 Beyers: 85-82-81)
◗ She has been caught wide in each of her three U.S. starts and faces a similar prospect breaking from post 14 in the Oaks.
Party Now (Last 3 Beyers: 94-82-88)
◗ She owns far and away the highest last-race Beyer in the field, the 94 she posted for her optional-claiming win at Aqueduct.
◗ She is perfect at the distance and owns a victory over this course, having won her maiden in impressive fashion going
1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream in her 3-year-old debut.
Dancing House (Last 3 Beyers: 86-86-78)
◗ She paired up career-best Beyers in her last two starts, a sign she is potentially sitting on an even better effort next time out.
◗ She reunites with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode her to third-place finishes in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo and Grade 1 Spinaway at 2.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Dancing House. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 37-4-7-4 with a $1.23 ROI over the past five years in turf routes with last-out winners following a layoff of 45 days or more.Click for more details. – Mike Hogan