Stakes longshots find better spot in allowance
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Expectations will be considerably higher at Gulfstream Park for three horses who most recently finished well back in a Grade 3 race in which all were huge longshots.
Don’t Get Khozy, Soul of an Angel, and Jungle Juice will reconvene Friday in a $73,000 allowance that anchors a nine-race card. They were a respective third, fifth, and seventh when dismissed at odds of 76-1, 87-1, and 63-1 here Feb. 18 in the Royal Delta, a Grade 3 race in which Classy Edition and Kathleen O. ran 1-2 as the favorites.
The fifth of nine Friday races appears to shake out differently than when last they met – although if the pace unfolds the same way, it will be Don’t Get Khozy who should be able to benefit.
Don’t Get Khozy will have Miguel Vasquez aboard from post 1 in a field of just six fillies and mares going a one-turn mile on the main track. Jungle Juice (post 5, Angel Morales), who set the early pace in the Royal Delta before faltering, again figures to vie for early control, along with Beth’s Dream (post 2, Jose Ortiz) and Music City Star (post 4, Edgard Zayas). If things get too hot, then Don’t Get Khozy is the most logical candidate to capitalize as she looks to pad her already remarkable record of 11 wins, 11 seconds, and 5 thirds in 40 starts at Gulfstream.
One other off-pace candidate who should attract serious tote action is Rose E Holiday (post 3), if for no other reason than leading jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call. Ortiz, the four-time Eclipse champion, began the week with a huge lead atop the local standings.
The purse listed here does not include $14,000 in bonuses for Florida-breds. Don’t Get Khozy and Beth’s Dream are the lone eligibles.
The feature is part of a 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 4-9) that began the five-day race week Wednesday with a jackpot carryover of $180,278.
Three starter allowances (races 3, 7, 8) also are part of the Friday program, which starts at 12:40 p.m. Eastern. Mostly sunny skies and a high of 80 are in the South Florida forecast.
Big Invasion set for return
Big Invasion, whose connections’ plans for a run in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint were scrapped after a subpar outing last summer, will make an eagerly awaited return to action Saturday as a stout favorite in the $100,000 Silks Run.
Big Invasion, trained by Christophe Clement for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, resumed a steady work pattern in recent weeks at Payson Park after having a six-race win streak snapped by finishing a no-threat third as a 1-2 favorite in the Sept. 10 Franklin-Simpson at Kentucky Downs. The 4-year-old colt will have Joel Rosario aboard when he breaks from post 9 in the five-furlong Silks Run, which drew a full gate of 12 older turf sprinters.
The Silks Run, the 11th of 12 Saturday races, will be co-featured with the $100,000 Hutcheson (race 8), a six-furlong race that drew seven 3-year-olds headed by three-time stakes winner Super Chow.
Exercise rider wins race
Vicente Gudiel, a longtime exercise rider for Saffie Joseph Jr., took full advantage of getting to ride in an actual race when he went last to first for Joseph in winning the second race here Sunday aboard Shake Your Bones ($6).
“It was something special,” Guidel said.
Gudiel, a 36-year-old Guatemala native who grew up in Florida, has ridden very sparingly since 2016; the Sunday mount was just his second since December 2019. In 2015, he won 138 races as an apprentice in New Jersey and Chicago. He said he has no plans to resume full-time race-riding.
Joseph is in a duel atop the championship meet standings with longtime Gulfstream kingpin Todd Pletcher. Joseph, who ended a remarkable 18-year run for Pletcher when supplanting him as leading trainer at the 2021-22 meet, began this week with a 38-36 edge atop the local standings.
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