Tapeta titans square off in allowance
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – No one could blame you for not remembering, but Detroit City once was a track-record holder at Gulfstream Park.
Well, for nearly three hours he was. The 4-year-old colt sped five furlongs in 55.39 seconds in a three-length victory over Tapeta on Jan. 21 – but by the time he had been vanned back home to the Palm Meadows training center, his record had already been broken.
“Didn’t last very long,” his trainer, Jack Sisterson, said this week with a laugh. “But he did run a big race that day.”
The same day, just six races later, another 4-year-old, Hope in Him, lowered the five-furlong Tapeta mark in winning by seven lengths in 55.05 seconds.
Sunday at Gulfstream, the two record-setters will square off in the second of back-to-back allowance sprints that anchor a 10-race card. Hope in Him will break from post 4 and Detroit City from post 6 among nine older horses in race 9, an $86,000 first-level allowance going five furlongs over a turf course that can be expected to be firm, given a long spell of warm and dry weather that continues in South Florida.
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Sisterson said he is “expecting something very similar” to the effort Detroit City gave in his latest race, a starter allowance that yielded a 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
“We’ve always expected a performance like that one,” he added. “He didn’t really suit California. Once we brought him back to Palm Meadows we got him right again. I think he’s ready for another good one Sunday.”
Hope in Him brings a four-race win streak into this, all of them over the Gulfstream Tapeta. Barry Croft claimed the Florida-bred gelding in October from a winning race and has gone on to win three more with him, all with ascending Beyers. His last-out record came in a first-level statebred allowance that resulted in a career-best 94 figure.
Paco Lopez has the return call on Detroit City, and Jose Ortiz will be back aboard Hope in Him for a third straight race.
The two speedsters will want to avoid a ruinous pace, and if they don’t, they could be vulnerable to a late run from the likes of Axthelm (post 9, Edgard Zayas), who takes a very interesting turnback from longer races for Saffie Joseph Jr., who entered Friday action with a 26-24 edge over Todd Pletcher as leading trainer at the Championship meet that began Dec. 26.
The listed purse includes $14,000 in Florida-bred bonuses for which Hope in Him and Biz Biz Buzz (post 7, Irad Ortiz Jr.) are the only ones eligible.
First post Sunday is 12:10 p.m. Eastern, with the ninth going at 4:07.
Return of Radio Days
In the earlier allowance (race 8, 3:38), Radio Days will make an eagerly awaited return to action, facing five other fillies and mares going 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track. Trained by Shug McGaughey for Joe Allen, the 4-year-old Gun Runner filly has gone unraced since finishing second as a 2-5 favorite in the Boiling Springs at Monmouth Park in early July. The distance of this $87,000 second-level allowance might be a tad short for her liking, but Radio Days owns a substantial class edge that may override all else.
“She’d had some ankles on her and I needed to give her a little time,” said McGaughey. “I brought her back, entered her a couple times, but the races didn’t go. This one filled for us, fortunately. She’s been training well and we’re looking forward to getting her started back.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. will be aboard from post 5 on Radio Days, a $750,000 yearling purchase who went 2 for 2 as a 2-year-old prior to going winless in five starts at 3, all of them stakes. She was second in the seven-furlong Forward Gal here last winter, then fourth in the Busher, second in the Beaumont, third in the Black-Eyed Susan, and second in the Boiling Springs.
As for her opposition, Restofthestory (post 3, Zayas) might stand the best chance at an upset. She’s one of two Florida-breds in the lineup, along with Starship Nala (post 4, Miguel Vasquez). They’re eligible for the $14,000 in state-bred bonuses included in the listed purse.
Both Sunday allowances are part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence (races 5-10). The Rainbow jackpot into Friday stood at $484,392.
After Sunday, Gulfstream goes dark until another five-day week resumes Wednesday.
Gulfstream Sprint is next
Candy Man Rocket, a sharp comeback winner here Jan. 21 for trainer Bill Mott, is the top prospect for the lone stakes here next weekend, the $125,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint on Feb. 25.
The next major Gulfstream date is March 4, when the Fountain of Youth will be run as one of eight graded stakes.
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