Team Vincero red hot for Sea of Tranquility Stakes

Edgard Zayas is on a roll. So is Saffie Joseph Jr. And so is Vincero.

Sustaining that momentum is the obvious goal when they all combine forces Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the $75,000 Sea of Tranquility for 3-year-olds and up who have never won a stakes.

Zayas will get a leg up from Joseph on Vincero, a 4-year-old gelding, for the one-mile race on the main track.

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Zayas has returned from a three-month injury-induced layoff with a vengeance. He was the leading jockey at the Gulfstream spring meet (April 4 to June 30) and leads the standings at the summer meet (July 1 to Sept. 29). At the spring meet, Joseph won his first training title as Vincero, a two-time winner at that stand, typified the collective efforts of his growing stable.

In fact, Vincero tends to win or run second most of the time – he’s done so in 11 of 17 career starts – and it’s his tactical ability that usually takes him there. Assigned the rail slot for the Sea of Tranquility, he figures prominently from the outset, given the apparent lack of early speed in a field of six.

Just Kidding (post 6, Albin Jimenez) might have enough gas to leave out front, but Vincero will be lurking closely, waiting to pounce as the likely favorite.

The Sea of Tranquility is named for a 1996 foal who earned $784,902 from 76 starts, many of them in Florida. The race is being run on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 astronauts landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. It’s the 11th of 12 races – and the only non-maiden or claiming event – on a Saturday card that begins at 12:45 p.m. Eastern.

The feature is set for 5:54 and is part of the Rainbow 6 sequence (races 7-12). The Rainbow 6 offered a jackpot of $113,821 when the four-day race week began Thursday.

The next six-figure stakes at Gulfstream are the opening legs to the Florida Sire Stakes series on Aug. 3.

KEY CONTENDERS

Vincero, by Wrote

Last 3 Beyers: 87-87-87

◗ This Florida-bred has been remarkably consistent all year, posting two wins and four seconds from six starts, and brings a Beyer Speed Figure edge to his first stakes attempt.

Just Kidding, by Kiss the Kid

Last 3 Beyers: 70-90-81

◗ Claimed in November at Del Mar, this 7-year-old has panned out well since being assimilated into Bob Hess Jr.’s Florida division.

Red Crescent, by Overdriven

Last 3 Beyers: 86-81-91

◗ This stretch-running gelding has won two of his last three starts and has come to a career peak for trainer John Vinson.

Eye of a Jedi, by Eye of the Leopard

Last 3 Beyers: 76-86-87

◗ This Kentucky-bred gelding has been second or third in 9 of 20 starts (with two wins) and therefore seems a must-use in the verticals.