Thomas has two for Wednesday feature

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jonathan Thomas figures to be in the thick of Wednesday’s $52,000 optional claiming feature at Gulfstream Park when he sends out Dominance and Escapade, two of the leading candidates in the five-furlong turf dash.

Both had modest two-race win streaks snapped in their previous start, with Dominance finishing fifth in the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and Escapade taking second, beaten a neck, under allowance conditions at Gulfstream Park West in his 2018 finale.

“They are both nice fillies who just kind of naturally gravitated towards being sprinters and now turf sprinters,” Thomas said. “I was really proud of Dominance’s performance last time in a pretty salty race, but it made sense to back her up into an allowance spot off the effort. Escapade has been rock solid since we’ve had her and is coming into this race in good shape.”

The Thomas fillies are likely to face their sternest competition from the Wesley Ward-trained Fairlyland, idle since narrowly missing under similar conditions going 6 1/2 furlongs at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 6.