Three allowances run the gamut of surface, distance

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Diversity is the key word when it comes to the three allowance races that spice up Sunday’s nine-race program at Gulfstream. The co-features are to be decided respectively at a mile on the main track, five furlongs on the turf, and a mile and 70 yards over the Tapeta course.

A field of seven Florida-breds will contest the afternoon’s fifth event on the dirt with Septemberten likely the one to beat once again while having switched barns after being claimed for $20,000 out of a winning effort under similar conditions four weeks earlier. The victory was the second in a row for the veteran, who has changed hands four times via the claim box over the past four months with his current trainer, Shamir Maragh, looking to reap quick dividends after haltering Septemberten off a popular, come-from-behind one-length triumph Nov. 18.

Slim Slow Slider, easily second-best behind Septemberten when the pair met for the first time last month, will get an opportunity to avenge that setback and should benefit from a post position change in the rematch. Slim Slow Slider broke a couple of steps slow from the rail and then rushed to contention, ultimately drawing clear into the stretch before succumbing grudgingly to the favorite through the final furlong. Slim Slow Slider, who received a career-best 78 Beyer Speed Figure in his last start, will begin from the extreme outside, in post 7, on Sunday.

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Gump, returning from a nine-month layoff but back with Florida-breds for the first time in recent memory, could prove the one to catch under Irad Ortiz Jr.

There should be no shortage of speed on display when a full field of 12 older fillies and mares goes five furlongs on the turf, weather permitting, in the seventh race.

An honest pace should give the idled Mona Stella a chance to run down the leaders turning back to the distance for just the second time in nine career outings. A horse for the course, Mona Stella has registered two victories and not been off the board in four starts over the Gulfstream turf. She is the only member of the lineup with a stakes placing on her résumé.

Train to Artemus and Abuse of Power, who finished first and fourth, respectively, over the Aqueduct turf course Sept. 25, also loom major contenders, with both expected to sit stalking trips if breaking cleanly in the bulky lineup.

Much of the early speed should be provided by Mo Touring, Veloce Bella, Glitter Up, and Six Feet Apart, the last named adding blinkers while returning to grass for the first time since defeating mid-level allowance competition on June 18 at Woodbine.

Seven juveniles will close out their 2-year-old campaigns going two turns over the Tapeta strip in the penultimate race on the card, with recent maiden winner Canal likely to go postward a tepid choice despite trying a synthetic track for the first time.

Canal, who earned field-high 71 Beyer winning a $75,000 maiden claimer last month at Churchill, takes on a pretty evenly matched group that also includes the Michael Trombetta-trained duo of Master of None and Souper Blessing along with the steadily improving Live Is Life, second-best behind the odds-on Legacy Isle when switching back to the dirt in his most recent try.

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