Unbridled Hero a threat to fire fresh in allowance sprint
The elite outfits with their fast horses have by now mainly left south Florida and headed north for summer quarters – and don’t think local outfits with some wherewithal aren’t aware of that dynamic.
The nominally featured eighth race Friday at Gulfstream is a first-level dirt-sprint allowance, and five of its seven entrants either exit a layoff or claiming race. These are horses who would have struggled against the stronger stock from those departed stables, but they slot in solidly for a $43,000 purse Friday.
Take the rail-drawn Unbridled Hero, who hasn’t started since October. His one strong race among six in his career, a front-running 6 1/2-length maiden win last summer at Gulfstream, was unlikely to have been good enough to win a first-level allowance race during Gulfstream’s championship meet that ended April 3, but it could well suffice Friday.
Unbridled Hero appears to be a horse who has had his quirks, but he’s listed as a first-time gelding Friday, which might help mitigate them, and he has the speed to capitalize on his rail draw.
Ralph Nicks trains him, and that doesn’t hurt either. DRF Formulator shows Nicks excelling with layoff runners like Unbridled Hero: Over the last five years, his 21 runners returning from layoffs of 180 to 240 days in sprint races have gone 4-4-4 with a $3.95 return on investment.
Drawn next to Unbridled Hero is Keep Me Grounded, one of the class-rising claimers. His trainer, Jason Servis, clearly has targeted races early in this new Gulfstream meet, his three starters so far having knocked out two wins and a second, and Keep Me Grounded, on speed figures and current form, fits the spot.
Keep Me Grounded handled Scam when they met March 16, but that race came over seven furlongs, and Scam probably prefers this shorter trip. He turned in a fast half-mile workout since being claimed last time by trainer Randi Persaud.
Colormepompom exits a seven-week break for trainer Terri Pompay, who is 3-2-0 at the new Gulfstream meet. The 4-year-old Colormepompom is fast enough to win, but is he willing? A career record of 20-2-6-5 suggests restricting play to the bottom of exotic wagers.
While race 8 is the only allowance on this card, race 6 has plenty of handicapping grist for bettors willing to parse a deep field of maidens. The five-furlong turf sprint drew 11 entrants, including the two-three-four finishers – Ginger Rush, Street Cash, and Alabama Ashley – from a similar race March 24. Add to that trio the Mark Casse-trained Conquest Sarahstar, who got too much of a hot pace while making her first start after a layoff March 12 at Gulfstream, and you’ve got a deep, playable race.