Valiant Force leads troop of Breeders' Cup participants in stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There are no fewer than a half-dozen horses coming out of Breeders’ Cup races launching their 3-year-old campaigns in one of the three stakes events that highlight Saturday’s 11-race program at Gulfstream Park.

The most promising horse just may be Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Valiant Force, who figures to be one of the shortest-priced favorites of the meet despite switching to the main track for the first time while making his local debut in the $100,000 Limehouse Stakes.

The six-furlong Limehouse shares top billing on the outstanding card with a pair of one-mile grass races, the $125,000 Dania Beach and its filly counterpart, the $125,000 Ginger Brew.

Valiant Force ran huge in defeat in the five-furlong Juvenile Turf Sprint, rallying from the rear of the field and forced to go extremely wide into the stretch before finishing full of run down the center of the course to finish second, a half-length behind the pace-pressing winner Big Evs. Valiant Force had already earned plenty of notoriety earlier in the season, upsetting the prestigious Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at odds of 150-1, matching the record for the highest-priced winner ever at Royal Ascot.

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Valiant Force was trained by Adrian Murray in Europe but subsequently joined Jorge Delgado’s barn when shipped to the United States by his owner, Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing USA. Delgado sent out another Amo Racing colorbearer, Kingmax, to finish second, beaten a head, here last weekend in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale.

“I’m lucky they chose me to be his trainer and I’ve just been a passenger along for the ride to this point,” said Delgado, who also entered two other 3-year-olds, Cuban Thunder and Hermoso Hombre, in the Limehouse.

Valiant Force has trained sensationally for the Limehouse over the main track since arriving locally, most recently working a half-mile from the gate in 47.25 seconds before galloping out five furlongs in 59.80 with jockey David Egan aboard last Saturday.

“He’s been training very well on dirt,” Delgado said. “He puts a lot of effort in his works, so I didn’t want to train him too hard, just enough for him to go six furlongs on Saturday.”

Delgado said he was definitely planning to run Hermoso Hombre, who also joined his barn recently after launching his career with a win and a second on the Tapeta for trainer Enrique Amado, in the Limehouse. Delgado was uncertain of the status of Cuban Thunder, who also is owned by Amo Racing and who competed in the Breeders’ Cup for Murray, finishing a distant seventh trying dirt for the first time in the Juvenile.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will send out a pair of his own exiting the 2023 Breeders’ Cup, Life’s an Audible in the Ginger Brew and Agate Road in the Dania Beach. Unfortunately, both are poorly drawn on the extreme outside in their respective races, Life’s An Audible in post 12 and Agate Road in post position 10.

Life’s An Audible finished eighth after prompting the early pace in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. She earned a berth in the event on the strength of her second-place finish behind Hard to Justify in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo. Hard to Justify flattered the race by coming back to also capture the Juvenile Fillies Turf four weeks later.

The Ginger Brew lured a very competitive field that also includes stakes winners Ozara, Dancing N Dixie, and Omaha Girl along with the graded stakes-placed pair of Yatta and Buttercream Babe. Time to Dazzle also demands plenty of respect off an easy-as-can-be allowance win over the Tapeta here Dec. 15.

“I thought Agate Road ran well in the Breeders’ Cup. She got bottled up in the stretch, got free a little late, and closed well once she did. Neither of our horses drew well for these races but should appreciate the little bit of a drop in class.”

Agate Road finished fifth, beaten just 2 1/2 lengths by Unquestionable, in the Juvenile Turf and has been training forwardly at Palm Beach Downs for his return on the main track. He too faces a very well-matched group in the Dania Beach that features Air Recruit, who finished seventh after setting the pace into the stretch in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf; Typhoon Fury, a troubled third in the one-mile Central Park at Aqueduct in his juvenile finale; and Reminder and Palm Tree, second and third, respectively, here in the 7 1/2-furlong Pulpit one month ago.

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