Valiant Force will head back to Europe for turf races

It will be back to the grass for Breeders Cup’ Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Valiant Force, following his disappointing fourth-place finish behind the undefeated Beeline in Saturday’s six-furlong Hutcheson Stakes.

Valiant Force was bumped between horses leaving the gate, recovered to move within easy striking distance of the leaders turning for home, but then flattened out and finished four lengths behind the winner while making his much-anticipated main track-debut in the Hutcheson.

“He came out of race well but didn’t use himself. He really didn’t find his feet on the dirt,” said Jorge Delgado, who trains Valiant Force for Amo Racing USA. “The break didn’t help in this kind of a sprint race. He got bumped pretty good between horses, but in my opinion it wasn’t enough of an excuse. He’s just not the same horse on dirt that he is on the turf.”

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Delgado said the decision has been made to put Valiant Force back on grass and head back to Europe and point to Royal Ascot, where he won the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at odds of 150-1 as a 2-year-old last season. Whether Delgado accompanies him on that trip or returns him to former trainer Adrian Murray is yet to be determined.

Delgado’s disappointment with Valiant Force’s performance on Saturday was greatly tempered the following afternoon after he sent out Amo Racing’s Launch, under jockey David Egan, to upset the odds-on R Harper Rose in the Any Limit Stakes.

“It’s a long year, the race Saturday was just a bump in the road. You just have to keep moving forward, working hard, and hopefully get nice results like we got today with Launch,” Delgado said in the winner’s circle after the Any Limit.

Launch’s impressive victory in the Any Limit, her third in four starts since shipping to the United States and being switched from turf to dirt, was the first of two noteworthy upsets on Sunday’s card. About 90 minutes later, Beth’s Dream defeated the 1-2 favorite and previously undefeated Scylla, re-asserting herself after being headed by that rival at midstretch to win a one-mile allowance race for older fillies and mares.

The win was the fifth in seven local appearances and fifth in six tries at a mile for Beth’s Dream, who came into the race well prepared off a seven-month layoff by trainer Victor Barboza Jr.

“She was on the farm three months after her final start last year, then came back to Gulfstream and trained very well for this race, lots of five-furlong works in a minute with big gallop-outs. She also loves running over this track and going a one-turn mile,” Barboza said. “That was a very good filly [Scylla] we beat. She’s going to be very good in stakes races around the country this season. Although my preference is to keep our filly right here in Florida-bred stakes the rest of the year. She’s 6 years old now, and travelling around has been hard on her in the past.”

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