Jockey Drayden Van Dyke moved his tack across the country in June and has made significant inroads the last few months at Gulfstream Park. Van Dyke ranks eighth in the Royal Palm meet standings with 22 wins from 81 starts. His 27 percent win rate is tops among the leading riders at the meet, which began in early April. Van Dyke said the transition from Southern California to South Florida has gone well as the 29-year-old works to build his local business ahead of this winter’s Championship meet at Gulfstream. “It’s been really smooth,” Van Dyke said. “Once I got settled in and accustomed to the heat, for one, and just new barns and the way they like things done, once I got familiar with everything, I’m super comfortable now. I’m really enjoying myself.” Van Dyke’s notable wins this meet include stakes with Comedy Town in the Smile Sprint and Bluefield in the Musical Romance. The horses are both trained by Gulfstream’s meet leader, Saffie Joseph Jr. “Comedy Town was a bit of a surprise for both of us,” Van Dyke said. “He hasn’t run on dirt very much and for him to pop off that stakes in a pretty solid field – there were some good horses in there and he did it really well – that was pretty exciting. And Bluefield gave me my first stakes win here at Gulfstream.” :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Van Dyke also is excited about another Joseph trainee, Mrs. Gambolini, a 3-year-old who won her debut in a maiden special weight moved from turf to Tapeta in early July. She covered five furlongs in 56.13 seconds and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 89. “She did everything in a really impressive way,” Van Dyke said. “From working her over here at Palm Meadows, she gave me the intention that she was going to run really well first out, so hopefully she can develop into a nice horse. It feels like she can. We’ve got good horses to look forward to and we’re staying busy, so I have no complaints.” Joseph has a runway lead in the trainer standings with 73 wins from 245 starters. At the corresponding meet a year ago, he won 66 races from 220 starters. A large number of Joseph’s wins have come with Edgard Zayas, who is the current leading rider at Gulfstream. “We’re definitely running more horses,” Joseph said. “We asked Drayden to come out to basically have a second rider. Edgard’s our first rider. We have a lot of horses running in different spots and Drayden came out and the first week he got off to a good start.” Van Dyke won five races during his first three days at Gulfstream, June 7-9. “He’s putting horses in the right spots, getting horses that are keen to relax,” Joseph said. “We’re glad to be able to have a rider of his accomplishments available to us and he’s making the most of the opportunities. He’s picking up outside mounts, too, and winning races.” Van Dyke, who has won Grade 1 races with such horses as Stormy Liberal, Improbable, City of Light, and Bast, said it was a significant opportunity to get the call from Joseph to test out Gulfstream. “I’m lucky to be in the position I’m in,” Van Dyke said. “He has a lot of horses, obviously. He’s in front by [double digits] in the trainer standings. It’s a blessing for me to get an opportunity like this.” Van Dyke is hoping to parlay his fast local start into a long-range stay at Gulfstream. “We have no intention of going anywhere else anytime soon,” he said. “For the time being, I’m full-on in Florida.” Great Venezuela on a tear Great Venezuela will be seeking to nail down her third straight win when she runs in Friday’s eighth race. A no-conditions allowance for 3-year-old fillies on Tapeta, the 5 1/2-furlong race drew a field of eight. Great Venezuela has built her streak on the Tapeta at Gulfstream, with wins at this distance in both April and June. Overall, she is 4 for 5 over the local synthetic track for trainer Victor Barboza Jr. The chief threat could be Etrurian, who breaks from post 7, immediately inside of Great Venezuela. Etrurian is coming off a sharp maiden special weight win for trainer Joe Orseno. She wired the field at 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 86. Great Venezuela could get an ideal tracking trip off Etrurian from post 8. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Apprentice has first win Apprentice jockey Aarom Otero won the first race of his career last Saturday at Gulfstream when he guided Emona Rossa to a 49-1 upset in the fourth race. She paid $101.20. The mount was the 14th for Otero, a 10-pound apprentice born in Venezuela. He galloped horses locally for trainer Antonio Sano ahead of launching his race-riding career, according to a press release from Gulfstream. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.