Wind of Change leads a soft Mr. Prospector

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Last year’s edition of the $100,000 Mr. Prospector came up one of the strongest and most competitive races of the 2020-21 Gulfstream Park Championship meet, luring a full field of 12 that included Grade 1-caliber sprinters such as Firenze Fire, Mind Control, and Diamond Oops, and which was ultimately won by Grade 2 Charles Town Classic winner Sleepy Eyes Todd.

Unfortunately, the 2021 Mr. Prospector boasts no such marquee names among only seven horses signed on for the seven-furlong dash. In fact, about all the current renewal of the Mr. Prospector has in common with last year’s race is the presence of Wind of Change, who may prove the one to beat along with stablemate Officiating in the main event on Saturday’s 11-race card.

Wind of Change finished fourth, 3 1/2 lengths behind the late-running Sleepy Eyes Todd, after setting a demanding pace to midstretch while beaten just a neck for third by the multiple Grade 1 winner Mind Control in last year’s Mr. Prospector. Under the tutelage of Amador Sanchez at the time, he was ultimately transferred to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. this past spring, posting a win and three seconds in five subsequent starts since changing barns, his lone victory coming, ironically, in Monmouth Park’s ungraded version of the Mr. Prospector, a 6 1/4-length triumph for which he received a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure in a race decided over a sloppy track.

“I had hoped to run him in the Fall Highweight at Aqueduct, but he came out of his last start with a foot bruise,” said Joseph, referring to Wind of Change’s second-place finish in a 5 1/2-furlong overnight handicap contested on the Tapeta course on Oct. 9. “He’s doing well now, so I decided to give him a chance here. He likes to run on the lead, and that style should complement our other horse [Officiating] in the race.”

Officiating’s two victories this year have come on grass and in the slop. He rallied to a 3 1/2-length victory in the Bear’s Den Stakes here Sept. 5, a race switched off the turf due to course conditions. He has not started over a fast dirt track since finishing third in a statebred allowance race on April 30, when with his previous trainer, Bill Mott.

“I wanted to give him one more chance on dirt at a distance he’s won at already to prove his worth, or see if he’s strictly a slop horse,” Joseph explained.

The Joseph duo will face a field that includes Flap Jack, Poppy’s Pride, Endorsed, Dennis’ Moment, and Doc Amster.

The Mr. Prospector may have come up the easier spot for Flap Jack, who also was entered in Friday’s seventh race, an allowance race that drew a field that includes Grade 1 winner Drain the Clock along with Quick Tempo and Nocturnal.

Dennis’ Moment returns locally for the first time since finishing 10th as the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on Feb. 29 of last year and seems to have found his niche sprinting, having won a seven-furlong allowance dash at Keeneland in his last start for trainer Dale Romans.