Zulu Alpha at peak for Mac Diarmida

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saturday is for the boys, or so it can be argued. Six of the 10 stakes on the huge Fountain of Youth Stakes program Saturday at Gulfstream Park drew lineups comprising male runners, including such longtime fan favorites as the Mac Diarmida and Canadian Turf.

Here’s a quick rundown of four stakes for males on the Saturday card, which starts at 11:30 a.m. Eastern:

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Mac Diarmida (race 13)

There’s precedent for Zulu Alpha to go on and be highly decorated by the end of this year.

After Bricks and Mortar began his 2019 campaign by winning the first running of the Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream, he went on to become Horse of the Year.

No one is saying Zulu Alpha, a one-time claimer, is on the same trajectory, but the 7-year-old gelding sure did distinguish himself when running off to a two-length score in the second running of the Grade 1 Pegasus Turf here Jan. 25.

“It was huge,” said Mike Maker, who trains Zulu Alpha for Michael Hui. “He’s really proved himself to be a top-class horse. We’re planning on working backward from the Breeders’ Cup. This is a good next stop.”

Zulu Alpha, with Tyler Gaffalione to ride, figures as one of the more clear-cut favorites of the day when he faces nine others in the Grade 2, $200,000 Mac Diarmida, a 1 3/8-mile turf race run around three turns. His Pegasus Turf effort resulted in a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, his sixth in a row in triple digits, and makes him the one to fear in what is an accomplished lineup.

Foremost among the opposition are A Thread of Blue, who poses a major front-running threat stretching out from shorter races; Channel Maker, winner of the Grade 1 Man o’ War last spring; Sadler’s Joy, the consummate left-field closer who has earned nearly $2.5 million; and the uncoupled Brian Lynch duo of Admission Office and Spooky Channel, who is coming off a 36-1 upset of the Grade 3 McKnight on the Pegasus undercard.

Canadian Turf (race 11)

The slightly bad news for Maker is that neither of his two starters in this race is likely be favored. And yet the fairly good news for Maker and his runners, Hembree and Mr Dumas, is that it’s impossible to predict with confidence who will be the favorite in what might well be the most jumbled race of the entire day.

A full field of 12 turf milers runs in the Grade 3, $150,000 Canadian Turf, and the toteboard will be splintered in a variety of ways. Caribou Club, a multiple graded winner for owner-breeder Glen Hill Farm, surely is better than what he showed three weeks ago when returning from a three-month layoff at Tampa Bay Downs, and he’s liable to be a so-called “wise guy” selection here.

And still there are any number of other options. Both of the Maker trainees have shown themselves capable, while the respective one-two finishers in a key Jan. 26 allowance, Hay Dakota and Sombeyay, also have rounded into fine form.

And then there are a handful of fringe players such as English Bee, winner of the Virginia Derby last summer for Graham Motion, and Gidu, who could be a front-end danger if he’s willing to rate kindly enough under John Velazquez.

Palm Beach (race 4)

Vitalogy helped to compound the misery Brendan Walsh was already feeling last fall in California when the colt was ordered scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf by a panel of veterinarians. The unwanted defection followed in quick order the scratch of the Walsh trainee Maxfield from the BC Juvenile.

With benefit of four months’ hindsight, Walsh is eager to calmly turn the page on that sour experience when he sends out Vitalogy for his seasonal debut in the Grade 3, $150,000 Palm Beach at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Vitalogy, a fast-closing second as a lukewarm favorite in the Grade 3 Bourbon at Keeneland last fall, will break from the outside post in a field of 12 3-year-olds.

“He’s done everything exactly the way we’ve wanted since coming back from a little break we gave him,” Walsh said. “He’s all set.”

South Bend, adding blinkers after finishing third in the Dania Beach here four weeks ago for Stan Hough, is among a number of capable challengers.

Hutcheson (race 3)

Postponed from one Saturday ago when it failed to attract a sufficient number of entries, the $100,000 Hutcheson will kick off the day’s stakes action with a field of seven 3-year-olds going six furlongs.

One of the contenders who needed the extra time is Ournationonparade, a new acquisition for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing. The standout Maryland-bred figures to have Shivaree and Smash Factor as his main rivals, with the X-factor being Scarto, a 75-1 winner with a 92 Beyer Speed Figure here on Presidents Day.