HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Handicappers can look at the $1 million Florida Derby from six ways to Sunday but in reality the end result will likely boil down to the one question nobody can really answer with any certainty: Which Fierceness will show up Saturday at Gulfstream Park?
Senor Buscador can become the first horse to win the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup. Ushba Tesoro can become the second horse to win two renewals of the Dubai World Cup. And the mere fact that a horse named Kabirkhan has any chance at all in the World Cup is almost unbelievable.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Big Everest did not get his preferred spot on the lead early in last November’s Artie Schiller Stakes at Aqueduct. It didn’t matter, he won anyway.
That stalking style – reluctant as he might have been doing it – could serve Big Everest well Saturday when he makes his 6-year-old debut in the $150,000 Appleton Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Santa Anita has canceled racing on Saturday and Sunday because of a forecast of extensive rain.
Track officials made the decision Thursday morning after monitoring expected conditions for the weekend. As much as three inches of rain may fall in Southern California.
“It looks like enough rain to mess up the weekend – and no turf racing,” track general manager Nate Newby said.
The track was to have one day of racing this week, on Friday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Brilliant in a debut victory and brave in a Grade 1 defeat at Saratoga, Ways and Means had the look of a special filly last summer.
Away from the races due to an injury suffered in the Grade 1 Spinaway last September, Ways and Means kicks off her 3-year-old campaign Saturday in the Grade 2, $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks.
The Gulfstream Oaks, which drew a field of nine, offers 200 qualifying points to the May 3 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
Kinetic Sky seeks his second consecutive stakes victory against a solid group of seven other foes in Saturday’s $150,000 Excelsior Stakes for 4-year-olds and upward traveling 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct. Trained by Rick Dutrow, Kinetic Sky rallied from off the pace to grab last month’s Stymie by a nose over an extremely wet racetrack that might have favored outside paths.
“I got kind of a tough [post] position inside and when I asked him to go and get position outside, he was there for me and went on to finish up,” jockey Jose Lezcano said after the Stymie.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It’s been a long journey to dirt racing for Midnight Rising, but ever since his hooves hit a traditional main track he’s been unbeatable. His newfound success over the surface could make him the favorite Saturday, when he meets the comebacking Last Samurai and millionaires Silver Prospector and Necker Island in the Grade 3, $500,000 Oaklawn Mile.
What worked to perfection at the start of 2023 may once again lead to a win in Saturday’s Group 1 Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai for the Florida-based gelding Sibelius.
In early 2023, Sibelius won the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream Park and the $75,000 Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in consecutive starts before a career-defining win by a nose in the $2 million Golden Shaheen at six furlongs at Meydan.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The rubber match between Tumbarumba and Steal Sunshine will be the major focus of attention when the pair meet again, this time around two turns at 1 1/16 miles, in Saturday’s $150,000 Ghostzapper Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The action starts early from Meydan, moves to Gulfstream, on to Oaklawn – a tremendous Saturday of racing. Derma Sotogake is the sleeper in the Dubai World Cup. Horses closer to home draw greater attention.
Florida Derby
Suppose you were presented a luxury car sticker-priced at $75,000, actually selling for $100,000. Test drives like a dream. You might never have felt a car this excellent. One caveat: If you hit a bump in the road, the car immediately loses half its power. You buying?
