Three winners last Friday. Not too shabby. Let it ride!
RACE 1: Maiden $25,000, five furlongs, turf
#5 BELLA GIANNA competes well at this level (fourth, third and second in her last three races). Trainer Laura Cazares is two-for-five at the Gulf this season and she will be switching things up (dirt-to-turf 19 .21 AVG. ROI $4.02). #6 SABINA PARK will be right up there with her. The Woodbine shipper has some of the highest Beyers in the field and jockey Chris Landeros should be stalking the pace for his first win of the year at GP. #8 LADY NOY placed fourth in a Maiden $40,000 and was third last time out against similar company as today’s. #9 COOKIE COVE could also win this with top jockey Paco Lopez aboard. This filly also placed second against similar competition in her last two races.
PICKS: 5-9-6-8
RACE 2: Maiden Special Weight $43,000 (Fla breds), six furlongs, dirt
Tough one to handicap. A lot of good horses here who have a chance of winning. #6 FREEZER BURN was beat by a length in her last outing at six furlongs. Big jockey switch from Jairo Rendon to Tyler Gaffalione, who’s hot this season. #10 DON’T EATTHE APPLE almost beat against tougher foes in an August MSW $58,000 (second place). Jockey Emisael Jaramillo gets the ride is well so it’s worth a look. #12 KASHAN is untested but trainer Ben Perkins is batting .20 with first time starters. On top of that, she’s got Luis Saez riding as well.
PICKS: 10-12-6
RACE 3: Claiming $20,000, one mile, turf
#1 WARRANT OFFICER looks like he’s well-placed in this field. He’s a shipper from the Kentucky circuit and has faced tougher horses in prior races. #2 BAHAMIAN PARK looks intriguing too. The WO shipper won at today’s class but it was against Canadian horses. Trainer Mark Casse is pulling out all the karma moves (synthetic-to-turf, sprint-to-route, two sprints and a route and a jock switch to Tyler Gaffalione. Casse wins a lot with turf routes. The odds on favorite will be #5 HE’S SUPER LUCKY. The gelding placed ITM in two of his last three races and his Beyers are consistently higher compared to the other entries. Jockey Luis Saez rides again and this should be the horse to beat.
PICKS: 2-5-1
RACE 4: Maiden Claiming $75,000, 1 1/16th of a mile, turf
Trainer Mark Casse wins FTS races at Gulfstream every year, except he’s not having a good meet so far (35 1 5 4 .03). His colt #2 TRAPPED INSIDE is going for a win second time out (127 .18 AVG. ROI $1.94) and first time blinkers (46 .20 AVG. ROI $1.81) and Tyler Gaffalione is riding too (21 .19 AVG. ROI $2.38), but this field is crowded. Lots of other horses to look at.
#3 CLEVELAND SIMPSON looks good too. Trainer Eddie Kenneally does well with FTS horses at GP (2-for-18, .11 and .33 ITM) the last two seasons. Most of his wins come in maiden claimer races as well (6-for-26 .23 and .46 ITM) and he’s got Paco Lopez riding him.
Todd Pletcher’s horse #6 TAKE A STAND figures to be in the mix and we all know how well Pletcher does in maiden races.
The other horse that intrigues me is #8 RATIFY trained by George Weaver. He’s 2-for-20 with FTS horses in the last two meets at GP and jockey Irad Ortiz wins for him often (2-for-2 in the last two meets at GP). Weaver is known for hitting the board often at nice odds. I’m leaning toward RATIFY
PICKS: 8-6-3-4
RACE 5: Maiden Claiming $12,500, six furlongs, dirt
#5 AWESOME EVIL placed second last time out against $12,500 claimers and only lost by 1 ½ lengths. Emisael Jaramillo rode him that time and he will get another chance today. #7 AALIYAH MARIE placed third in a seven furlong contest at GPW against $12,500 claimers as well. Luis Saez is riding and you can’t discount that. #8 TWO CENTS WORTH is trained by Ralph Nicks and he’s one of the top trainers at GP right now (35 9 8 4 .26). It always helps to go with a hot trainer. TWO CENTS WORTH also finished second two back against $20,000 claimers and she will fit well in this group as well.
PICKS: 5-7-8
RACE 6: Optional Claiming $25,000/Starter Allowance $16,000, five furlongs, turf
#1 GO GO GONE fared well last time out against similar company on Dec. 18 at GP. Gelding finished fourth but was only 2 ½ lengths away from the winner MACHO BLUE. He also earned a 76 Beyer and that’s worth noting. The kicker is trainer Barry Croft has yet to find the winner’s circle (he’s 0-for-11 at GP this year).
#4 NEVER HAVE I EVER ships in from the PA/DE circuit and placed ITM 3-for-4 in allowance company. Gelding is trained by Jorge Navarro (74 12 11 10 .16) and Navarro has won many races for owner Joseph Besecker. Add jockey Emisael Jaramillo to the mix and that’s a winning combination.
#5 TIGER BLOOD will most likely be the odds-on favorite. Placed ITM in a Dec. 7 stakes race and finished fourth (just 3 ½ lengths from the winner). Jockey Edgard Zayas will be riding and he is 3-for-3 with this gelding. Trainer Steve Klesaris will have him primed to go.
PICKS: 4-5-1
RACE 7: Claiming $12,500N2L, 6 ½ furlongs, dirt-to-turf
#3 STORMY BOSS looks well suited for this race. Won at the $20,000 level two back as the favorite. Threw in a clunker last time out and should rebound again, plus Jaramillo is riding too. #5 GOLDEN SPLENDOR will be up there as well. Trained by Nagib Aboughaida (26 8 4 5 .31) and ridden by apprentice jockey Cristan Torres, Aboughaida is batting .24 with first races off the claim. #9 SOUTHERN TODDY is also worth a look. This filly has been on the shelf for over a year but won big last time out (by 8 ¾ lengths). Wonder why she’s been dormant for so long. Luis Saez rides this one and he will have her gunning for the lead. Let’s see what happens.
PICKS: 5-9-3
RACE 8: Claiming $35,000, five furlongs, turf
#1 DINSTINCLY BLUE finished third last time out against the same company back on Dec. 18. Cristan Torres was riding that day. This time it’s Saez and maybe that’s what this filly needed – a better jockey change. Trainer Carlos David is great at turf sprints too (15 .27 AVG. ROI $8.55).
#3 BLUE MAGIC is worth a look as well. This mare placed third in a Dec. 7 stakes race and trainer Luis Ramirez is dropping her down in class. Ramirez has won with class drops before at GP and Irad Ortiz will be riding as well.
#4 SUGAR BOLT may be the best of the bunch. Trainer David Fawkes is also a turf sprint specialist (34 .18 AVG. ROI $1.42). He’s won many turf sprints at GP over the years and this filly won against allowance company back in September at today’s distance. Jaramillo will be riding and he’ll get his third win of the day.
PICKS: 4-1-3
RACE 9: Optional Claiming $35,000/N1X, mile, dirt
Easiest bet of the day. I’m going with #4 BLEWITT. Trainer Todd Pletcher gets his first win of the day. This horse has been on the shelf for a while. Placed second at AQU in a $75,000 allowance race in April and won a $40,000 optional claiming race before that. Pletcher is batting .29 with horses coming off 180+-day layoff. You can’t beat that. Pletcher wins a lot of races for Repole Stable at GP and his go-to jockey Johnny V will be riding.
I’d also check out his stable mate #9 MAC JAGGER. Pletcher claimed this gelding from trainer Brian Lynch and Pletcher is batting .26 with first time claims and .29 with horses coming off a 180+-day layoff. MAC JAGGER doesn’t have the high Beyers compared to the rest of the field, but never ever pass over a horse that’s the least likely to win, especially if Pletcher trains it.
PICKS: 4-9-8
RACE 10: Optional Claiming $16,000/N1X, five furlongs, turf
PICKS: 9-6-4
Good luck.