HANDICAPPING INSIGHTS
JANUARY 13, 2006
by Dick Powell
Gulfstream Park’s eight-race, opening-day card on Wednesday left a lot to be
desired. Bad food and such small portions.
However, after closing the plant on Thursday and Friday due to delays in the
construction of the new clubhouse and grandstand, Gulfstream came back strong
with a terrific card Saturday that drove home the point of why we look forward
to this meet each year.
Saturday dawned sunny and a bit cool with the 1ST race post time
temperature of 51 degrees. In the opener, the betting public made Promoted
Deputy (Deputy Minister) a horrible favorite for her American debut off some
efforts at Nad al Sheba, where she usually dwelt at the start. The four-year-old
went off as the 3-2 favorite against six rivals in a first-level allowance
sprint and, sure enough, was left at the gate. CANDY BOX (Running Stag), a
homebred for Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm, rallied three wide to win
going away in the decent time of 1:10.77.
Race 2 was an ultra-competitive maiden special weight sprint for
newly turned three-year-olds. Following on his record successes in 2005, Todd Pletcher showed on opening day that he will take no prisoners this year. Here, Pletcher sent out EXCLUSIVE QUALITY (Elusive Quality) to a
sharp win under a heady ride by John Velazquez, who made a winning move on the
far turn and kept Fourth of Gold (Touch Gold) boxed in. His final
time was a good 1:10.62 and it will be interesting to see if he can stretch out
with a sprinter’s pedigree on his dam’s side.
Pletcher and Velazquez came right back in race 3 with another win when
KEYED ENTRY (Honour and Glory) dueled on the front end and suddenly drew off to
a handy win in 1:09.47 over nine first-level allowance foes. The public sent off
Formal Appeal (Successful Appeal) as the 28-10 favorite and he wound up a
one-paced third. Keyed Entry paid $14 to win and, despite not always taking
money, Pletcher continues his winning ways.
Older allowance horses were up next in a first-level sprint. After getting
burned in the last race, the public sent Pletcher’s Venetian Sunset (Old
Trieste) off as the 8-5 favorite, but he had nothing. CRUNCH THE NUMBERS (Vicar),
with Jerry Bailey aboard, rallied between horses on the turn and made a strong
run in the stretch to win going away at very generous 7-2 odds.
Race 5 was the Hal’s Hope H. (G3), a two-turn main track route for older
horses. It was not the strongest field in the world, and the public made Philanthropist
(Kris S.) the lukewarm 9-5 favorite off a game win in the Queens County H. (G3)
last out at Aqueduct. The next four contenders were between 7-2 and 6-1, and it
looked like the winner would come from this group.
Longshot Ricardo A (Out of Place) gunned to the front with Eddie King Jr. and
opened up a clear, uncontested lead. Shaun Bridgmohan set up shop behind him on
ON THIN ICE (Tactical Cat), who tracked a strong pace of 23.17 and 46.34. The
rest of the field was bunched up and Bridgmohan took advantage of his position
— he could take the lead any time he wanted but would wait as long as no one
made a big move on his outside.
On the far turn, Bridgmohan could wait no more and swung around Ricardo A with a
host of contenders bearing down on him. He vigorously shook the reins and On
Thin Ice responded well with an energetic burst of speed, drawing off to win by
5 3/4 lengths and stopping the teletimer in 1:48.05, which is a sensational time
for the Gulfstream main track that was re-surfaced last season.
Longshot Network (Pulpit) rallied nicely for second and Seek Gold (Touch
Gold) was an even third. As good as the winner was, you hope that this race was
not an indicator of what the handicap division will look like in South Florida
this year.
The turf course got its first use in race 6 when 12 maidens went postward going 1 1/16 miles. Miracle Moment (Chester House) went to the front
from post 12 and was able to get to the rail and set modest fractions of :23.74
and :47.80. So far so good. As they entered the far turn, he started giving Rafael Bejarano trouble by trying to get out and, despite his jockey’s resistance,
Miracle Moment won the battle and bolted to the outside at the top of the
stretch. He looked like Broad Brush in the 1986 Pennsylvania Derby (G2), except
Broad Brush still won that race while Miracle Moment could only get sixth after
losing all his momentum.
Edgar Prado had HOPES AND DREAMS (More Than Ready) in a perfect stalking spot
and won handily by 2 1/2 lengths. Ambling (Chester House) rallied from far back
to get third after being shut off at the start. He won’t be a maiden much
longer.
The Aventura S. was up next and a field of 12 three-year-olds went to the
post for this one-turn mile event. Last year, Florida Derby (G1) winner High Fly
romped in this race and stamped himself as a legitimate Triple Crown
contender, but this year’s field had 11 horses who would be eligible for
second-level allowance conditions and only one graded winner.
In Summation (Put It Back), Little Cliff (Gulch) and Dixie Swinger
(Unbridled’s Song) went to the lead out of the chute and were pressed by My
Golden Song (Unbridled’s Song) down on the rail, DOCTOR DECHERD (Louis Quatorze)
between horses and Itsallboutthechase (Devil His Due) moving up on the outside.
Even with a second quarter faster than the first, the field remained
tightly packed and they headed into the far turn with 10 of the 12 having a real
shot at the win.
As the three leaders reached the top of the stretch, Bridgmohan swung Doctor
Decherd around the tiring pacesetters while being pressed on the outside by
Itsallboutthechase. He was able to keep from getting shut off and finally had
clear sailing with three-sixteenths of a mile to go but had a tough rival on his
outside. Doctor Decherd battled gamely on the inside and with a furlong to go it
looked like Itsallboutthechase would narrowly win, but Doctor Decherd would not
be denied and got up in the final stride to win by a nose. They ran their first
half in :46.06 and took :51.69 to negotiate the final half.
Other than the top two, it’s hard to say whether we saw any legitimate classic
contenders in here. Doctor Decherd has a lot of stamina in his dam’s pedigree
and with his natural speed, he could be a factor as the races get longer. His maiden
win last fall at Keeneland was spectacular and the sophomore was dead fit in
here for Steve Asmussen, who trained him to the minute at Palm Meadows.
HOLDEN CHAMPAGNE (Hennessy) rallied from far back behind a slow pace to win
the 8TH race — a turf event going nine furlongs for $30,000 claimers who had not won two races. Behind him was a six-horse photo finish for second that was
won by Kendrick’s Patsy (Out of Place).
The 9TH was the Mr. Prospector H. (G3), the last of a trio of stakes
races. A field of eight went to the gate, including 2003 Kentucky Derby (G1)
winner Funny Cide (Distorted Humor), who was making his first start in 189 days
for Barclay Tagg. Training beautifully in the morning, he was a major question
mark in here and the race had all the earmarks of a prep race for future
two-turn events.
Despite Bridgmohan winning the first two stakes races on the card, the
betting public dismissed him at nearly 6-1 aboard GAFF (Maria’s Mon), who
is also trained by Asmussen. Friendly Island (Crafty Friend) was sent off as the
tepid near 5-2 favorite as the money was spread pretty evenly on all eight
starters.
Velazquez gunned Friendly Island to the front and was pressed on the inside
by War Front (Danzig). Sitting just off them on the outside was Bridgmohan
aboard Gaff, who sacrificed ground but avoided getting into traffic. The pace
quickened as the race went on and Bridgmohan had chosen the right path since the
front runners were not going to come back to him.
After a half-mile in :45.10, they really poured it on and Friendly Island
streaked by the furlong pole in :56.57 with Gaff closing in and War Front
re-rallying after having some traffic problems at the top of the stretch. Gaff
was able to get by the leader and hold off War Front’s desperate final rally to
win by a neck in the good time of 1:08.50. They ran their final quarter mile in
:23.40 and all three of the top finishers can be proud of their effort.
As for Funny Cide, he raced down on the rail throughout and never showed any
kick in the stretch, finishing seventh of eight. He seemed to come out of the
race in good order and Tagg said after that they might look for a two-turn race
next time out.
The last race of the day saw Rafael Bejarano overcome post 12 with EINSTEIN
(Brz) (Spend a Buck), who won going away on the turf in the brilliant time of
1:45.84 for nine furlongs to cap a great day of racing at Gulfstream.
Gulfstream may still be having problems with on-going construction, but on
the track everything seems to be running smoothly.