Loading ...Jan 30 2020
Gulfstream Saturday G3 Stakes: Holy Bull, Forward Gal, Swale, Sweetest Chant; Big 3yo Day!
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Saturday, February 1. Gulfstream Park kicks off February 2020 in style with 5 stakes races on Saturday including 4 G3’s: the Holy Bull, Forward Gal, Swale, and Sweetest Chant, and the listed Dania Beach stakes. All 5 of the stakes are for 3yo’s, with the Forward Gal and Sweetest Chant reserved for fillies. Let’s preview all the stakes races since we haven’t done that in a while.
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R6: Forward Gal G3 7f dirt 3yo F
The short field of 6 doesn’t make it real enticing for bettors, except that the 1-2 morning line favorite Tonalist Shape is not invincible. She’ll have to catch the speedy Street of Dreams and Compensate, both of whose speed is proven at or near this distance. Nikki and Papa 15-1 might even have something to say in her first time out.
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R7: MSW 50k 8f dirt 3yo
OK so it’s not a stakes race, but connections will be comparing these competitors to the stakes runners on the day, as will we. On paper it’s a 2 horse race between heavy favorite Palm Springs and King Khozan. But don’t be surprised if first timers Mr Candy Ride 6-1 and/or Mauro’s Team 20-1 make some noise, and Sir Kahn 15-1 has an oscillatory pattern showing he should be up for another big one. Long shot special alert.
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R8: Sweetest Chant G3 8f turf 3yo F
The 2 favored fillies coming off 1st and 2nd in the Ginger Brew stakes here in early Jan, will be tough to beat, as will Sunset Promise who finished a close 4th in that one. People will forget about Cheermeister 10-1 who finished 10th in that, but in her previous race she proved that her speed can hold up in an 8f stakes race when unpressured, and there isn’t much speed in this. Sunset Promise and Moana’s Tale 8-1 are the most likely pressurizers that can benefit from the apparent lack of speed. Reluctant Bride 12-1 had a great closing move in her 5f debut and can improve here. That’s 3 more long shot specials.
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R9: Swale G3 7f dirt 3yo
Green Light Go is the ML fav because of the graded stakes credentials, 2nd in the Champagne G1 and more relevantly, 1st in the Saratoga Special G2 which is close to this distance. I suspect 2nd ML choice Untitled will wind up the favorite after an 11 length debut win here in December. The speed of Mischievous Alex was devastating in a 7f Parx stakes last out in November. Shivaree at 6-1 may be the crowd favorite, running for his 8th time here in Miami, the last 2 of which produced stakes wins. Necker Island 6-1 and Inter Miami 12-1 could figure in but will need to improve. Most intriguing is Flash Pass at 30-1, whose PF on paper isn’t great, but it was a 12 length debut win. It was only a MC12500-c but there could be more in the tank. Some possibilities here, but all dependent on anyone catching Untitled.
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R10:Â Dania Beach 100k 8f turf 3yo
Once again, 2 solid favorites here, but only one, Homeland, with 2nd place stakes credentials. Then there are lots of possibilities. Not sure why Get Smokin is listed at 12-1 after a 2nd place Kitten’s Joy G3 finish last out, especially when this field is almost devoid of speed as well, meaning he could be loose on the lead again. Long shot special alert. South Bend 6-1 has 2nd LP and will be very dangerous if he likes the turf, as could be said about Sprawl 12-1. This race looks like it sets up perfectly for EP4 Mr. Kringle at 10-1 in the same way it should for South Bend. If Peruvian Boy at 20-1 likes turf he could show up well. As said, lots of long shot possibilities here.
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R11: Holy Bull G3 8.5f dirt 3yo
Back to a short field of 7 for the feature race, and not seemingly a lot of possibilities, unfortunately. Tiz the Law is the deserving favorite after winning the Champagne G1 and losing by a length in the KYJC G2 in the slop. Ete Indien at 6-1 was excellent in his first dirt race, holding off 2nd ML choice Toledo for a mile win here in December. After that, Relentless Dancer 8-1 seems like the only realistic long shot possibility, coming off a long layoff after a 10 length stakes win in October. Mayberry Deputy at 15-1 will have to step up in class once more but could get on the board if Dancer doesn’t.
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In last weekend’s stakes races here, most of the winners and other ITM finishers came from the top LP rankings in the Grid, which may well happen again. However this weekend, most of those are in the chalky area of the board as well. Grab the Gulfstream Grid below for all 12 Saturday races.
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