Gold has likely favorites for Affirmed, Susan’s Girl
divisions of FSS
When Stanley Gold saddled Sing Praises for a dominating
By defeating stablemate Of Course by 1 3/4 lengths on
“That means a lot, because I knew Frank. It’s a record that
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Gold is scheduled to have six solid shots at FSS win No. 15 —
including Sing Praises, Of Course and nice maiden victor Twotwentyfive A — in the $250,000
Affirmed, at Gulfstream on
Saturday. A field of 11 juveniles have been entered in the lucrative second leg
of the Florida Sire Stakes going seven furlongs.
Sing Praises debuted with a troubled second-place finish on June 29
at Gulfstream before breaking his maiden with a 5 1/2-length romp at 20-1 in the Birdonthewire Stakes
three weeks later. Favored at 1-2 in the Dr. Fager while
stretching out from 5 1/2 furlongs to six furlongs, the son of Hear No Evil posted a
front-running triumph while outrunning his stablemate.
“He keeps impressing me because he keeps doing things so
easy. When you think it might not have anything left you find out that he’s not
even near the bottom of the tank and he explodes for you,” Gold said. “He’s been doing that
in his works. His last work was :58-change and he was just
loose-reining it. When the rider chirped to him, he just took off.
“I don’t know how good he is. He’s good.”
Ramsey Zimmerman, who has been aboard the Florida-bred colt
for all three of his starts, has the return mount in the seven-furlong Affirmed.
Sing Praises will be accompanied in the starting gate by a pair of solid
contenders in stablemates Of Course and Twotwentyfive A. Of Course, who closed 2
3/4 lengths on Sing Praises through the stretch, finished 3 1/4 lengths clear of the
third-place finisher in the Dr. Fager. Twotwentyfive A got a little later start
than his two stablemates but the chestnut demonstrated immense talent in his August 3 debut,
in which he closed from off the pace and drew away to a 3 3/4-length victory.
“He belongs in there,” said Gold, who named Edgard Zayas to
ride Of Course and Abdiel Jaen to ride Twotwentyfive A.
The Kathleen O’Connell-trained duo of Jaiden’s Best and
Wayne’s Way, who finished third and fourth, respectively, in the Dr. Fager, were
both entered in the Affirmed. Those Gilbert G. Campbell homebreds will be joined
by fellow O’Connell-trained Campbell colorbearer Vespertini, who is exiting a
sixth-placing in the July 12 Birdonthewire.
In addition to Vespertini and Twentyfive A, five other newcomers will take
their spot in the starting gate.
Joe Calascibetta, who saddled D’nied Permission for a
victory in the 2012 Affirmed Stakes at Calder, entered maiden Bwana Dance.
“Stanley’s always tough in the (Sire) Stakes and they always have nice
horses, but things happen in horses races,” Calascibetta said.
“I just have to hope they get entertained up front a bit and some will get tired
and we can pick up the pieces at the end.”
An also-ran in his first two starts at five and six
furlongs, Bwana Dance closed well to finish second at 64-1 in his most recent start at a
mile.
“This race here, we’re sort of taking a flyer with him, because seven-eighths
is a little bit short for him,” Calascibetta noted. “But I’m hoping for a very
contentious pace and maybe some of the speed will tire a little bit and we can
pick up some pieces. He’ll be running at the end.”
Trainer Ralph Nicks also entered a promising maiden in
Rockinatten, who finished second, a half-length behind the winner, in his August
24 debut at Gulfstream.
Keyed for Speed and Boozin Time both scored impressive
maiden-breaking wins in claiming races last out, with the former Bill White
trainee beating $35,000 claiming maidens by
11 1/2 lengths and the latter Wesley Ward pupil notching an eight-length romp
over $16,000 claimers. Maiden Jack’s Comprise rounds out the 11-horse field.
Gold not only has the probably favorite for the Dr. Fager in Sing Praises,
he’ll also send out the likely favorite and second choice for $250,000
Susan’s Girl in the fillies’ series.
After impressively winning the Desert Vixen, the opening leg of the filly division of the FSS, by a
widening 4 3/4 lengths, Jacks or Better Farm’s Leap Year Luck likely assured
herself a position of favoritism in the seven-furlong Susan’s Girl while
stablemate and fellow Jacks or Better homebred Standard Deal, who was second in
the Desert Vixen after leading through the stretch, may be the second choice.
After
reviewing his fillies’ last race, Gold believes Standard Deal’s performance was
more encouraging than what the numbers may indicate at face value. Standard Deal got hooked up in a speed duel with the precocious Katie’s
Kiss in the Desert Vixen, and the two ran through a quick opening quarter in
:22 and a half-mile in :45. Standard Deal separated herself from
Katie’s Kiss at the eighth-pole, but after enduring a rough stretch duel, the
Consolidator filly did not have quite enough left to hold off her fast-closing
barnmate.
“Actually, the race was even more impressive than if you
just look on paper, because they were legitimate, hard fractions, and she held
up well and was able to put away the one horse she was with and hang on for
second,” Gold said. “My other horse Leap Year Luck actually benefited by it, but
that was not a poor race by Standard Deal.”
Awesome Ice is the third member of Gold’s Jacks or Better Farm trio for the
Susan’s Girl. The Awesome of Course two-year-old may have taken three starts to break her maiden, but she has yet to
run worse than second. She got her first victory on August 2, emerging from a
stretch-long duel to win a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight by 1 3/4 lengths.
“Awesome Ice ran so big from off the pace, and she looks
like she belongs in there,” Gold said. “She’ll like the extra furlong. All three
of them are going to run their own race, so we’ll see how it turns out.”
Moment of Delight also looks like she belongs after scoring her maiden debut on
August 16. Trained by Bill Kaplan, the A.P. Warrior bay miss opened eyes when she professionally made a three-wide bid
from off the pace to take her career bow by 4 1/2 lengths.
“I thought it was a great performance,” Kaplan said. “It wasn’t unexpected.
She has a wonderful mind, and I’m not concerned about the additional distance.”
Fernando Jara will get the mount aboard Moment of Delight
in the Susan’s Girl. After riding her to her maiden victory, Juan Leyva will
miss the second leg of the FSS to ride another Kaplan trainee, Ohio
Derby winner East Hall, in this weekend’s Super Derby in Louisiana.
“I expect (Moment of Delight) to run well,” Kaplan remarked. “Obviously it’s
a big leap up from a maiden race to facing these horses, but I expect she’ll run
good. She’s very professional.”
Trainer David Fawkes adds more depth to the Susan’s Girl
with Hangover Saturday, an impressive maiden winner in her own right who
captured her first start by 4 3/4 lengths on August 8 on the grass.
“I think she broke good enough and she ran strong enough
that she should be fit enough to go seventh-eighths,” Fawkes stated. “You always
have to be in question, ‘Was it just the turf that made her run that much
better, or is she that good?’ But she’s worked good on the dirt. She’s training
excellent. She had a really nice work (going a bullet half-mile in :47 2/5 last
Saturday), and I expect her to run really good.”
The Rose Family Stable will be represented in the Susan’s
Girl by Jamie’s Dancer, who brings more experience into the race than any other
starter. The dark bay daughter of Hal’s Image has already started nine times and has eight
in-the-money finishes. She broke through with her maiden victory in her most
recent start, a 5 1/2-furlong contest on August 23, which she took by five
lengths.
“She did what I’d been expecting her to do all along,”
trainer Barry Rose said. “It’ll be a tough field (in the Susan’s Girl), but I
expect her to run well, and she’ll be respectable.
The competitive Susan’s Girl field will also include: R
Sassy Lass, third behind Moment of Delight in her debut; Media Rules, who won at
first asking in a $16,000 maiden claimer on August 14; the fillies that
claimed the fourth through seventh positions in the Desert Vixen — Herecomesmisskitty, Miss Amalita, Holywell and I’m a Good Looker,
respectively; and Evelyn’s Dream, runner-up in two career tries thus far.
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