Fawkes barn riding high

MIAMI – Trainer David Fawkes ended the Gulfstream Park summer meet in style, winning a pair of stakes on last Saturday’s Florida Sire Stakes card with the veteran turf horse Galleon Mast and the 2-year-old Renaissance Frolic.

Galleon Mast posted his third consecutive stakes win with a neck decision over Galton in the Mr. Steele Stakes, the only one of the four scheduled turf stakes on the card to be run on grass. The switch to the main track did not affect Renaissance Frolic, however, as he drew off to a three-length victory in the Armed Forces.

“It was a great way to end what I thought was a very good meet for our barn,” said Fawkes, who concluded the summer session with 18 victories. “I was thrilled with the way things went down here this summer.”

Fawkes said he’ll lay a bit low during the Gulfstream West meet, although he has nominated Galleon Mast and several other horses, including Sweet Tooth Haven and Surprise Wedding, to upcoming stakes.

“We’ll run mostly the cheaper ones here, many of whom will be racing in another zip code when the big meet begins,” said Fawkes. “Galleon Mast has danced a lot of dances already this year, and I’d like to give him a break. But he’s tough, he’s easy to manage, and it’s hard to stop on a horse when they are in the kind of form he’s in right now.”

Santana making his mark

Jockey Ivaldo Santana has wasted little time making his presence felt locally.

Santana, a 35-year-old native of Brazil, registered his first U.S. victory on Sunday across town at Gulfstream Park, came right back to spring a 30-1 upset on Wednesday’s opening day here at Gulfstream Park West aboard Miss Lotus Flower, and added a third win when getting Bama Bound up in the final strides to capture the second race on Thursday.

Santana posted more than 800 victories in Brazil and was the rider for Triple Crown winner Colina Verde there in 2006. He moved his tack to Singapore in 2013 and won the Group 1 Singapore Guineas with Stepitup.

◗ The eight-week Gulfstream Park West meeting got off to a soggy start, with the main track sloppy and the races off the turf for the first two cards. Grass racing is unlikely this weekend after several days of heavy rain.

◗ Tyler Gaffalione was the only double winner, jockey or trainer, on opening day, booting home a pair of favorites, the 1-5 Little Chesney in the third race and 8-5 Put the Boss Back in the sixth. Gaffalione is the leading rider in wins nationwide in 2017.