Stonehedge targeting big day

Gilbert Campbell has been one of the greatest benefactors of Florida breeding and racing over the past few decades, so it would be poetic justice if his Stonehedge LLC emerges as the biggest winner when the 38th annual Florida Sire Stakes series opens Saturday with a pair of six-furlong races at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.

Stonehedge will be represented by probable favorite Lenzi’s Lucky Lady and Marrens Marvel in the $100,000 Desert Vixen, which co-anchors a 13-race Saturday card that starts at 12:15 p.m. Eastern. And in the colt-and-gelding division, the $100,000 Dr. Fager, the Stonehedge silks also will be carried by a pair of contenders, Liam’s Lucky Charm and Turn On the Magic.

First run in 1982 at Calder (now Gulfstream West), the Sire Stakes series is conducted under the auspices of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association. The races are restricted to 2-yearolds sired by qualifying Florida stallions.

Subsequent dates in the $1.4 million series are Aug. 31, when the $200,000 Affirmed and $200,000 Susan’s Girl are run at seven furlongs, and Sept. 28, when the $400,000 In Reality and $400,000 My Dear Girl are run at 1 1/16 miles.

Besides the Sire Stakes openers, the Saturday card also includes higher purses for several maiden and allowance races. The purses are infused with extra funds with the intent of attracting a greater quality and quantity of starters on such a high-visibility day in the simulcast market.

Dr. Fager

The emergence of Saffie Joseph Jr. as a leading trainer at Gulfstream coincides with that of Chance It in the statebred ranks. In his second start, Chance It earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in an easy maiden victory on the June 29 Summit of Speed undercard, stamping himself as the horse to beat in a field of seven entered in the Dr. Fager.

“Horses that he beat have justified his race,” said Joseph, who earned his first training title at the three-month Gulfstream spring meet. “I’m a big believer in ‘It’s who you beat,’ and he beat horses that have come back and run good,” referring primarily to a sharp next-out win by the runner-up, Genghis. “This is the kind of horse you dream about.”

Chance It, with Edgard Zayas back to ride, will break from post 1 in the Dr. Fager. The chief opposition includes the uncoupled Stonehedge pair of Turn On the Magic (post 3, Diego Gomez) and Liam’s Lucky Charm (post 7, Reylu Gutierrez), both lastout maiden winners, as well as Absolute Grit (post 4, Cristian Torres) and Man With a Plan (post 2, Emisael Jaramillo), the second- and third-place finishers in the Kodiak Island in June.

Turn On the Magic, trained by Michael Yates, has been gelded since his successful June 9 debut, while trainer Eddie Plesa is equipping Absolute Grit with blinkers for the first time.

Desert Vixen

The longstanding working relationship between Campbell and trainer Kathleen O’Connell shines through in the bloodlines of homebred Lenzi’s Lucky Lady, who figures to be a solid favorite when she breaks from post 7 under Jairo Rendon in a field of nine fillies.

“I won stakes with her mother,” said O’Connell, referring to Blue Eyed Sweetie, a Campbell homebred who won two stakes at Calder in 2010. “There’s a lot of class in the pedigree.”

After earning a field-high Beyer in winning her June 6 debut by a half-length, Lenzi’s Lucky Lady blasted home a 5 1/2-length winner some three weeks later in the Golden Isles in an effort that makes her the clear-cut leader in this niche at this early juncture.

Among the threats are Ms Big Spring (post 9, Jaramillo), who broke through with a 10 1/2-length maiden score on closing day of the spring meet; Two Sixty (post 6, Zayas), a sharp debut winner for Mark Casse; Sweetheart Deal (post 1, Torres), who earned a 78 Beyer when defeating maiden-claimers in her latest; and Raven (post 3, Miguel Vasquez) and Bahamian Pass (post 2, Luca Panici), the second- and thirdplace finishers in the Golden Isles.

O’Connell ranks among the leading trainers in Sire Stakes history with 11 winners. Stanley Gold is tops with 19.