Cory Gal set to win another for Walder

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Peter Walder can’t reasonably expect to have his uncanny winning streak still intact when he saddles Cory Gal for the Sunday feature at Gulfstream Park.

After High Heater and Surf Shack were a neck apart as the one-two finishers for Walder in the second race Wednesday, the 52-year-old Montreal native had won seven straight races, a streak dating to Feb. 18. The next two Walder entries were scheduled to compete in separate races here Saturday, with both listed at double-digit odds on the morning line.

On the assumption the streak was snapped Saturday, Walder stands a solid chance to start a new one when he sends out the speedy Cory Gal in the only open allowance of a 12-race Sunday card. With Miguel Vasquez to ride, Cory Gal will break from the outside post in a field of six fillies and mares in the ninth race, a $48,000 secondlevel allowance at six furlongs.

Walder claimed Cory Gal for Paradise Farms at Gulfstream in September, and in her only start for new connections, she earned a career-high 98 Beyer Speed Figure in setting a Gulfstream West record that will never be broken, now that the North Miami track has been permanently closed. She won that five-furlong race on Oct. 4 in 56.58 seconds.

“We love the mare,” Walder said. “She had a minor foot issue, so we gave her a little extra time off with the idea of having a fresh horse for the spring and summer and maybe trying to win a Florida-bred stake with her. She’s been back working weekly since early in the year, and she ought to be tough in there. I love the outside draw.”

Walder is the fourth trainer for Cory Gal, a 5-year-old Florida-bred mare who changed hands via the claim box for $16,000, then $25,000 before Walder took her for $25,000. The habitual front-runner has won 7 of 25 career starts and $244,717, the most in a field that includes Eve of War and Sound Machine as her main challengers.

Eve of War (post 1, Irad Ortiz Jr.), a 7 1/2-length winner of her career debut here last February, will be making her first start in eight months after showing herself worthy of several stakes berths, all of them in longer races. Todd Pletcher trains the 4-year-old Declaration of War filly for owner-breeder Jeff Treadway.

Sound Machine (post 3, Tyler Gaffalione) has raced primarily in stakes for eFive Racing and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and clearly has some quality to her.

First post Sunday is 12:10 p.m., with the feature going at 4:12 and the final race at 5:48.

The feature is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 that spans races 7-12 and was expected to offer a pool guarantee of about $600,000, assuming the jackpot is not emptied Friday or Saturday by a solo winning ticket. The sequence also includes an allowance restricted to Floridabreds (race 11).

An earlier Sunday race is the $40,000 Sr. Quisqueyano (race 5), a starter handicap that drew seven older horses going a oneturn mile. Sr. Quisqueyano, an earner of more than $800,000 in a 51-race career, won the 2015 Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream for Walder and Loooch Racing.

After Sunday, Gulfstream goes dark for two days before another five-day week starts Wednesday. A trio of $75,000 sprint stakes – the Hutcheson, Any Limit, and Captiva Island – are set for Saturday as the highlights for next weekend.