Racing resumes with Miss Gracie
Horses were evacuated and racing cards canceled by Irma
Gulfstream Park returns from a 12-day hiatus from live racing with a 13-race card Saturday highlighted by the $100,000 Miss Gracie Stakes.
The track last hosted racing on Labor Day, then canceled four cards the remainder of the week leading up to Hurricane Irma. Approximately 700 horses were evacuated from the property. Many rode out the storm at Palm Meadows, the track’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, and some traveled as far as Ocala.
The Gulfstream facility suffered minimal damage, with only roof shingles on older barns removed by the storm’s winds, and the track reopened for training Tuesday. However, Gulfstream officials opted to cancel racing Wednesday through Friday to allow for clean-up and the restoration of resources in the surrounding community.
Fans returning Saturday will be treated to a full day of racing, punctuated by the 7½-furlong Miss Gracie. The turf race has drawn a respectable field of nine 3-year-old Florida-bred fillies.
On the strength of nine-length win in her last start, Surprise Wedding has been installed as the slight 5-2 early favorite. The daughter of High Cotton posted a speed figure of 105 in her Aug. 6 win at 7 furlongs over the Gulfstream main track. Trained by David Fawkes, Surprise Wedding will be seeking her first stakes win and the third of her career in the Miss Gracie, her first start on grass, with Jesus Rios in the irons.
Katinka will be looking to rebound from her last outing, a 10th place finish in the GIII Pucker Up at Arlington Park. The step up in class was her first race away from Gulfstream, where she last finished second in the Martha Washington Stakes on Jul. 4. Katinka, under Leonel Reyes, is 3-1 in the morning line.
Trained by Victor Barboza Jr., Gran Cherry is coming off of a pair of allowance wins, her most recent also coming Aug. 6 at a mile on the turf. At 4-1, Emisael Jaramillo gets the call on Gran Cherry.
Two Step Blues, a new stablemate of Gran Cherry, is 6-1 in the morning line. She has one win on her resume, that coming in a maiden race at Gulfstream on May 12, but has finished either first or second in six of her 10 career starts. The Miss Gracie will be her second start for Barboza Jr.
Fawkes also will send out a pair in the Miss Gracie. Sweet Tooth Haven, at 8-1, has three career wins to her credit, but has hit the board just once in four starts above the allowance ranks.