Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Joseph, Drawing Away lighting it up
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – He’s not even in the top 10 in the standings for the Gulfstream championship meeting, but ask local horseplayers who the hottest trainer on the grounds has been of late, and most will likely answer Saffie Joseph Jr.
Joseph, a third-generation horseman who moved to the U.S. from his native Barbados in 2011, has won with 12 of his 29 starters at the session (41 percent), including three in a row last weekend. The majority of those victories have come for his principal client, Drawing Away Stable, which is second in the owner standings here this winter behind only perennial leaders Ken and Sarah Ramsey.
Joseph followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Attie Joseph and father, Saffie Joseph Sr., while beginning his racetrack career in Barbados at the age of 18. Joseph said the secret to his recent success is simple: making good claims and running them back in the right spots.
“We’ve had great support from Drawing Away, who’ve given us the opportunity to show what we could do here lately,” said Joseph. “We really started doing some serious claiming for them for the first time at this meet. They let me claim what I want, give the horses the time they need, and allow me to place the horses where I think they’ll be the most effective.”
Although he’s had the bulk of his success in the claiming ranks since coming to the U.S., Joseph, 30, knows what to do when he gets his hands on a good horse, having won the Barbados Triple Crown with Areutalkintome in 2009.
“We came from Barbados trying to make a name for ourselves in the U.S.,” said Joseph. “The object is to attract the right owners, continue to grow our stable, and perhaps win the Kentucky Derby someday. I’m only 30, so that’s my dream right now.”
Weekend Hideaway a young 7
Weekend Hideaway, who had his best year yet in 2016 at the age of 6, is getting close to embarking on his 7-year-old campaign after working five furlongs in 1:00.53 here Wednesday under regular exercise rider Lisa Bartkowski.
Weekend Hideaway, a New York-bred son of Speightstown trained by Phil Serpe for the Red and Black Stable, won 3 of 7 starts, including a pair of stakes, while banking $303,000 last season. Overall, Weekend Hideaway has posted 11 victories from 36 tries for earnings of nearly $875,000. Although the majority of his success has come in his native New York, arguably the best effort of his career came locally when he captured the 2015 Sunshine Millions Sprint by four lengths, earning a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.
“Even at 7, he still looks like he’s got it,” Serpe said after Weekend Hideaway completed his work on Wednesday. “He had his best year last year when I gave him a breather during the winter, so we did the same thing again this time – kicked him out for six weeks just to get him out and let him enjoy the sun. Obviously, the majority of his opportunities this season will come in New York, but I’d really like to try to participate and run him here once before we head north. He’s still got a couple of more works to go yet before we make that decision. I’ll breeze him again next Wednesday and then maybe start looking for something then.”
Seven face Curlin’s Approval
Even with the imposing presence of the red-hot Curlin’s Approval in the lineup, a field of eight fillies and mares was drawn for Saturday’s Grade 2 Inside Information.
The field includes the supplemental nominee Wheatfield, a multiple stakes winner who will ship here from Fair Grounds for the seven-furlong dash.
Curlin’s Approval, the winner of the Grade 2 Royal Delta in her last start, will turn back in distance to also face the Gilberto Zerpa-trained duo of Dearest and Danessa Again; Moment of Delight and Distinta, the first- and secondplace finishers in the White Pearl overnight stakes here last month; Mia Torri, the winner of the Sunshine Millions Distaff; and Summer Reading.