Turf sprinters clash in stakes

One Saturday before a blockbuster card at Gulfstream Park, a pair of $100,000 turf sprints for 3-year-olds will take the spotlight at the South Florida track.

A full field of 12 fillies is entered in the Melody of Colors, race 10 on an 11-race Saturday card, while the Texas Glitter (race 4) drew a field of seven colts and geldings. Both races are set for five furlongs over a turf course that once again figures to be quite firm.

First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern. Only the Melody of Colors is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 6-11), which had a $448,070 jackpot carryover into Thursday action.

Next Saturday brings a 14-race program featuring the $1 million Florida Derby and nine other stakes.

Texas Glitter Stakes

Crispy Cat and Dr Oseran will line up alongside one another in posts 4 and 5 as likely favorites in the Texas Glitter Stakes, which last year produced Grade 3 winner Big Invasion.

Crispy Cat, with Paco Lopez riding, will be wheeling back on just two weeks’ rest after being narrowly defeated in a March 10 allowance going five furlongs on the turf at Gulfstream. Making his first stateside start after eight races in England and Ireland, Crispy Cat forced a sub-44-second half-mile and was beaten a neck.

“The pace was so fast, and he did all the dirty work,” said his trainer, Jorge Delgado.

“He came back good from the race; he’s been recovering well.”

Dr Oseran has gone 2 for 2 this winter. He is trained by

Christophe Clement, who last Saturday won the Silks Run at Gulfstream with Big Invasion. A Kentucky-bred son of Kitten’s Joy, Dr Oseran earned a fieldhigh 85 Beyer Speed Figure when he led all the way in his most recent race, a Feb. 2 allowance going five furlongs on turf. Jose Ortiz has the mount in place of Tyler Gaffalione, who is riding Saturday in Dubai.

Gordian Knot and Marley Luck are others to consider in the ninth running of the Texas Glitter.

Melody of Colors Stakes

Bedtime Story will put an undefeated record on the line when she makes her grass debut in the eighth Melody of Colors. Trainer Jose D’Angelo is enamored with the filly, who cost just $6,000 at auction last June.

“She’s a racehorse,” D’Angelo said. “I like her a lot.”

Bedtime Story is 3 for 3, all on Tapeta, but D’Angelo believes she will make a seamless transition to turf . Javier Castellano rides from post 3.

Sassy Nature (post 5, Julien Leparoux) figures as a lukewarm favorite after getting an 81 Beyer in a winning her turf debut earlier this month at Gulfstream for trainer Jack Sisterson. A Jan. 7 maiden victory versus California-breds on the Santa Anita dirt graded out to an 88 Beyer, a number that’s far and away the tops in this group.

Among a handful of capable fringe players are Just a Care (post 6, Lopez) and My Sweet Affair (post 7, Emisael Jaramillo), both last-out maiden winners over the local course.

In all, 13 are entered, with Primrose Ridge being the lone also-eligible.