Sat: GP Handicap G2 $250K

Sat: GP Handicap G2 $250K Mar 5, 2014 22:04:51 GMT -5

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Post by Evelyn on Mar 5, 2014 22:04:51 GMT -5

Two 2013 Top 3 yr olds return to racing!

Race 9 - Gulfstream Park H. (Grade II)

Purse $250,000. For Four Year Olds And Upward. ($15,000 bonus for FTBOA Registered Florida-Bred by an FTBOA Registered Florida Sire). Free nomination, $3,000 to pass the entry box and $1,500 additional to start with $250,000 Guaranteed. Monies to be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 5% to fourth, 3% to fifth and 2% to sixth. Supplemental nominations at time of entry with a fee of $15,000, which includes entry and starting fees. All fees shall be paid prior to the start of the race. Weights: Saturday, March 1, 2014. Trophy to the winning owner. One Mile.
PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer
1 Brujo de Olleros (BRZ) 6/H L C J Lanerie 117 R C Mettee
2 Golden Ticket (KY) 5/H L M R Cruz 118 K G McPeek
3 Uncaptured (ON) 4/C L L Contreras 116 M E Casse
4 Falling Sky (PA) 4/C L E Trujillo 118 G Weaver
5 Sr. Quisqueyano (FL) 4/C L C Olivero 116 L Olivares
6 Narvaez (KY) 4/G L A Jaen 115 A C Bezara
7 Itsmyluckyday (KY) 4/C L P Lopez 116 E Plesa, Jr.
8 Palace Malice (KY) 4/C L J R Velazquez 119 T A Pletcher

Owners: 1 - Team Valor International and Richard Santulli ; 2 - Magic City Thoroughbred Partners ; 3 - John C. Oxley ; 4 - Newtown Anner Stud and Joseph Bulger ; 5 - DDRD Racing, Inc. ; 6 - Stipa Racing Stable, Inc. ; 7 - Trilogy Stable and Laurie Plesa ; 8 - Dogwood Stable

Breeders: 1 - Luiz Fernando Cirne Lima; 2 - WinStar Farm LLC; 3 - William D. Graham; 4 - Copper Penny Stables LLC; 5 - Do-Little Farm LLC; 6 - Hargus Sexton, Sandra Sexton &Silver Fern Farm, LLC; 7 - Liberation Farm & Brandywine Farm; 8 - W. S. Farish

Itsmyluckyday, Palace Malice return in Gulfstream Park Handicap
Brisnet

Itsmyluckyday and Palace Malice will launch their 2014 campaigns in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap, a one-turn mile event which has attracted a salty field of eight older horses.

Itsmyluckyday developed into a top three-year-old last season at Gulfstream, recording excellent wins in the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Gulfstream Park Derby prior to a runner-up in the Florida Derby to subsequent Kentucky Derby winner Orb. Following an unplaced effort over a sloppy track in the Kentucky Derby, the Ed Plesa Jr.-trained colt reaffirmed his class with a good second in the Preakness.

The Kentucky-bred son of Lawyer Ron made only one more appearance, the June 16 Pegasus at Monmouth Park, but was pulled up and did not finish. It was later determined that Itsmyluckyday sustained a pelvic fracture. He will return from a 265-day layoff Saturday with new rider Paco Lopez.

Palace Malice appears poised for a successful season. After dropping his first five starts last year, the Curlin colt broke through with his first stakes win in the Belmont Stakes, recording a front-running upset, and the Todd Pletcher charge carried that form forward with a convincing win over Will Take Charge in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga. A stumbling start cost him dearly in the Travers Stakes, as he was forced far off the early pace before rallying to be beaten less than a length in fourth, but Palace Malice rebounded with a good second against older horses in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Unraced since a sixth in the Breeders' Cup Classic, Palace Malice will pick up the services of John Velazquez.

Other notables include Grade 1 winner Golden Ticket, runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile two starts back. Manoel Cruz rides the Kenny McPeek-trained five-year-old. Falling Sky enters on the upswing for George Weaver, posting a sharp 5 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint in early February. Brujo de Olleros finished a close second in the Grade 2 Kelso three starts back and exits a pair of third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and Gulfstream Park Sprint.

Uncaptured, the 2012 Horse of the Year in Canada, will look to turn his fortunes around following a non-threatening fifth in the Grade 1 Donn. Narvaez, a late-running second at 139-1 odds in the Gulfstream Park Sprint, is also entered, and multiple Gulfstream Park stakes winner Sr. Quisqueyano rounds out the field.

Sat: GP Handicap G2 $250K Mar 8, 2014 23:23:44 GMT -5

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Post by Jon on Mar 8, 2014 23:23:44 GMT -5

Thought this was the best race of the day. Great effort by PM. Good to see of last year's TC horses returning as 4 yr olds.

Palace Malice Returns a Winner in GP Handicap
By Tom LaMarra

Photo: Coglianese Photos/Lauren King

Dogwood Stable's Palace Malice, on the shelf since an even sixth-place finish in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I), showed no signs of rust with a gritty victory in the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap (gr. II) March 8 at the Florida racetrack (VIDEO).

With John Velazquez riding for trainer Todd Pletcher, Palace Malice rallied from fifth early in the one-mile race to take command in the lane. He lost the lead to the rallying Uncaptured, but came back along the rail to defeat a closing Golden Ticket by a head. Uncaptured finished a half-length back in third after his big move.

The early fractions, set by the battling Falling Sky and Itsmyluckyday, were :23.34 for the opening quarter-mile and :45.46 for the half-mile. Palace Malice took over on the far turn and had the lead through six furlongs in 1:09.21 as the top pair began to fade, and the winner completed the one mile in a sharp 1:33.80 on a fast track.

Palace Malice, the favorite, paid $4.60, $3, and $2.20. Golden Ticket returned $5.20 and $3.40, while Uncaptured paid $4.80 to show. The exacta paid $23 and the trifecta returned $87.80 in the seven-horse field.

Palace Malice, winner of last year's Belmont Stakes (gr. I) and Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) as a 3-year-old, is by Curlin out of the Royal Anthem mare Palace Rumor. He was bred in Kentucky by William S. Farish.

"He pressed solid fractions, and was carrying top weight and went a little wide," Pletcher said. "It looked like they took a couple big runs at him and he fought back. It was a heck of a horse race and a huge effort off the layoff.

"Those are good horses, too. You've got a Travers Stakes (gr. I) winner and a Prince of Wales winner and the runner-up in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I). It was a good race, I thought."

Pletcher said he and Dogwood chief Cot Campbell talked and are considering the Metropolitan Mile (gr. I) at Belmont Park as an early-season goal.

"I was delighted with today," Campbell said. "It's a good feeling to see him come back like this in his first race in four months. He was tested pretty severely. I thought (Golden Ticket) would run by him, but he fought back."

Velazquez said he expected Palace Malice, who started from the outside post in a field of seven, to be wide on the backstretch.

"That's where we wanted to be anyway," he said. "That's where we broke. We had a great position and we wanted to make sure we kept our position. The only thing was that I didn't want to be that close. Once he got to the top of the stretch he kind of idled a little bit and kind of got surprised by the horses on the outside of him, but I got after him and he responded right away.

"He got to the front and thought he was finished, basically. (Uncaptured) came on the outside of him and surprised him, but he got back into the game. I hit him and he responded. He was very gutsy."

Palace Malice cleared $1.5 million in earnings with the victory. The colt now has four wins, four seconds, and one third in 13 starts.