Gulfstream Park will ring in the New Year with a 10-race card this Thursday, Jan. 1. It starts early, with the first post at 12:20 p.m. EST, but if you wake up a bit late, don’t worry. You will have plenty of time to watch nd wager on the Pick 3 that encompasses a pair of stakes races for newly turned 3-year-olds. Here’s a look at the action with a suggested $2 Pick 3 ticket that costs $36:
GP 8th race (3:48 p.m. EST) -- Seven sophomore fillies bring a combined 29/7-11-4 record with average earnings of $64,900 into the $175,000 Cash Run, but all are seeking their first stakes victory. Woodbine invader DUNBAR BEACH gets Hall of Famer John Velazquez to ride and gets the call in her first start on conventional dirt. She was disqualified from second in her debut race won by eventual two-time stakes winner Piper’s Gift, swung 5-wide and ran third after a troubled start as a follow-up favorite, then launched a strong run between rivals to win going away in her first long distance test. SECANE was most impressive in her 7F debut win at Gulfstream, sprinting to a clear lead, finding another gear when challenged on the turn and running away from the wandering favorite in the stretch. She returned in the one-mile Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct three months later, chased Shilling – who set the pace for 6F in a Grade 2 stakes next out – and ‘kept on’ to finish third. The daughter of 2018 Florida Derby winner Audible is a deserving favorite and the one to catch.
GP 9th race (4:18 p.m. EST) -- CHARLIE’S WISH (pictured), nearing a half-million as the field’s top money earner, is a steady mid-80 Beyer type when she races with Lasix. She’s a stakes winner on Gulfstream’s synthetic surface and could hold a tactical advantage in a race that lacks quality speed. FOR FLYING placed in a pair of Grade 3 stakes at Woodbine in four starts on the synthetic track and she, too, can make good use of her speed. DANCING N DIXIE, pinched and in tight early, unwound at the quarter pole and had a ‘solid late charge’ to finish third in the Grade 3 Maple Leaf, ahead of FOR FLYING in the 1-1/4-mile marathon that favored closers.
GP 10th race (4:48 p.m. EST) -- GLORIOUS BOY made an eye-catching stretch run and wouldn’t have needed a disqualification to emerge the winner from a dead heat with the rival that forced him inward and exchanged bumps in the closing yards. He broke his maiden sprinting on the Aqueduct lawn, ran second in a follow-up 6F stakes race and should have no trouble transitioning back to the grass after a :46 bullet workout at Gulfstream last Friday. He could be a solo play, but with maiden breakers from nine different tracks uniting in the $175,000 Dania Beach, use a couple longshots on the Bet 3 ticket. ZEPPELIN awaited room on the final turn and found it in time to catch the two favorites in a 25-1 debut upset on the Churchill Downs lawn. EASY WIND improved his speed figures at four turf venues to start his career, then changed tactics and set a fast pace in a turf-to-dirt mile won by his 1-to-2 stablemate. Morning-line favorite HONEY DUTCH will be a popular play with a high turn of early foot and Irad Ortiz Jr. summoned to ride. He widened a big lead on the turn and got caught two back, then controlled a soft pace and got caught again in his first stakes attempt at a longer distance. For value purposes, we won’t use him on the ticket.
Suggested $2 Pick 3 Ticket
GP 8th Race: 4, 7
GP 9th Race: 2, 3, 6
GP 10th Race: 4, 6, 7
Cost: $36
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