Timing will be everything for Anne D. Scott's Galleon Mast in Saturday's $60,000 Mecke at Gulfstream Park.
The 7-year-old gelding has built a rather impressive resume during his 36-race career, winning 10 races, including six stakes, and finishing in the money in 29 races, including 16 stakes.
However, the son of Mizzen Mast has been a source of frustration for trainer David Fawkes due to his inclination to idle in the stretch after making the lead, a bad habit that has surely contributed to his total of 13 second-place finishes.
“It can get frustrating, but he's a good horse. He's a lot of fun to have in the barn. You want horses like him in your barn,” Fawkes said. “He's as good as any horse can be when he gets the right trip.”
Galleon Mast appeared to be on his way to his seventh stakes victory in the Soldier's Dancer at Gulfstream June 6 after making a three-wide sweep off the turn into the homestretch under Paco Lopez. However, the Florida-bred gelding took the lead in mid-stretch, giving Muggsamatic more than enough time to mount a winning rally.
“Paco screwed up. He sent him too soon,” Fawkes said.
Lopez, who had been victorious in his two previous rides on Galleon Mast (in the 2018 and 2019 Sunshine Millions Turf Preview), is currently riding at Monmouth Park and will be replaced by Emisael Jaramillo, who finished a late-closing second last year the only time he has ridden Galleon Mast.
Prior to his second-place finish last time out, Galleon Mast finished eighth in the Pan American (G2), in which he never settled under Joe Bravo.
“That didn't work out at all. He's a very quirky horse. If he doesn't like you, he won't run a jump,” Fawkes said. “We had a situation when he came back from his long layoff, he dropped the exercise rider, because it wasn't his regular exercise rider, who was on vacation – and he's the kind of horse that never does anything bad. He's a neat horse, but he's a quirky old horse.”
Galleon Mast holds a wide advantage of stakes experience over his rivals in the Mecke, in which three of his rivals will step into stakes company after victories in optional claiming allowances – Owner/Trainer Louie Roussel III's Sailing Solo, D P Racing Inc.'s Harbour Master, and Donarra Thoroughbreds LLC's Lahinch.
Sailing Solo, a 5-year-old son of Smart Strike, was particularly impressive while making his Gulfstream debut June 26, registering a front-running 2 ¼-length victory under Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado. Harbour Master, a British import who was stakes-placed in California, rounded into form in his third start for trainer Patrick Biancone July 5, rallying to victory under Luca Panici. Joe Orseno-trained Lahinch, stakes-placed last year, scored by 1 ½ lengths in his second start off a long layoff June 5.
Champion Equine LLC's Battle of Blenheim, Jerick Llopiz's Forever Mo, Michael Newcomer's Il Faraone, Muzeyyen Karabulut's Sharm El Sheikh and My Purple Haze Stables' Thunder Ride round out the main body of the field.
Monarch Stables Inc.'s Art G Is Back tops a list of five main-track only entrants. The Ron Spatz-trained 4-year-old, a multiple-stakes winner on dirt who is also multiple stakes-placed on turf, is scheduled to make his 2020 debut if the Mecke is moved from the turf to the main track.
Louis Roussel III's Examiner, My Purple Haze Stables' Sqeezadios, Heehaw Racing's Snap Hook and Midnight Rider LLC's I'm a G Six are also main-track-only entrants.
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