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Strategy Queen Chasing Third Straight Win In Ginger Brew

All In Line Stables' homebred filly Strategy Queen, coming off back-to-back victories, will get the chance to make it three straight as she steps up and stretches out on a new surface for her stakes debut in Saturday's $100,000 Ginger Brew at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by Championship Meet leader Saffie Joseph Jr., Strategy Queen has yet to race on turf or beyond 5 ½ furlongs through four races. Her first two starts came on dirt, finishing fourth following a slow start in her Aug. 13 unveiling then running second after a prolonged duel with Rapturous in a Sept. 11 maiden claimer.

Strategy Queen has put together her win streak over Gulfstream's Tapeta surface, graduating by three-quarters of a length in a Sept. 30 maiden special weight before returning for a nose triumph over winners in a Nov. 19 optional claiming allowance. All of her races have come at Gulfstream.

“She's won two in a row and she's doing good. The mile is going to be a question mark, obviously, and the turf. I think she'll handle the turf, but the question will be the distance. Can she stay the mile?” Joseph said. “She's obviously never done it. She acts like she could, but until they do you never know for sure.

“She's going from two sprints to a mile. She's a filly that's kind of leggy and built long, so she looks more like a miler than a sprinter,” he added. “Sometimes they trick you into thinking they want further and they don't really want it. We feel like she can get the mile. It's a step up in class, too, but we feel like it's worth a try.”

Joseph also entered Vesgo Racing Stable homebred Li Li Bear off a maiden special weight victory Oct. 28 at Gulfstream in her first start for the trainer and first on Tapeta. Prior to that she raced twice on the dirt at Saratoga, running fourth to Echo Zulu July 15 and sixth behind Jester Calls Nojoy Sept. 5. Echo Zulu went on to win the Hopeful (G1), Frizette (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to compete a perfect season, while Jester Calls Nojoy was sixth in the Frizette and most recently second in the Maryland Juvenile Fillies Dec. 18 at Laurel Park.

“She ran two races in Saratoga with [trainer] Phil Gleaves and then we got her,” Joseph said. “Her first race was very good when she ran into Echo Zulu. We put her on the Tapeta because we had no grass then and she won. She acts like she'll stretch out, also. She'll be stretching out for the first time but she acts like she will. She's a filly that we think a lot of her.”

Strategy Queen will be ridden by Junior Alvarado from the rail in a field of seven, while Li Li Bear will have the services of Tyler Gaffalione from Post 2.

Teneri Farm and J Stables' Opalina returns to South Florida following a road trip to Kentucky where the daughter of Optimizer closed to be fifth, beaten 1 ½ lengths, after a troubled start in the 1 1/16-mile Jessamine (G2) Oct. 13 over a Keeneland turf rated good. She raced three times prior at Gulfstream for trainer Roderick Rodriguez, running second twice before breaking her maiden against state-breds on yielding ground Sept. 17.

Soldi Stable and Ohana Racing's Ocean Safari is also a maiden special weight winner over the Gulfstream turf. Her victory came sprinting 7 ½ furlongs over good ground Sept. 10 and was followed by a third-place finish in a one-mile, 70-yard optional claiming allowance on the Tapeta Oct. 17, her most recent effort.

Also entered are Alittleloveandluck, exiting a Nov. 12 maiden special weight triumph on the Tapeta at Gulfstream; Louella Street, a Sept. 16 winner over Laurel Park's world-class turf course who finished off the board in the Nov. 28 Tepin at Aqueduct; and maiden Lady Puchi.

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Gulfstream: Pletcher Sends Pair Of Maiden Winners To Dania Beach

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will send out the pair of maiden winners Grand Sonata and Chanceux, each in their South Florida debut, as they chase stakes success in Saturday's $100,000 Dania Beach at Gulfstream Park.

The 14th running of the Dania Beach and 11th renewal of the Ginger Brew for fillies, both going one mile on the grass, are among five stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds worth $550,000 in purses on a New Year's Day holiday program headlined by the $150,000 Mucho Macho Man.

Post time for the first of 11 races is noon.

Pletcher previously won the Dania Beach with Made You Look in 2017, its last of a five-year run as a Grade 3 event. Whisper Hill Farm homebred Grand Sonata will be making his second straight stakes start after encountering trouble in the 1 1/16-mile Central Park Nov. 27 at Aqueduct.

In that race, the Medaglia d'Oro colt got bumped at the start and trailed the field into the stretch, had to steady at the three-sixteenths pole and wound up fifth beaten less than two lengths after making a belated run.

“I think trip handicappers would certainly take note of that,” Pletcher said. “It was a good ground-saving trip until nothing opened up and, unfortunately, there was just nowhere to go. He got extracted late and was closing really well when that happened, but it just didn't happen in time.”

Grand Sonata ran second to next-out Futurity (G3) winner Slipstream in his Sept. 18 debut sprinting seven furlongs on the Belmont Park turf. He stretched out to 1 1/16 miles for an off-the-turf maiden special weight Oct. 16 at Keeneland, where he led every step of the way for a 2 ¼-length win as the favorite.

“It was a good debut on the turf and then he was able to win off the turf. I think he is a colt that has a future on both surfaces,” Pletcher said. “Right now, we feel like he's a little better on the turf. He had a rough trip last time but he's doing really well. He put in a couple good breezes for us at Palm Beach [Downs] and, hopefully, we can get a smoother trip this time.”

Harrell Ventures' Chanceux is by Speightstown, the champion sprinter of 2004 also trained by Pletcher, out of the Broken Vow mare Rosalind, who was a Grade 2 winner on turf and Grade 1 placed on synthetics. Chanceux raced twice as a 2-year-old, finishing fourth in his Oct. 9 unveiling over Belmont's main track. Moved to the grass next out, he posted a front-running two-length triumph at the same six-furlong distance Nov. 13 at Aqueduct.

“It was a pretty straightforward performance. He broke alertly and took them wire to wire and seemed to make a move forward on the turf, which wasn't a surprise based on the bottom side of his pedigree,” Pletcher said. “It looked like there was plenty of turf there.

“We gave him a shot on the dirt first time out and he didn't run badly, but it looked like he took a big step forward on the grass,” he added. “I think the mile suits him well. I think it's a good intermediate distance to stretch him out.”

Tyler Gaffalione is named to ride Grand Sonata from far outside Post 8, while Luis Saez has the call on Chanceux from Post 5.

Live Oak Plantation homebred Biz Biz Buzz takes stakes credentials into the Dania Beach. After winning his debut Sept. 10 at Laurel Park, the Fed Biz colt ran third in the Oct. 10 Futurity and fifth in the Nov. 5 Atlantic Beach sprinting six furlongs on the Belmont turf. Most recently, he set the pace before settling for third in Gulfstream's one-mile Pulpit Dec. 3. Trained by Mike Trombetta, Biz Biz Buzz is cross-entered in a Dec. 31 allowance at Gulfstream.

Father Glado, owned and trained by Jose D'Angelo; Silverton Hill's Gingrich and DATTT Stable homebred Smokin' T all enter the Dania Beach off maiden victories. Father Glado won going a mile and 70 yards Dec. 9 on the Tapeta at Gulfstream; Gingrich scored by two lengths on a yielding Keeneland turf Oct. 8; and Smokin' T was a two-length winner going 1 1/16 miles Dec. 5 on the grass at Aqueduct.

Completing the field are K.C. Chief, a last-out winner at Gulfstream for owner-trainer Ruben Gracida, and No Nay Franklin, trained and co-owned by Patrick Biancone. No Nay Franklin has run second in each of his two starts, both at Gulfstream. He was beaten a neck in an Aug. 29 maiden special weight sprinting five furlongs on the grass then lost by a head in an off-the-turf edition of the seven-furlong Armed Forces Sept. 18.

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Mucho Macho Man Stakes: Strike Hard Aiming For Strong Start On Road To Florida Derby

For Miracle's International Trading, Inc.'s Strike Hard and Matthew Williams, the trainer for his family's stable, Saturday's $150,000 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park could prove to be a milestone race.

The 11th running of the one-mile Mucho Macho Man, the first step on Gulfstream's road to the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby April 2, headlines five stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds worth $550,000 in purses on the New Year's Day holiday program.

Post time for the first of 11 races is noon.

Both Strike Hard, a gray or roan son of Grade 2 winner Flashback, and Williams, a 25-year-old native of Kingston, Jamaica, are chasing the first stakes victory of their young careers. Williams has started 143 horses since November 2018 with 13 wins, while Strike Hard has raced five times with two wins, one second and one third.

“Going into the Mucho Macho Man, I have a lot of confidence. I definitely think he's up to the challenge and the level, especially based on his last performance,” Williams said. “This race will help us decide what's next.”

Strike Hard enters the Mucho Macho Man off a popular four-length optional claiming allowance triumph Dec. 5 at Gulfstream, with Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained stablemates A. P.'s Secret and Skippylongstocking a nose apart in second and third, respectively.

It was Strike Hard's second career win at a mile, coming in 1:35.60. The winning time would rank as the second-fastest in Mucho Macho Man history behind the 1:34.39 posted in 2013 by Itsmyluckyday, who went on to run second in the Florida Derby, win three graded-stakes including the 2014 Whitney (G1), and earn more than $1.7 million in purses.

“I thought he ran a very good race,” Williams said. “They regarded A. P.'s Secret pretty well and he beat him by four lengths, and he did it in good time, too. He went in [1:22.64] for seven furlongs and 1:35 and change for a mile. That was pretty good, I thought.”

Purchased for $25,000 as a 2-year-old in training at OBS in March, Strike Hard came back to breeze five furlongs in 1:01.13 Dec. 24 over Gulfstream's main track, eighth-fastest of 34 horses.

“He's doing great. I'm happy with him,” Williams said. “I'm as happy as I can be with him.”

Strike Hard ran seventh, beaten 6 ¾ lengths, in the Sept. 18 Iroquois (G3) at Churchill Downs, his only previous stakes attempt. Junior Alvarado is named to ride from Post 2 in a field of six.

“I'd like to draw a line through that race,” Williams said. “I think we shipped him a little too close to the race, just because we were uncertain whether we'd actually get in. They were expecting a big field, there were a lot of nominations, so we didn't ship him when we had initially planned. I hope that means he didn't give us his best that day.”

Williams' best horse to date has been Dream Marie, a 4-year-old mare that has won four of 23 starts with $278,420 in purse earnings. She has placed in five stakes including seconds in the Rampart (G3) and Hollywood Wildcat and a third in the Davona Dale (G2) in 2020 at Gulfstream. Williams is hopeful Strike Hard will be even more successful.

“From early on we thought he'd be a really nice horse. He trains really professionally,” he said. “He's shown us good interest when training. I definitely like his competitiveness. The times when he was breezing in the early stages and the way he did it, the riders were always impressed with him and so was I.”

The Championship Meet's leading trainer with 17 wins since Dec. 3, Joseph is keeping the likes of Remington Springboard Mile winner Make It Big, Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) show finisher White Abarrio and A. P.'s Secret on the bench for the Mucho Macho Man, but he will be represented by Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking.

Joseph is seeking his second Mucho Macho Man victory in three years following Chance It in 2020, who would go on to be Grade 1 placed. Skippylongstocking may have a change of equipment following his loss to Strike Hard last time out.

“He ran a decent race last time,” Joseph said. “We're probably going to try some blinkers on him this time, so hopefully it will help him jump forward. The horse that beat him last time beat him pretty convincingly … so he has to improve.”

Skippylongstocking finished ahead of Strike Hard when they ran second and third, respectively, separated by two lengths in an Aug. 7 maiden special weight at Gulfstream. Like Strike Hard, Skippylongstocking would also graduate in his subsequent start, a 10 ½-length maiden special weight romp over Rod Two Rod going a mile Sept. 26 at Gulfstream. Rod Two Rod was fourth, two lengths behind Skippylongstocking, in the Dec. 5 allowance.

“His maiden win was good. The horse he beat came back to win but the time was slow and he beat that horse [again] the other day,” Joseph said. “That horse kind of actually gained a few lengths on him, so the form hasn't been that strong. That's the concern. I know he's a decent horse, but can he make that jump? We're going to give him one more try to find out and, hopefully, blinkers can help him move forward a bit.”

Tyler Gaffalione, who also rode Chance It in the Mucho Macho Man, gets the return call from Post 5.

Lanes Mark Racing Stable and Danny Pate's Mr Rum Runner has never been worse than third in four starts and enters the Mucho Macho Man off his first win, a Nov. 21 maiden special weight at Gulfstream going one mile. He pressed the pace before taking a short lead, lost it at the top of the stretch and came back through the lane to win by a neck.

In his prior start, Mr Rum Runner set the pace along the inside and opened a clear advantage before being chased down and finished second to Peter D in the one-mile, 70-yard Juvenile over Gulfstream's Tapeta surface Oct. 23. Peter D has gone on to win two subsequent starts.

“He's training good. Hopefully, he can take the next step. He's a nice horse. He has never disappointed us so far. We'll see how good he is,” trainer Patrick Biancone said. “He's a horse that when he takes the lead he has a tendency to pull up, so the jockey has to time the race perfectly.”

Romero Maragh is set to ride back from Post 4.

OXO Equine's Graphic Detail is entered to make his second career start and first since rallying for a half-length maiden special weight triumph sprinting six furlongs Nov. 6 at Belmont Park for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The fourth-place finisher in that race, Provocateur, came back to break his maiden by 4 ½ lengths as the favorite Dec. 23 at Tampa Bay Downs. Graphic Detail's sire, Practical Joke, won the 2016 Hopeful (G1) and Champagne (G1) and was third in the 2017 Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream before taking the Allen Jerkens (G1) at Saratoga.

Graphic Detail drew outside Post 6 under Luis Saez.

Tami Bobo's Simplification ran fifth in his unveiling Oct. 1 over the Tapeta at Gulfstream before graduating by 16 ¾ lengths against fellow Florida-breds in an Oct. 23 maiden special weight over the main track. Most recently, the Not This Time colt finished third as the favorite in a Nov. 13 optional claiming allowance and will be stretching out beyond six furlongs for the first time.

Rounding out the field is Peacock Stable's Sport Pepper, owned and trained by Kerry Zavash. The Classic Empire gelding broke his maiden on the turf and won an optional claiming allowance on the dirt in successive starts at Arlington Park and Keeneland, respectively, this fall before finishing off the board in the Oct. 31 Street Sense at Churchill Downs and Dec. 3 Pulpit on the grass at Gulfstream.

Sport Pepper will break from the rail with Corey Lanerie.

Contested as the Gulfstream Park Derby from 2012-14, the Mucho Macho Man was renamed in honor of the Gulfstream-based winner of nine of 25 career starts and more than $5.6 million in purse earnings. Seven of his victories came in stakes – the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and Awesome Again (G1), 2012 Suburban (G2) and Gulfstream Park Handicap (G2), 2011 Risen Star (G2) and 2014 and 2012 Sunshine Millions Classic.

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‘I Just Need The Opportunity’: Determined Castellano Making Gulfstream Winter Home Again

Five winters have passed since his reign as the Championship Meet's dominant rider came to an end, but Hall of Famer Javier Castellano still comes to South Florida with the same level of enthusiasm.

This year, he also comes with a message.

“I need to have the opportunity and that's what I'm looking for: building the relationship with the trainers and hoping they give me the opportunity and they support me a little bit,” Castellano said. “I know how to do this. I know how to win races. I know how to get it done. I just need the opportunity from the trainers and I'm not going to let them down.”

No one won more races at Gulfstream Park than Castellano during a five-year span between 2011-12 and 2015-16, when he led the jockey standings with an average of 114 wins and set a then-record 132 in 2013-14. The mark has been surpassed twice since, by Luis Saez (137) in 2017-18 and Irad Ortiz Jr. (140) last year.

Besides Castellano, only three other riders have led the jockey standings as many as three consecutive years – Ortiz (2018-19 to 2020-21), Jorge Chavez (1999-2001) and Jeff Fell (1977-79). Ortiz will be back this year looking to make it four straight.

“I'm very excited. I feel like Gulfstream is my home. I've had a lot of success at Gulfstream,” Castellano, 44, said. “Five titles in a row is a great achievement. I'm very lucky and fortunate to be in that spot.”

Castellano got off to a late start at last winter's Championship Meet after having arthroscopic surgery to clean up some debris in his right leg, near the hip, last November. He didn't ride between Nov. 15 at Aqueduct and his Feb. 17 return at Gulfstream, finishing with 15 wins and $599,560 in purses from just 66 mounts. Among his victories was the March 27 Ghostzapper (G3) aboard Eye of a Jedi, a race named for the Hall of Fame horse that helped launch Castellano's career to new heights.

“It took a while to recover. That's what they predicted. The doctor told me I had to be out for three or four months. I was out three months and a half and came back to ride late at Gulfstream,” Castellano said. “It's been a long year for myself. Thank God I still win a lot of races … and I had a couple of Grade 1 winners, but not competitive with past years for me. I think it's partly the momentum [after] the surgery, building up a little bit of my business again.”

Castellano gave brief consideration to staying in New York for the winter, but ultimately decided to follow the blueprint that has proven successful for many years.

“I feel like that's the best way to do it. Thinking about more in the future, building my business and my relationship with trainers and look toward the spring and the summer and those big races,” Castellano said. “The only way you can build a relationship [and] be loyal with them is to go with the flow with the horses. When the horses go to Florida, I want to follow the horses and hopefully those maiden races help get the momentum building [and] the relationship with those trainers.

“I think that's the best way to go. Why do I need to change something that's been working for many years for myself?” he added. “I thought about it and I made my mind up that that's the way to go, that it's supposed to be like that. Go to Florida and ride the good horses.”

South Florida is where Castellano first landed when he came to the U.S. in 1997 and rode his first domestic winner before moving to the New York circuit in 2001. In the midst of his Eclipse run he set single-season career highs of 362 wins in 2013 and a then-record $28.1 million in purse earnings in 2015.

One new wrinkle at the Championship Meet is the addition of all-weather Tapeta to the dirt and turf courses, making Gulfstream the only track in North America to race on three different surfaces.

“I'm excited because we have a new surface with the [all-weather] track. It's an opportunity for those horses to develop and I think I have more options,” Castellano said. “In New York, unfortunately, in the winter, we don't have turf racing and we don't have synthetic. We have only one dimension and it's racing on the dirt, and you don't know how the weather's going to be. They only race four days a week.

“Hopefully we can find a nice 3-year-old to have for the year,” he added. ““I'm looking forward big time for this winter at Gulfstream. Gulfstream is amazing because that's where I started riding horses when I first came to this country. It opened the door for me. It gave me the opportunity and look where I am now more than 20 years later.”

Castellano has won the Preakness (G1) twice, the Travers (G1) a record six times and 12 Breeders' Cup races. He (2013-16) and fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey (2000-03) are the only jockeys to win four consecutive Eclipse Awards as champion rider. Castellano ranks second all-time with more than $364 million in purses earned and has won more than 5,400 races.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017, Castellano owns 463 career graded-stakes victories. Nine of them have come this year, including the Acorn (G1) and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1).

“You always have to compete and you always have to work hard. I don't take anything for granted. Unfortunately I had a bump in the road in my career with the surgery but I've put it behind me. I feel 100 percent. The reason I did the surgery is because I want to extend my career. I want to ride more years ahead and the only way I can do that is to refresh my body and take care of my body. I'm looking ahead to another five, six, seven years, maybe 10. Who knows?” Castellano said. “I love this game and I love to keep doing what I'm doing. I love racing and I'm trying to enjoy it.”

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