Trainer Michael Maker has no worries about Saturday's wet-weather forecast at Gulfstream Park, where he will saddle Value Engineering for a title defense in the $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Handicap.
Maker will go into the two-mile stakes for 3-year-olds and up with confidence that Michael Hui and Phil Forte's Value Engineering will show up whether the race named in memory of the beloved Hall of Fame trainer is run on Tapeta or turf, as scheduled.
“He did OK on [Tapeta] last time,” Maker said.
Value Engineering did a lot better than OK when he captured last year's Jerkens after it was transferred to Gulfstream's all-weather surface from turf. Making his first start for his current connections after being bought for $35,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale, the son of Lemon Drop Kid made his all-weather debut in the Jerkens, rallying from off the pace to score by three-quarters of a length.
The prospect of running again over Gulfstream's all-weather course seems highly likely due to weather. He prepped for the Jerkens over Turfway Park's Tapeta track Nov. 30, finishing seventh in a mile optional claiming allowance in his first race since finishing off the board the May 13 Man o' War at Belmont.
“Last time, he had a horrible post and I think the mile was too short for him,” Maker said. “But we wanted the race to prepare for this one.”
Value Engineering showed his versatility last season at Gulfstream not only by winning the Jerkens on Tapeta but in his subsequent turf starts, a second-place finish in the McKnight (G3) and a victory in the Mac Diarmida (G2).
Jose Ortiz, who hasn't ridden Value Engineering since his Mac Diarmida score, will be reunited with the 7-year-old gelding.
Hometown favorite Tyler Gaffalione is scheduled to ride for the first time during the Championship Meet Saturday, when he is named to ride Graham Motion-trained Swore in the Jerkens among his seven scheduled mounts. The Davie FL native, who won his first race in 2014 at Gulfstream, has become a dominant force in Kentucky, where he has won four titles between Keeneland and Churchill Downs this year.
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