Lennilu, a prospect for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, and Finding Strength, who owns a significant Beyer Speed Figure, make for an intriguing matchup in the Desert Vixen division of the Florida Sire Stakes series that begins Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The card includes the $100,000 Dr. Fager division of the Florida Sire Stakes and the $70,000 Mambo Meister, an overnight handicap at a mile on turf that drew a competitive field of 11. Both of the Sire Stakes races are for 2-year-olds at six furlongs.
Lennilu is making her first start since running third in the Group 2 Queen Mary at the Royal Ascot meet on June 18, and Finding Strength comes off a dominant maiden win for which she earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 75. It was the top number put up by a 2-year-old filly during the Royal Palm meet at Gulfstream.
“She came out of her last race really well and she’s trained as well, if not better, leading up to this race,” said Michael Yates, who trains Finding Strength.
Trainer Patrick Biancone also is pleased with how Lennilu is training ahead of the Desert Vixen, which is restricted to fillies. She is cross-entered in the Untapable at Kentucky Downs on Sunday but will run at Gulfstream.
“We decided to keep her here when we saw the amount of rain there was going to be over there,” Biancone said. “She needs a comeback race.”
Biancone noted that there is rain in the forecast at Gulfstream, but that Lennilu won her maiden in the slop on April 6 at Keeneland. One start later, she won on firm turf in the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies before traveling overseas to England.
“When you go for this race in Ascot, you need to push them a little bit early,” Biancone said. “She won the first maiden of the year, then she ran in a stakes in May. She won that, then four weeks later we go to England. We decided, look, we have a good prospect. We decided to aim for the Breeders’ Cup and just give her the break she needs. She has grown. She has gotten thicker. She looks extremely well. She’s training extremely well. You can see her work pattern, but she’s not yet 110 percent. She’s only 90 percent.”
Lennilu was beaten just 1 3/4 lengths in the Queen Mary by a top class rival in True Love, who returned in her next start to win a Group 2 race over males and run second in a Group 1, also against males. Those races were in Ireland. Biancone was pleased with Lennilu’s effort in the Queen Mary.
“It was a very good race,” he said. “The filly that beat us, that won, is a real champion. Our filly, we could have been second. She never saw the one on the inside, but we were delighted with the third-place finish. She put her heart into the race, and she’s a lovely young filly who I think will improve with age, like most of the sprinters.”
Finding Strength was a 4 1/4-length winner of a maiden special weight sprint in her last start Aug. 17.
“She broke sharp and we kind of just sat on her and let the speed go,” Yates said. “What I most liked about the race was how well she finished. Mentally, she’s very straightforward. She goes about her business and doesn’t seem to be bothered by much. She’s going to be pretty adaptive. I’m going to leave [tactics] up to the jock when the gates open.”
Finding Strength will start from post 2 under Jesus Rios. Lennilu will start from post 3 under Romero Maragh.
Dr. Fager
Biancone and Yates also will square off in the Dr. Fager, where Biancone trainee Squire is making his first start off a runner-up finish in the Royal Palm Juvenile on May 10 at Gulfstream.
“He broke his maiden early, then we ran in the prep race for Ascot,” Biancone said. “He ran a good race. He finished second. But the horse was a bit anxious. We decided give him a break at the farm, geld him, and keep him for the series, and this is the first leg of series.”
Biancone said the castration has made Squire a “much more relaxed” horse. He will start from post 6 under Jonathan Ocasio.
“He’s not crazy fast, but he’s got enough pace,” Biancone said. “We’ll see how the race unfolds and let the jockey make the decisions. But he can come from behind like he did the first time he won, or he can be forward like the second time.”
Fourth and Central was a sharp debut winner May 31 and came back to finish a troubled fifth in the Proud Man in his last start Aug. 9 at Gulfstream.
“I thought his trip was horrible,” Yates said. “He had to check pretty hard at the three-eighths pole. He got away just a touch slow and was in between horses approaching the turn and was in kind of a bad spot and had to check, and he lost quite a few lengths at that point. He went back to running and then the lead horse was backing up in the middle of the turn and he had to steady again, so it was kind of a sneaky-good race.”
Trelawny was fourth in the Proud Man, which was run in the slop.
“He came out of the last race real good,” trainer Jose Pinchin said. “I would prefer a dry track.”
Trelawny, who is named for a parish in Jamaica, will start from post 7 in the field of eight.
“He’s a press-button horse,” Pinchin said. “You can do just about anything with him. He’s really laid back. He’s a nice horse.”
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