HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – If Saturday’s $165,000 Mucho Macho Man Stakes is any indication, it’s going to be fun tracking the locally based 3-year-olds as they make their way along the Kentucky Derby trail between now and the marquee race for the division, the $1 million Florida Derby, here March 29. The Mucho Macho Man is the first of two stakes for 3-year-olds on a card that also features the $165,000 Ginger Brew for fillies at a mile on turf.
A well-matched field of nine was drawn for the one-mile Mucho Macho Man, the first of three important 3-year-old preps to be decided during the Gulfstream Park Championship session as a prelude to the nine-furlong Florida Derby. Separating the top contenders is no easy chore, with the impressive maiden winner Guns Loaded potentially going postward a slim favorite over a promising group that includes stablemate McKellen, the versatile stakes winner Naughty Rascal, undefeated Septarian, and impressive allowance winners Cool Intentions and Macho Music.
Guns Loaded defeated a strong group of maidens going six furlongs Nov. 16 at Churchill Downs, earning an 88 Beyer Speed Figure that is much the best of any member of the field. Trainer Jose D’Angelo is confident the son of Gun Runner will get even better the farther he goes.
“Not only was his maiden win very impressive, the gallop-out was strong, and the way he works in the morning, it looks like he’s looking for more ground,” D’Angelo said. “That’s why we put him in this race.”
Guns Loaded has had four published works since his maiden win, including a pair of bullets topped by a six-furlong breeze in 1:11.80 on Dec. 20 at the Palm Meadows training center. D’Angelo’s main concern Saturday is that Guns Loaded drew the rail, which can be tricky breaking out of the one-mile chute, especially in a field loaded with other speed.
“He’s a fast horse, but you always have to be a little lucky when you draw the rail in a race like this,” D’Angelo said.
McKellen is already a proven commodity at a mile, having won his debut at the distance in game fashion here Oct. 19 before shipping to Churchill Downs to finish second behind odds-on and still undefeated Disco Time under allowance conditions six weeks later.
“We prepped him to run a mile the first time because we knew he wanted more ground right from the start,” D’Angelo said. “We took him to Churchill Downs for his second start looking for the long stretch, and he ran very well. That was a very good horse who beat him that day.”
Luis Saez rode both Guns Loaded and McKellen in their most recent starts. He will be back aboard Guns Loaded for his stakes debut, with Irad Ortiz Jr. taking the call on McKellen.
“Luis has ridden both, but he’s been working Guns Loaded since Saratoga, so that’s why he’s going to stay on that horse,” D’Angelo said.
Naughty Rascal is based at Tampa Bay Downs with trainer Gerald Bennett, but he registered his two stakes wins at Gulfstream in the six-furlong Proud Man on the main track in his second career start and the one-mile Armed Forces over the turf nearly three months later. He closed an excellent juvenile campaign finishing just three-quarters of a length behind unbeaten 4-5 Donut God in the six-furlong Inaugural Stakes last month at Tampa.
Septarian won his only two starts at 2 before being purchased privately by Resolute Racing and turned over to trainer Chad Brown, who also entered Treaty of Rome in the Mucho Macho Man. Septarian received an 82 Beyer for the second of his two victories when going six furlongs Nov. 8 at Laurel.
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The pace should be a fast one, with Guns Loaded likely to receive plenty of early attention from Macho Music, an easy 4 1/2-length, wire-to-wire allowance winner going six furlongs two starts back at Keeneland, and Rolando, who also will stretch to a mile for the first time Saturday. The prospective pace is potentially a plus for the steadily improving Cool Intentions, who is coming off a come-from-behind, 2 1/4-length allowance win at seven furlongs here four weeks ago.
◗ A full field of 12, plus one also-eligible, signed on for the Ginger Brew, led by Nitrogen, off her third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf; Civetta and Winning Streep, who finished first and second, respectively, in the 7 1/2-furlong Wait a While here Nov. 26; and Special Aviator, upset winner of the Our Dear Peg Stakes in just her second start.
Despite her huge effort in the Breeders’ Cup and in her previous start when third in the Grade 1 Natalma at Woodbine, Nitrogen remains a maiden. Trainer Mark Casse considered bringing her back in a maiden race before finally settling on the Ginger Brew for her 3-year-old debut.
“She ran a heck of a race in the Breeders’ Cup, got in some trouble at the 4 1/2 that forced her to check and lost four or five lengths. Had she not, it would have been interesting,” Casse said. “My only concern Saturday is that his might be a touch short for her.”
Casse also will send out Disco Star, an impressive 4 3/4-length maiden winner going six furlongs at Aqueduct in her last start.
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