Road Forever and Strategic Reserve, runaway winners in their only previous starts, will stretch out in distance and step up in company when vying for favoritism against just four other 2-year-olds in Saturday’s Aventura Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The one-mile fixture is the first of three $75,000 stakes to be decided on the 11-race Princess Rooney undercard that also features the Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint and the Ginger Punch.
Road Forever launched his career going 5 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 16, leading at every call en route to a sensational 15-length victory for which he received an 80 Beyer Speed Figure. Although he is a Florida-bred, as a son of Bolt d’Oro, who stands in Kentucky, he is not eligible for the Florida Sire Series stakes, according to trainer Jose D’Angelo, which is why he will take on open company for the first time Saturday.
“He’s doing great, I like his post position and I do not think stretching to a mile will be a problem for him,” D’Angelo said of Road Forever, who will break from the outside post in the six-horse field under jockey Emisael Jaramillo.
Strategic Reserve proved a dominant winner on Aug. 23, showing off similarly sharp early speed to make every pole a winning one while going six furlongs over a sloppy track as a prohibitive 1-2 favorite for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. His 60 Beyer for that effort pales in comparison to that of Road Forever.
“He obviously won impressively first time out, although to be honest I’m not convinced he wants to go a mile from a pedigree standpoint,” Joseph admitted. “I think he is a very good horse, but the distance is definitely a bit of a question mark.”
Like the two top choices, the other four members of the Aventura lineup are coming off maiden wins and trying a mile for the first time. The group includes Rammaas, who earned his diploma against open company going seven furlongs after setting a contested pace Aug. 9, and Wayne’s Law, a 6 3/4-length maiden winner while facing statebred maiden special weight opposition and stretching to 6 1/2 furlongs in his second career outing.
Ginger Punch
Joseph will be well-represented in the Ginger Punch, to be decided at a mile on turf, with the duo of Leo Toro and Lady Cha Cha among the 10 older fillies and mares entered for the final race on the card.
Joseph and Miller Racing claimed Leo Toro, a daughter of Nyquist, out of a winning effort for $35,000 on Feb. 20 and patiently waited five months before bringing her back to crush first-level allowance opposition by nearly 10 lengths at Colonial Downs in mid-July.
“She’s an improving filly whose best race is certainly good enough to win in here,” Joseph said.
Lady Cha Cha was stakes-placed earlier this season at Tampa Bay Downs but has been lightly raced ever since. She enters the Ginger Punch idle since finishing fifth in a first-level optional-claiming and allowance test over the synthetic track on July 12 at Gulfstream Park.
“She’s a consistent filly but will need some pace to run into,” Joseph said.
That pace should be provided by the stakes-winning Lets Go Koko, who had a three-race winning streak snapped last month when finishing a tiring fourth behind the odds-on Starship Impulsive in an overnight handicap at a mile on the grass.
Starship Impulsive, one of only two 3-year-olds in the Ginger Punch, figures to be heavily favored once again despite the fact she is drawn on the extreme outside in post 10. Starship Impulsive has won her last four starts, including both the Honey Ryder and Martha Washington stakes during the spring, and earned a career-best 89 Beyer registering a game head decision while facing older horses for the first time in the aforementioned overnight handicap on Aug. 16.
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Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint
Nine turf-sprint specialists will square off in the five-furlong Umphrey, with the stakes-winning Eamonn, hard-knocking 9-year-old Xy Speed, and Abir Caminos among the top contenders.
Eamonn, who won the Silks Run Stakes in her last start over the Gulfstream turf in March, returns home seeking to rebound from a very dull showing last month at Saratoga in the Disco Partner Stakes.
Xy Speed defeated several of these, including Abir Caminos, under second-level optional-claiming and allowance conditions for his 16th career victory late this spring and also will be back locally after finishing off the board at Saratoga in his most recent start.
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