HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Defending race winner Lure Him In, along with the red-hot duo of Secret Chat and Awesome Train, top a full and extremely well-matched field of 12 Florida-breds entered to go 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the $75,000 Sunshine Classic. The longtime local fixture shares billing on the card with the $75,000 Sunshine Filly and Mare Turf.
Lure Him In rallied from near the rear of the field to score a head decision over Octane in the 2024 Sunshine Classic. The pair dominated with a gap of more than seven lengths back to third-place finisher The Skipper Too. Lure Him In, who was trained by Herman Wilensky at that time, has gone winless in seven subsequent starts while changing barns a couple of times along the way.
He was switched to perennial leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. following a private purchase late last winter before rejoining the Wilensky barn during the fall. The stable is now operated by Herman’s son Sam.
Lure Him In will try to defend his Classic title off a somewhat disappointing fourth-place finish against open high-priced optional-claiming and allowance company going a mile on Dec. 20. The race was won by the lightly campaigned but rapidly improving Secret Chat.
“Obviously, the other day wasn’t his best performance. [Jockey] Edwin [Gonzalez] said he kind of got stuck on the rail and it was really, really deep. He’s a big, heavy horse and he doesn’t really like that,” Sam Wilensky said.
Secret Chat has posted career-best Beyer Figures of 86 and 87 winning his last two starts. The Classic will mark only his second try at
1 1/16 miles, the first resulting in a creditable fourth-place finish earlier this year in the Grade 3 Lexington at Keeneland.
Awesome Train also brings a two-race winning streak into the race, having drawn off to an easy 2 1/2-length victory against mid-level conditioned claimers going seven furlongs Nov. 22. He returned to upset first-level statebred allowance opposition in similar fashion when stretching to a mile three weeks later.
Joseph will be well represented in the Classic with the trio of One Sharp Cookie, the recently claimed Souper Watson, and Holiday Pay.
“One Sharp Cookie’s work last time sold me on trying him around two turns for the first time, so this will be an experiment,” Joseph said. “We claimed Souper Watson [for $25,000] to try him on dirt because we had his brother Comedy Time. So this is kind of an experiment for him, too.
“We really liked Holiday Pay going into his last race. He turned in a very disappointing performance but had an excuse after his blood work came back. Hopefully, he will be back in form this time.”
As always, the post-position draw is key in dirt races decided here at this distance. Key contender Big Martini took the worst of the draw and will begin his journey from the extreme outside, in post 12, barring scratches.
The Filly and Mare Turf should prove no less a puzzle for handicappers. The eight-horse lineup drew a mix of grass specialists like Love Mami Love, Princess Bettina, and Parallel, along with the red-hot trio of Ashima, My Sunny Valentine, and Great Venezuela, who between them have won 11 straight races, all but one of those victories having come over the Tapeta course. Local favorite Maryquitecontrary will make her turf debut Saturday.
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