A couple of 3-year-old fillies who know each other quite well, R Morning Brew and Win N Your In, will meet for a fourth time while among the key contenders in a compact but talented field slated to go six furlongs in Friday’s main event at Gulfstream Park. The race is the first of three optional-claiming and allowance races on a card that also includes a pair of five-furlong turf sprints restricted to Florida-breds.
R Morning Brew will look to even the score with Win N Your In after chasing her home in both the seven-furlong Susan’s Girl division of the Florida Sire Series last year at 2 and again in the Sophomore Fillies Stakes this past March at Tampa Bay Downs. R Morning Brew had come out on top in the pair’s first meeting when registering an easy 5 1/2-length victory in the six-furlong Desert Vixen in the opening leg of the Sire Series last summer.
R Morning Brew went to the sidelines following a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Sophomore Fillies but returned with a bang Sept. 20, drawing off to a 3 1/2-length optional-claiming and allowance win over a muddy track while facing older horses for the first time. She earned a career-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.
“She ran hard early in her career, the stallion series can take its toll, so we gave her a break and she’s come back a better horse after getting the time. More mature and more relaxed,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “She definitely looked like her old self in her first start back, although obviously she’s going to be facing better horses on Friday.”
Win N Your In has been idle since finishing a non-threatening fifth when trying turf for the first time July 12 at Monmouth Park in the Blue Sparkler Stakes. She returns to Gulfstream Park for the first time since finishing a tiring third as the 3-2 favorite in the Game Face Stakes on May 31.
“We tend to run these horses hard at 2 and early in their 3-year-old campaigns, with no breaks,” trainer Carlos David said. “She was bred on the bottom side for grass, so we gave her a shot last time on turf. It didn’t work out, so we gave her some time and she’s trained well for her return.”
Ms. Bucchero is an eight-time winner who posted back-to-back stakes victories to close her 2024 season and open her 2025 campaign in January for trainer Diane Morici. She has started just twice since and will be making her local debut while breaking from the rail.
The stakes-placed Cousin Kristi, Gallop d’Hermes, and Rumours Have It complete the field.
Joseph has three in BC
Joseph had originally had as many as five horses for this year’s Breeders’ Cup, but that list was down to just three when pre-entries were announced Wednesday. The trio is led by 2023 BC Classic winner White Abarrio, who will try the Dirt Mile for the first time this year.
White Abarrio turned in his final serious work Tuesday, zipping four furlongs in 47.59 seconds before galloping out five-eighths in 59.79 under late pressure.
“It was a solid half-mile, he finished up well and shaded 12 for the final furlong going out into the turn,” Joseph said. “It was as good as you can ask.”
White Abarrio will be joined on the flight to Del Mar by Be Your Best (Filly and Mare Turf) and Haulin Ice, who earned an automatic berth into the Filly and Mare Sprint by virtue of her victory in the Grade 3 Princess Rooney Stakes.
Joseph opted not to pre-enter Rileytole, who had been pointing to the Juvenile Fillies, or R Disaster, another potential contender for the Filly and Mare Sprint.
“We had a little issue with Rileytole, so we’re going to back off on her for now,” Joseph explained. “And we have decided to send R Disaster to the Dream Supreme at Churchill Downs [on Nov. 8] instead of the Breeders’ Cup.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.