HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Most Handsome has proved his mettle as a Tapeta sprinter by opening his career with two wins on the synthetic surface in as many tries, including the Hollywood Beach in his most recent start.
But the undefeated youngster will have a couple of important questions to answer Saturday at Gulfstream Park when stretching out in distance and switching to the main track to take on five other Florida-bred 2-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs in the $65,000 Juvenile Sprint.
“I really don’t know if he’ll dirt or not,” said his trainer, Ron Spatz, who owns Most Handsome in partnership with David Romanik. “He worked on the synthetic in [9.80 for a furlong] for the sale and gravitated to it here, although he has trained well over the main track. This is going to be an experiment. Hopefully it will be a learning process for him after which we’ll know if he’s just a Tapeta sprinter or is capable of doing more.”
Most Handsome will be taking on statebred competition for the first time after beating open company both in his debut and the Hollywood Beach. He prompted the early pace in his most recent start despite a bit of a tardy beginning before holding safe a late bid from Mila’s Wish to prevail by a dwindling head.
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“I didn’t expect him on the lead last time. If he wants to show speed we’ll let him, but I am worried about the extra distance if he has to go too fast early,” Spatz admitted. “Ideally, I’d love to see him sitting second or third tracking somebody and to have a little finish.”
Drayden Van Dyke will take his regular seat aboard Most Handsome, who totes high weight of 122 pounds as the only stakes and multiple winner in the field.
Noble N Magical will try his luck against Most Handsome for a second time after finishing third, beaten just a length by that rival, following a bit of a wide trip in the Hollywood Beach in his first start on Tapeta. Noble N Magical won a maiden race by seven lengths over a wet main track against open maiden special weight opposition five weeks earlier.
Big Paradise owns far and away the best Beyer Speed Figure of the group, a 76, for his distant and somewhat troubled fourth-place finish behind 2-year-old sensation Rated by Merit in the seven-furlong Affirmed on Oct. 19. He figures to garner plenty of support, as should Indecisiveness, a game winner of his only previous start and the lone member of the compact lineup with a victory at the 6 1/2-furlong distance of the Juvenile Sprint.
Nothingsubtle exits his maiden win, which came with the addition of blinkers. Aegon Targaryet, who was elevated to first via stewards’ disqualification in his only previous try, completes the field.
Capture the Lion likes course
Saturday’s 11-race card also features a $75,000 overnight handicap for older horses going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta track. The race lured a pretty well-matched field of eight led by likely favorite Capture the Lion, who returns locally off a series of well-graded tries over the Woodbine turf for trainer Mark Casse.
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Capture the Lion, a multiple winner on the Tapeta course here last winter, may have to run down the speedy Smithwick’s Spice, a multiple stakes winner on grass in 2024 who will be making his first start over a synthetic surface.
Abrir Caminos, idle since capturing a similarly conditioned overnight handicap over this course nearly five months ago, also figures among the key players, along with Doctor Jeff, Whenigettoheaven, stakes winner Okiro, and the stakes-placed Takecareofbusiness.
◗ Super Chow topped a limited work tab here Thursday, breezing an easy half-mile in 49.86 while finishing well within himself for trainer Jorge Delgado. It was the fifth recorded work for the three-time Grade 3 winner since returning to South Florida following his fourth-place finish in the Parx Sprint on Sept. 21.
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