Already having some prospects for next month's $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1T), a race he won in 2020 with Zulu Alpha, trainer Mike Maker may wind up strengthening his hand following the $200,000 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) Dec. 18 at Gulfstream Park.
Maker entered three horses in the 1 1/8-mile Ft. Lauderdale for 3-year-olds and up, one of five stakes (four graded) worth $650,000 in purses on an 11-race program promoted as Pegasus Preview Day. It is one of two stakes races scheduled for the Gulfstream turf, along with the $100,000 Suwannee River Stakes (G3T), a prep for the inaugural $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T).
Since the Pegasus Turf debuted in 2019, four of its runners have come from the Ft. Lauderdale, with last year's winner, Largent, performing the best in the Pegasus, running second by a neck to stablemate Colonel Liam in January.
Maker will send out Atone, Media Blitz, and Order and Law in Saturday's Ft. Lauderdale, which drew a field of 12 plus one also-eligible. All of the Maker-trained runners are double-digit odds on the morning line with Three Diamonds Farm's Atone the shortest price of the three at 12-1. The 4-year-old Into Mischief gelding has four wins in nine career tries on grass—two of them coming in his past three starts, most recently a 2 1/2-length allowance-level triumph Nov. 21 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Media Blitz, a 20-1 shot who Maker owns, will be making his first start since the trainer spent $100,000 to claim the 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt for himself out of a third-place finish Nov. 26 at Del Mar. He has faced graded company twice previously this year, finishing off the board in the Del Mar Handicap (G2T) and John Henry Turf Championship (G2T).
"Nice horse. I think he probably wants to go a little farther than a mile and an eighth, but it's a good place to start with him," Maker assistant Nolan Ramsey said. "He'd been running some good races and keeping some pretty good company, too. He's just a horse we thought would want to stretch out, and it's kind of our niche, so we took a shot."
Order and Law, another 20-1 shot, was also claimed at Del Mar, this time for $80,000 on behalf of Paradise Farms. The 5-year-old gelding by Violence ran fifth in the Oct. 2 City of Hope Mile Stakes (G2T) in his first start for Maker. He then finished second by a neck behind favored Neptune's Storm in the restricted Lure Stakes, also at Santa Anita Park.
"He was a little over-matched the first time we ran him," Ramsey said. "We didn't have him that long, but the addition of blinkers into the (Lure) made a world of difference. He's a completely different horse. I think he wants to stretch out and, hopefully, be a nice marathon horse for us down the road."
Grade 2 winners Cross Border and Field Pass are Maker trainees also under Pegasus Turf consideration along with Flavius, a recent addition to his stable after Mike and Jules Iavarone purchased him for $230,000 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale from the WinStar Racing consignment for Juddmonte Farm.
Trainer Chad Brown has two of the favorites in the Ft. Lauderdale in Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Bob LaPenta's L'Imperator and William Lawrence's Analyze It (4-1).
Also likely to take strong support is Clipper Logistics' 5-year-old Space Traveller, a multiple group winner overseas who has been competitive in three grade 1s this year in the U.S. for trainer Brendan Walsh. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione will need to work out a trip from post 12.
"I don't think he needs to be too far away (early), maybe three (or) four lengths," Walsh said. "But, he does like to get some pace in front of him and come running at them at the end."
While the Ft. Lauderdale is the last stakes on the card as the 10th race Saturday, the one-mile Suwannee River is the day's first stakes and the fifth race on the card.
Favored at 3-1 morning-line odds against 11 opponents is Pedigree Partners' Shifty She. The 5-year-old Gone Astray mare became a graded stakes winner in her most recent start, a front-running 1 1/2-length triumph in the one-mile Noble Damsel Stakes (G3T) Oct. 23 at Belmont Park.
"She'd been holding good company before that, and obviously that was a breakthrough race," said trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. "She got a grade 3 win under her belt, which is huge for her career after racing. It was important to get that and, hopefully, she can continue to build on that going forward."
There was some consideration given to training Shifty She up to the Pegasus program, scheduled this year for Jan. 29, but the Suwannee River gives the mare six weeks to the 1 1/16-mile Filly & Mare Turf.
"We had talked about going straight to the Pegasus race, but it was too much time. Having this race will do her better. Hopefully she can win this one and it can propel her to the Pegasus," Joseph said.
Other group/graded winners of note in the field include Alms, Keeper of Time, and Sweet Melania. Godolphin's Alms, trained by Mike Stidham, is the 4-1 second choice on the line after a runner-up finish in the Joseph R. Peluso Memorial Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, December 18, 2021, Race 10Entries: Ft. Lauderdale S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Doswell (KY) Junior Alvarado 121 Barclay Tagg 6/1 2 2L'Imperator (FR) John R. Velazquez 121 Chad C. Brown 5/2 3 3Breaking the Rules (KY) Javier Castellano 121 Claude R. McGaughey III 10/1 4 4English Bee (KY) Luis Saez 121 H. Graham Motion 20/1 5 5Sole Volante (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 121 Patrick L. Biancone 20/1 6 6Renaisance Frolic (KY) Edwin Gonzalez 123 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 30/1 7 7Media Blitz (KY) Corey J. Lanerie 121 Michael J. Maker 20/1 8 8Analyze It (KY) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 121 Chad C. Brown 4/1 9 9King Guillermo (KY) Paco Lopez 121 Juan Carlos Avila 30/1 10 10Order and Law (KY) Miguel Angel Vasquez 121 Michael J. Maker 20/1 11 11Atone (KY) Emisael Jaramillo 121 Michael J. Maker 12/1 12 12Space Traveller (GB) Tyler Gaffalione 123 Brendan P. Walsh 3/1 13 13Brown Storm (CHI) Hector Isaac Berrios 121 Amador Merei Sanchez 30/1
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, December 18, 2021, Race 10Entries: Ft. Lauderdale S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Doswell (KY) Junior Alvarado 121 Barclay Tagg 6/1 2 2L'Imperator (FR) John R. Velazquez 121 Chad C. Brown 5/2 3 3Breaking the Rules (KY) Javier Castellano 121 Claude R. McGaughey III 10/1 4 4English Bee (KY) Luis Saez 121 H. Graham Motion 20/1 5 5Sole Volante (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 121 Patrick L. Biancone 20/1 6 6Renaisance Frolic (KY) Edwin Gonzalez 123 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 30/1 7 7Media Blitz (KY) Corey J. Lanerie 121 Michael J. Maker 20/1 8 8Analyze It (KY) Rafael Manuel Hernandez 121 Chad C. Brown 4/1 9 9King Guillermo (KY) Paco Lopez 121 Juan Carlos Avila 30/1 10 10Order and Law (KY) Miguel Angel Vasquez 121 Michael J. Maker 20/1 11 11Atone (KY) Emisael Jaramillo 121 Michael J. Maker 12/1 12 12Space Traveller (GB) Tyler Gaffalione 123 Brendan P. Walsh 3/1 13 13Brown Storm (CHI) Hector Isaac Berrios 121 Amador Merei Sanchez 30/1
