The $150,000 Royal Delta Stakes (G3) headlines Gulfstream Park's Feb. 17 race card, with Final Furlong Farm and Madaket Stables' Honor D Lady breaking from slot 6 in the 1 1/16-mile dirt test for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who will also saddle three others in the race.
The Honor Code daughter last out ran third in the Comely Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack and won the Remington Park Oaks (G3) Sept. 24. The 2023 Selene Stakes (G3)-placed filly will have Jose Ortiz to guide her for the first time Saturday in her 2024 debut.
Another Joseph pupil, Rosie's Halo, will hope to improve off her fourth-place finish behind 1-2 finishers Maryquitecontrary and stablemate Imonra in the Dec. 30 Rampart Stakes on the same surface; both return in the Royal Delta. Meanwhile, the trainer's fourth entrant, Libban, hopes to add some black type to her CV.
Stiff Competition
- Grade 1-placed Maryquitecontrary ran third Jan. 27 at Gulfstream in the Inside Information Stakes (G2) for trainer Edward Plesa Jr. The First Dude 5-year-old hasn't been off the board in her last three starts.
- Godolphin homebred Nostalgic was second in the Nov. 18 Chilukki Stakes (G3) and third in the Beldame Stakes (G2) last year for conditioner Bill Mott. Most recently she finished sixth in the Rampart.
- Todd Pletcher will send out graded stakes-placed Tizzy in the Sky for her 2024 debut.
The field is completed by Arnold Delacour's last-out Wayward Lass Stakes winner, Opus Forty Two; stakes winner Soul of an Angel; Magical Lute, third in the Wayward Lass; and Chilean grade 2 winner Yuki will look to get back to the winner's circle after a rough trip in the Nov. 3 Treasure Chest S.
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, February 17, 2024, Race 11Entries: Royal Delta S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Soul of an Angel (KY) Paco Lopez 120 Gerald James 30/1 2 2Maryquitecontrary (FL) Luca Panici 120 Edward Plesa, Jr. 7/2 3 3Magical Lute (KY) David Egan 118 Ian R. Wilkes 15/1 4 4Yuki (CHI) Leonel Reyes 120 Amador Merei Sanchez 20/1 5 5Tizzy in the Sky (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 118 Todd A. Pletcher 2/1 6 6Honor D Lady (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 123 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 6/1 7 7Rosie's Halo (FL) Javier Castellano 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 20/1 8 8Opus Forty Two (KY) Daniel Centeno 120 Arnaud Delacour 10/1 9 9Imonra (KY) Edgard J. Zayas 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 9/2 10 10Libban (KY) Edwin Gonzalez 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 15/1 11 11Nostalgic (KY) Junior Alvarado 120 William I. Mott 12/1
