Son of Practical Joke Soars to Gulfstream Maiden Win

This column highlights the performances of 3-year-old maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Gulfstream Park

This winter, in particular, South Florida has become the stomping ground for eye-catching maiden winners and future Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders. The recent list of Maiden Watch grads reads synonymous with the Kentucky Derby Future Wager touting such 3-year-olds as Holy Bull Stakes (G3) winner and runner-up Burnham Square and Tappan Street as well as last weekend's Sam F. Davis Stakes winner John Hancock. Every weekend it appears new stars are unveiled among the deep maiden special weight fields at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs, with the latest being Pin Oak Stud's Multiverse.

It took two tries before Multiverse finally began to put things together for trainer Riley Mott. Cut back to seven furlongs in his last outing at 2, he closed from the back of the pack to finish an encouraging third behind Tappan Street in a Dec. 28 Gulfstream maiden special weight. Bouncing out of the race with two sharp half-mile works at Palm Meadows Training Center, the gelding was ready to fire big in his sophomore debut Feb. 8.

Breaking from the inside post under jockey Drayden Van Dyke, Multiverse bided his time well off early fractions of :22.10 and :45.41. Approaching the three-furlong marker, Multiverse exploded into the picture, zipping by his rivals around the bend and fanning out widest of all turning for home. Despite being vaulted into the center of the track, the son of Practical Joke  devoured the extra running room and powered by the field in the final eighth of a mile. 

Leaving little doubt about who was best, Multiverse cruised to the wire 4 1/2 lengths in front in a final time of 1:10.32 for six furlongs.

The second starter out of the Candy Ride  mare String Section, Multiverse dropped the hammer to Pin Oak Stud for $575,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.