WP Welcomes Back DRF Marty McGee and Blood-Horse Byron King
MAR 03, 2022
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Daily Racing Form’s Eclipse Award-winning Marty McGee will be our first guest. He’s been “boots on the ground” these past weeks on the backstretch of Gulfstream Park (when he’s not feet in the sand, drink in hand, outside of his bachelor bungalow in Hollywood. He’s seen most of the runners and spoken to the trainers and now he’s ready to tackle Saturday’s amazing card that offers eight graded stakes races including two important points races (50-20-10-5). The Gr. 2, $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth has drawn an overflow field of 3-year-old colts and geldings. There are angles galore that await handicappers. Gr. 1 winner Rattle N Roll will make his long-awaited seasonal debut for trainer Ken McPeek. Three local challengers that should get backing at the windows are Simplification and Mo Donegal, the 2-3 finishers in the Gr. 3 Holy Bull and Dean Delivers who earned a hard-fought second in the Gr. 3 Swale. There does seem to be a clear favorite in the Gr. 2, $200,000 Davona Dale Stakes for the 3-year-old fillies. Girl With a Dream seems to check all the right boxes – has won over four different surfaces, including her last start in the Gr. 3 Forward Gal here; she has a top trainer with Brad Cox; excellent rider in Luis Saez; seems to relish the longer distances with a front-running style. The 1 Mile distance seems like a most logical and progressive step in her career. Byron King, Associate Editor at the Blood-Horse, is fresh off a “Road Trip to Hot Springs” to continue his quest for the very finest horses to include in his weekly “Derby Dozen” column for the Blood-Horse. From his clandestine view behind the grassy knoll at Oaklawn Park, King’s binoculars gave him a view of the opposite ends of racing’s predictability. In the Honeybee, a steppingstone to the Ky. Oaks, D. Wayne Lukas-trained Secret Oath smashed the field by 7 ½ lengths covering the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.74 (a full second faster than the boys would run the Rebel) to return $2.60 to her many backers. King may have to add her to his “Dozen” in the future as Lukas has left the door open for a potential Derby run…shades of Winning Colors. The $1million Rebel left plenty of questions unanswered and a little less cash in most pockets as one-eyed longshot Un Ojo popped to the wire in the final yards to record a $152.80 upset. Only ½ length behind was Ethereal Road, another D.Wayne Lukas-trained steed that could make a heavenly trip to Louisville. We’ll ask Byron to weigh in on two weekend Derby preps that could shuffle the “Dozen”– the San Felipe (G2), 1 1/16 miles, 50-20-10-5 Kentucky Derby points which is part of the sensational graded stakes Saturday at Santa Anita as well as the Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct going a mile.
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