On Saturday at Gulfstream Park West, the track will host the $100,000 My Charmer Handicap. Carded at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf, the Grade 3 event has drawn a field of ten fillies and mares with one additional contender entered for the main track only.
Sandiva (IRE) has been installed as the morning line favorite at odds of 9-5 for trainer Todd Pletcher. A four-year-old daughter of Footstepsinthesand (GB), she has won six of her sixteen starts and earned her first graded stakes win earlier in the year. She is trying to rebound after finishing fifth in the Just a Game Stakes (G1) in June and has been training forwardly for her return. Javier Castellano will be aboard and they will break from post position seven.
Second choice at morning line odds of 5-2 is Lady Lara (IRE) for trainer Bill Mott. A four-year-old daughter of Excellent Art (GB), she has been on the board in sixteen of her 21 starts and is a four-time winner. She has one win so far this year and has been on the board in her last two starts against graded stakes competition. Jose Lezcano will be aboard and they will break from post position two.
Also in the field at morning line odds of 6-1 is Kitten’s Dumplings for trainer Mike Maker. Bred and owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, the five-year-old daughter of Kitten’s Joy, she has won seven of her eighteen starts and is a multiple graded stakes winner. She rebounded last time out to earn her first win of the year in the Little Miss Magic Stakes and will break from post nine under Rafael Hernandez.
The field is set for the $1 million Haskell, where Nyquist will be trying to re-stake his claim as the top three-year-old in the country.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $300,000 United Nations Stakes. Scheduled to be run at a mile and three-eighths on the turf, the Grade 1 event has drawn a field of ten colts and geldings.
On Sunday at Monmouth Park, the featured race is the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes, a key prep race for the Haskell Invitational (G1). The Grade 3 event will be contested at a mile and a sixteenth and has drawn a field of seven three-year-olds.
With five grade 1 races and a grade 2, the undercard for the June 11 Belmont stakes could be the best single day of racing on the calendar outside of the Breeders’ Cup.
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