Daily Racing Form handicappers Ashley Mailloux and Mike Beer preview a 5 1/2-furlong synthetic allowance for Florida-bred 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
Thursday’s Race 8 is a $65,000 first-level allowance with a post time of 4:17 p.m. Eastern – and the handicappers are split, with Beer siding with the 7-5 morning-line favorite and Mailloux looking past him to a 10-1 stablemate.
Beer’s top pick: No. 3 Bronze Bullet
No. 3 Bronze Bullet, trained by Jose Francisco D’Angelo and ridden by Luis Saez, is the clear horse to beat on paper. His three starts as a 2-year-old were all on this surface and represent the best racing of his career, and Beer believes a return to synthetic ground suits him well. “It does feel like his three starts as a 2-year-old I think they just might be his best races and they were all on this surface,” Beer said. His two subsequent starts came on turf, where he was fourth and second in a race Mailloux acknowledged was significantly tougher company than this field.
The one legitimate concern Beer raised is the distance cutback – turning back from routes to 5 1/2 furlongs is not a trivial ask. “If he handles it, I think this is a good spot for him,” Beer said.
At 7-5 on the morning line, Beer concedes the price is short but says he has no other horse he wants to bet. “I just don’t like anybody else,” Beer said.
Mailloux’s top pick: No. 1 Skipping Stars
Mailloux is not convinced the favorite’s price is worth it, and she turns to D’Angelo-trained stablemate No. 1 Skipping Stars at 10-1 on the morning line. The draw is the key. Mailloux points to the inside post and the relatively slow pace projection from the TimeformUS Pace Projector as reasons to believe Skipping Stars can find the lead and hold on. “With the inside draw, they’re going to go and hopefully hold on, and we’ll see if that works out here,” Mailloux said.
Beer agreed the pace sets up for a clean trip, noting his main pace competition appears to be No. 2 Fear directly beside him. His most recent start came back on the synthetic after a series of turf races, and Beer noted he was stuck chasing three and four wide in that effort. “He’ll get a different trip this time,” Beer said.
Mailloux added that the company Skipping Stars faced two and three starts back was significantly better than this Florida-bred field.
Beer’s second pick: No. 7 Losmastix
No. 7 Losmastix, trained by Antonio Sano, is Beer’s second choice at 4-1 on the morning line. All four of his career starts have come at this distance on this surface and he has run well every time, including a runner-up finish in a race Beer described as a blowout by the winner. “I’m not going to be surprised when he’s right there at the end of this race,” Beer said.
The one note of caution Beer raised is the quick turnaround – three races in roughly a month – though he stopped short of fading him on that basis alone.
The handicappers’ verdict
Ashley Mailloux’s picks
No. 1 Skipping Stars
No. 3 Bronze Bullet
No. 2 Fear
Mike Beer’s picks
No. 3 Bronze Bullet
No. 7 Losmastix
No. 4 Trelawny
Watch for more thoughts on this race from Ashley and Mike:
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