Mi Bago with Edwin Gonzalez up. (Ryan Thompson)
Andrea Tests Local Win Streak in $165,000 Cash Run
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Grade 1-placed Dream On, exiting last month’s Breeders’ Cup, and local stakes-winning stablemate Mi Bago give Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse a pair of aces to play in Wednesday’s $165,000 Dania Beach at Gulfstream Park.
The 17th running of the Dania Beach scheduled for one mile on the grass is the first race for 3-year-olds in 2025 at Gulfstream, sharing top billing on a 10-race New Year’s Day program with the $165,000 Fasig-Tipton Cash Run for 3-year-old fillies going a mile on the main track.
First race post time is 12:20 p.m.
D J Stable’s Dream On tried to steal the one-mile Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) on the front end under jockey Jose Ortiz at odds of 15-1, not yielding the lead until sixteenth pole and winding up fourth, beaten 2 ¼ lengths by Group 2-winning Irish invader Henri Matisse.
Prior to that, Dream On broke his maiden at Ellis Park and was second in the 6 ½-furlong Soar Free and third in the one-mile Summer (G1), both at Woodbine, after being moved to the turf following a troubled debut on the dirt.
“I think we ran five or six in the Breeders’ Cup and I thought he was actually our best chance. His race in the Summer was good,” Casse said. “In the Breeders’ Cup he broke running, so Jose went for it. Looking back, speed didn’t hold up real great at Del Mar on the turf for the few days they ran there during the Breeders’ Cup, so I think it was a tall task for him.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. picks up the mount on Dream On from Post 2 in a field of eight. They are favored at 6-5 on the morning line.
“We gave him a little breather and he’s come back and been training very well. I expect him to run well,” Casse said. “He’s pretty talented. At some point we may try the dirt again, that’s just the way it kind of played out. He’s an extremely talented horse and a nice horse just to be around.”
While Dream On has never raced at Gulfstream, Gary Barber’s Mi Bago already owns a victory over the course thanks to an impressive front-running five-length score in the 7 ½-furlong Pulpit Nov. 29 with jockey Edwin Gonzalez, who returns to ride from Post 4. They are rated as second choice on the morning line at 3-1.
It was the third win and second in a stakes for Mi Bago, who came from off the pace to capture the five-furlong Algonquin on the Woodbine turf Oct. 5. His first two races came on dirt including a debut score Aug. 1 at Colonial Downs, after which he was purchased privately by Barber. He ran sixth in the six-furlong Funny Cide against New York-beds at Saratoga first time for the new connections.
“We bought him prior to his race in New York. We had him for a short period of time and he ran just OK. I’ve always felt like he was a grass horse. He’s a great-moving horse that just kind of skips across the ground. The win in his last start was impressive,” Casse said.
“I would think he’ll probably be on the lead again on Wednesday. I would like to see Dream On learn to settle a little bit so I don’t see the two of them going at it,” he added. “Mi Bago’s probably going to be on the lead and I would say Irad will be getting Dream On to settle.”
Hit That Review and Bucaro, separated by a neck when respectively second and third in the Pulpit; I Know I Know, fifth in the Pulpit; Nothingsubtle, a maiden winner sprinting six furlongs Oct. 26 that was third in the Juvenile Sprint, both on Gulfstream’s main track; Maui Strong, a last-out maiden winner on the Churchill Downs turf; and Hammerhead are also entered.
Andrea Tests Local Win Streak in $165,000 Cash Run
C2 Racing Stable, Kuehne Racing and Mark Corrado’s Andrea, coming off an unsuccessful two-stakes road trip, returns to Gulfstream Park where she puts her perfect record on the line in the $165,000 Fasig-Tipton Cash Run.
The Cash Run is the first step for newly turned 3-year-old fillies on the road to the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) March 29.
Andrea won each of her first two starts at Gulfstream, a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight July 26 and the one-mile Hallandale Beach Sept. 14, each in front-running fashion, by 14 ¼ combined lengths.
From there, the Thousand Words filly was sixth in the Myrtlewood Oct. 25 at Keeneland and fifth in the Dec. 7 Sandpiper at Tampa Bay Downs, both sprinting six furlongs. She is favore at 5-2 in the program in her stretch back out to one mile.
“She didn’t run well at Keeneland and then ran very poorly at Tampa, so we were kind of disappointed. We’re stretching her back out to when she won the stake here, the one-turn mile, and hopefully that can help rekindle her form,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “Keeneland in hindsight wasn’t a bad run, but Tampa was very disappointing. It was her race to win, and she didn’t even run respectably well. Hopefully being back here she’ll run better.”
Emisael Jaramillo, up for both Gulfstream wins, returns to ride from Post 6 in a field of seven. They are rated at 5-2 on the morning line.
The 9-5 program favorite for the Cash Run is C2 Racing Stable, Kuehne Racing, Shining Stables, Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch’s Paradise City, also trained by Joseph, who removes blinkers off a fourth-place finish while facing the boys in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance Dec. 7 at Gulfstream, where she has raced exclusively.
Paradise City graduated at first asking in a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight Sept. 6, then was fourth as the favorite in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance going two turns Oct. 18. She drew Post 4 in the Cash Run with Irad Ortiz Jr., her fourth different rider.
“We gave her a run against the boys last time because the allowance race didn’t go, and we wanted to get a race in before this race,” Joseph said. “We’re very happy with her. I feel like she goes in there with a very good chance. Of the two she’s probably got a better chance on paper.”
Completing the field are Five G, runner-up in Aqueduct’s one-mile Tepin on turf Nov. 17; Yellow, a last-out maiden winner Nov. 17 at Gulfstream for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher; Unchained Elaine, whose two wins from seven starts have come sprinting on Gulfstream’s main track; Sweet Note, who adds blinkers following a third-place effort Nov. 30 at Churchill; and Fallon.
