59 Nominations to Four $65,000 Tapeta Stakes November 3 & 4
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.— Jose D’Angelo, holding a one-win lead over defending champion Saffie Joseph Jr. in the Sunshine Meet trainer standings, will send out a pair of contenders in Friday’s seventh race feature at Gulfstream Park.
In the one-mile, 70-yard optional claiming allowance for Florida-bred fillies and mares 3 and up on the all-weather Tapeta course, Lucky Peridot and Nelida are both racing first off the claim for D’Angelo, who has a 20-19 advantage on Joseph in the trainer standings during a fall meet that began Sept. 1 and runs through Nov. 25.
Gold Square’s Lucky Peridot has been third or better in 23 of 42 starts with seven wins and was taken for $25,000 out of a fifth-place finish going 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta Sept. 23. She is winless in seven tries this year but has two wins, a second and a third over Gulfstream’s all-weather surface, and is in for a $20,000 tag.
Bruno Schickedanz’s 3-year-old filly Nelida will be making just her third start and first since being claimed for $25,000 out of a popular front-running 2 ¾-length triumph over older horses in a 1 1/16-mile maiden event Aug. 20 at Gulfstream. She also faced elders when second by a half-length in her July 21 debut at Friday’s distance.
Nova Stables’ Esoteric has yet to find success on the Tapeta but ran third in last October’s Juvenile Fillies Sprint going seven furlongs against state-breds at Gulfstream for previous trainer Ron Spatz. David Rousso’s Miles of Smiles closed to be fourth, beaten two lengths, in a 5 ½-furlong Tapeta sprint Sept. 30 at Gulfstream.
Jockey Edgard Zayas, who had his streak of 19 consecutive programs riding at least one winner at Gulfstream snapped on Sunday, is tops with 37 wins and more than $1.3 million in purses earned. Miguez Vasquez sits second with 23 wins, two more than Edwin Gonzalez.
Post time for the first of eight races Friday is 12:50 p.m.
59 Nominations to Four $65,000 Tapeta Stakes November 3 & 4
A total of 59 horses were nominated to four $65,000 stakes scheduled to be run over the Tapeta Nov. 3 and 4. Fillies will be in the spotlight Friday, Nov. 3 in the one-mile, 70-yard Our Dear Peggy for juveniles and 1 1/16-mile Cellars Shiraz for sophomores.
Seven Our Dear Peggy nominees are coming off wins including two straight for D.J. Stable’s Alcohol. Candy Gray was a front-running nine-length debut winner sprinting 6 ½ furlongs on Gulfstream’s main track Sept. 24. Epona’s Hope, third in the Sharp Susan and Desert Vixen, and Kiss, runner-up in the Sharp Susan and Hallandale Beach – all on the main track – have previous stakes experience.
Time Passage, To Thyself B True, Pawky and Coco, the respective top four finishers in Gulfstream’s one-mile, 70-yard Miss Gracie Oct. 7 on the Tapeta; Flakes, third in the April 1 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) and winner of the June 17 Game Face; 2022 Tepin winner Sweetlou’sgotaces and Beauty of the Sea, winner of the 5 ½-furlong Blue Sparkler on the Monmouth Park turf July 15, top Cellars Shiraz nominees.
Saturday, Nov. 4 will feature the one-mile, 70-yard Armed Forces for 2-year-olds and 1 1/16-mile Showing Up for 3-year-olds. Armed Forces nominees include Brawn, a debut winner over Gulfstream’s Tapeta Aug. 19 that ran a troubled fourth in the one-mile Aventura Oct. 1 on the main track; Jive, third in the Sept. 9 FSS Dr. Fager; Prevent and El Principito, respectively fourth and fifth in the Sept. 30 Hollywood Beach; and Reminder, a last out winner at the course and distance for D’Angelo Sept. 15.
Prominent among Showing Up nominees are D’Angelo-trained Armstrong, already a two-time stakes winner on the Tapeta including the Sept. 16 Bear’s Den in his last start; Ari Gold, winner of Gulfstream’s 2022 Pulpit and second in Laurel Park’s Bald Eagle Derby Aug. 13, both on the grass; Love Me Not and Smart Striker, respectively third and fourth in the Bear’s Den; and stakes-placed Eyes On the King, Knox and Souper Blessing.
