Ocean Club after her win in the Noble Damsel (G3) Sep. 21 at Aqueduct (Susie Raisher)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Glen Hill Farm’s Ocean Club is scheduled to seek back-to-back graded-stakes successes in Saturday’s $165,000 Suwanee River (G3) at Gulfstream Park, where the 4-year-old daughter of Curlin will return from a three-month freshening since her triumph in the Noble Damsel (G3) at Aqueduct.
The Suwannee River will be featured on Saturday’s 11-race Pegasus World Cup Preview Day program with five stakes, including the $215,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2) and the $165,000 Harlan’s Holiday (G3). The mile turf stakes for fillies and mares will serve as a prep for the $500,000 Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G2) at Gulfstream Jan. 25.
Ocean Club remained in training at her owner/breeder’s Ocala, FL farm before returning to trainer Jack Sisterson’s stable at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream Park’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach Country, where she breezed twice on turf in preparation for the Suwanee River.
“They always seem to thrive when they go to the farm for a little break,” Sisterson said.
Ocean Club, who has been installed as the 4-1 morning-line favorite in a well-match field of 12 assembled for the 78th running of the Suwannee River, scored her first graded-stakes victory after showing the way and holding on by a head under Ricardo Santana Jr.
“I think Ricardo allowed her to run in the way she prefers after she broke. He gave her her head and wasn’t grabbing a hold of her. She set quick enough fractions and was able to hold on,” Sisterson said.
Edwin Gonzalez has the mount aboard Ocean Club, with whom he’s had a successful past association at Gulfstream for Glen Hill Farm trainers Tom Proctor and Bethany Baumgartner. After guiding the Glen Hill homebred to a maiden victory over the Tapeta course in April 2023, Gonzalez and Ocean Club finished second on turf in the Honey Ryder and collected her first stakes triumph in the Martha Washington on the all-weather surface. This year, they teamed for an optional claiming allowance victory on Tapeta and a triumph in the Monroe on turf before being transferred to Sisterson.
“She’s always a filly who shows up in her training and in her afternoon efforts as well. She came over from Bethany in great shape,” said Sisterson, for whom Ocean Club has competed in four consecutive out-of-town graded stakes.
Cayton Park Stud Ltd.’s Golden Hostess, a Group 3 winner in her native South Africa, will seek her first U.S. stakes success following a pair of most promising efforts since joining trainer Graham Motion’s stable.
The 5-year-old South African-bred mare rallied from last in her U.S. debut to finish third, beaten by just a neck for the win in a 5 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance at Keeneland Oct. 18. She came back to finish second with a late rally in the six-furlong Autumn Days three weeks later at Aqueduct.
“I was a little worried going 5 ½ would be a little quick for her, but she came with a huge run and just missed that day. I ran her back quite quickly because we were running out of grass options and I thought the six furlongs would be a good progression,” Motion said. “I wasn’t sure she was going to be competitive in the stake, but she once again ran really well and came with a big run. I think the logical thing is to go on to the mile now. She ran well running in a Grade 1 in South Africa going a mile, so it seems like the logical progression for her.”
Hall of Famer John Velazquez is slated to ride Golden Hostess for the first time Saturday.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher will also be represented by an import from South Africa in the Suwannee River. Gary Barber and Team Valor International’s Bless My Stars is scheduled to make her U.S. debut Saturday. The South African-bred 5-year-old is a Group 1 winner.
“She came over from South Africa and has trained very well. She’s a very straightforward and professional filly and we’re looking forward to getting her started,” Pletcher said. “We’ve been getting her acclimated, and she’s settled in well.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call on the winner of five of 16 career starts.
Michael Ryan’s Be Your Best, like Ocean Club, will seek a second graded-stakes victory in a row in the Suwannee River. Multiple graded stakes-placed for trainer Horatio DePaz, the 4-year-old Irish-bred filly earned her first graded-stakes success in the 1 3/8-mile Long Island (G3) at Aqueduct Nov. 10 in her second start for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
“We were going to go straight to the Pegasus. We’re cutting her back — I do think she wants to cut back. A mile and an eighth I think might be her sweet spot. She doesn’t train like a mile is a problem,” Joseph said. “She’s very quick in the morning. It’s a little unknown. If you look at her record, she’s zero for three and never hit the board going a mile, but I don’t think it should be a problem. I’m excited to see her run.”
Joseph will also be represented in the Suwannee River by Ken Ramsey’s Be My Sunshine, who won the Tropical Park Oaks at Gulfstream last season. The 4-year-old daughter of Frosted returns from a five-month hiatus after finishing a distant second in the off-the-turf De La Rose at Saratoga.
Edgard Zayas is scheduled to ride Be Your Best for the first time in the Suwannee River, while Leonel Reyes has the call on Be My Sunshine.
Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Tango Uniform Racing LLC and Steven Rocco’s Breath Away, an ultra-consistent 4-year-old filly bred in Great Britain, will be on familiar footing Saturday. Trained by Christophe Clement, Breath Away broke her maiden over the Gulfstream turf in her Jan. 8, 2023 debut and came right back two starts later to win her first stakes in the Sanibel Island.
Although she has been twice graded stakes-placed since then, the daughter of Bated Breath is still seeking her first graded-stakes success, as well as her second stakes victory overall. Breath Away, who was beaten by a neck in the Nov. 10 Forever Together at Aqueduct, finished third in the Noble Damsel, a head behind Ocean Club. She also lost a photo finish to Be My Sunshine in the 2023 Tropical Park Oaks.
Dylan Davis, who has been aboard in her last two starts, has the return call.
D J Stable LLC’s Papillo, a Mark Casse-trained 4-year-olf filly who was Grade 1 stakes-placed last year; CHP Racing’s Saffron Moon, a Chad Brown-trained 5-year-old mare still looking for her first stakes victory; The Estate of Alvert Frassetto’s Ribaltagaia, who is slated for her U.S. debut after competing in Grade 1 stakes in France; are other promising Suwannee River entrants.
R Larry Johnson’s Hollywood Walk, Royalight Racing LLC’s Charlie’s Wish, and Douglas Self’s Swoonatra round out the field.
