Family favorite Diamond Oops headlines Gulfstream's Smile

Diamond Oops has become a fan favorite at Gulfstream Park, where he has won five stakes between his numerous and productive trips out of town. The multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire also holds a special place in the hearts of trainer Patrick Biancone and his family, particularly his daughter and assistant, Andie.

“He’s the best friend of my daughter. They go everywhere together. She rides him every day,” Biancone said. “We have a great time with that horse. I trained the mother, the grandfather, the grandmother – I trained the whole family.” 

A Grade 2 winner on turf and dirt who is also Grade 1 stakes-placed on both surfaces, the ever-versatile Diamond Oops will test his dirt sprinting skills Saturday in $200,000 Smile Sprint Invitational (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The Smile, a six-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds and up, will be featured on Saturday’s 12-race program that will be headlined by the $350,000 Princess Rooney (G2), a seven-furlong “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series event for fillies and mares.

“Diamond Oops is versatile, but you can see by his numbers that he’s a much better horse on the dirt than he is on the turf,” Biancone said.

The 6-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky captured the 2019 Smile Sprint before finishing second back-to-back in the six-furlong Vanderbilt (G1) over Saratoga’s main track and the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) at Keeneland.

The tough-as-nails Kentucky-bred launched his 2020 campaign with a very respectable fourth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) while running outside his comfort zone in the two-turn 1 1/8-mile event. He went on to win the 5½-furlong Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill Downs and the six-furlong Phoenix (G2) over Keeneland’s main track.

Diamond Oops finished fourth in the April 30 Turf Sprint at Churchill in his 2021 debut before capturing a six-furlong overnight handicap at Gulfstream June 5.

“He ran a really good race on the turf at Churchill. He got stuck on the rail but finished very strongly to be fourth,” Biancone said. “The prep race for this race, I think, was a very good race.”

Biancone, who owns Diamonds Oops with Diamond 100 Racing Club LLC, Amy Dunne and D P Racing LLC, said the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar is the ultimate goal.