Kentucky Pharoah looks to stay perfect on turf in Kitten's Joy

Turf stakes winners Kentucky Pharoah, unbeaten since being moved to the grass last month, and Never Surprised, undefeated in his only two starts last fall, will provide an intriguing matchup when they square off in Saturday’s $100,000 Kitten’s Joy (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The eighth running of the Kitten’s Joy for 3-year-olds going a mile on the grass is among five graded-stakes worth $600,000 in purses on a 12-race program highlighted by the $200,000 Holy Bull (G3), Gulfstream’s next step for 3-year-olds on the road to the Florida Derby (G1).

First race post time is 11:45 a.m.

Calumet Farm homebred Kentucky Pharoah, a chestnut son of 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah out of the Strut the Stage mare Strut the Course, made his first two starts on dirt in Kentucky, finishing off the board in a pair of maiden special weights behind Mandaloun, a next-out winner that ran third in the Lecomte (G3) Jan. 16, and Caddo River, winner of the Smarty Jones Jan. 22.

“You look at his pedigree and you’d think he’d be better suited once we got him on the turf. We did actually have him debuted to run first time on the turf at Keeneland and it came off. With the turf being canceled at Churchill we couldn’t get him on the turf quick enough,” trainer Jack Sisterson said. “He’s run against some very good dirt horses. We put him on the grass and he seems to have improved and gone forward for it.”

Kentucky Pharoah has not lost since heading south and switching surfaces, going all the way on the lead to graduate in a 3 ¾-length victory Dec. 19. Stepped up to stakes company for his 3-year-old debut just 14 days later, he responded with another front-running three-length triumph over Fighting Force in the Dania Beach Jan. 2.

All four of his races have come under Julien Leparoux, who returns to ride from outside Post 7.

“He’s always shown speed on the grass but at the same time he will relax and sit in behind,” Sisterson said. “I was very impressed with his last race because Luis Saez and Fighting Force was on the inside and I had a feeling that their intention was to go to the front, as well. You could see Luis being aggressive out of the gate and Julien was also. He’s a naturally quick horse and I assume that’s what we’ll be doing on Saturday. And if we’re not on the lead then somebody is probably going far too quick.”

“When we ran him back in two weeks, just the reason being that he came out of that race so well,” he added. “He’s breezed twice now on the grass in between and we feel he’s definitely come out of the race as good as he was going into his previous races so why not run them when they’re doing well? We would like to see him improve again and go forward but he’s definitely a horse that’s talented.”

Sisterson said Kentucky Pharoah is talented enough to consider racing him overseas depending on how he fares in the Kitten’s Joy, named for 2004 male grass champion and subsequent prolific sire.

“We’ve discussed some ambitious spots after this race moving forward with him, possibly take him over to Europe,” he said. “We’ve briefly discussed the Irish 2,000 Guineas with him. He’s got to improve massively, but he’s a horse that’s lightly raced and definitely going in the right direction. It’s pretty cool, and to have an owner that’s willing to do something like that. We’ll see what this Saturday brings but he’s definitely doing great.”

Repole Stable’s Never Surprised, by 2014 Florida Derby (G1) winner Constitution, hasn’t raced since opening his career with back-to-back starts 20 days apart in November on the Aqueduct turf. After winning a six-furlong maiden special weight in 1:09.19, he came back with a front-running 1 ¾-length score in the 1 1/16-mile Central Park.

Never Surprised fetched $200,000 as a yearling in September 2019 and shows five works at trainer Todd Pletcher’s Palm Beach Downs winter base. Pletcher won the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) Jan. 23 with Colonel Liam

“He’s two-for-two and he’s been training well so this has kind of been our target with him since his last start at Aqueduct,” Pletcher said. “We shipped him down here and got him acclimated but he’s had a pretty steady series of breezes. He won his debut going six and stretched out the next time. It seems like he loves the grass and we’re happy with the way he’s coming up to it.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. gets the riding assignment from Post 6.

Also entered are Sigiloso and Chess’s Dream, Gulfstream maiden winners Jan. 13 and Dec. 13, respectively; It’s a Gamble, most recently fifth by 4 ¼ lengths in the Dania Beach; Original, a maiden winner on the Aqueduct turf Nov. 14 but eased last out in the one-mile Jerome on dirt Jan. 1; and Chao.