Saffie Joseph has another Florida Derby hopeful with Catalytic

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. enjoyed a career highlight two years ago when he saddled White Abarrio for a victory in the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park – an achievement that remains a vivid memory.

“It means everything. It still means a lot today to win with White Abarrio. It was our first Florida Derby. It’s our home track. It’s a race you grew up watching,” Joseph said. “It was a race you dream to win. For it to come true, you’re thankful you can experience a moment like that. Hopefully, we can win more of them.”

Joseph, who is just a few days away from officially winning his third consecutive championship meet training title, will make a bid for his second triumph in the Florida Derby Saturday with Tami Bobo, Julie Davies and George Isaac’s Catalytic.

White Abarrio entered the Florida Derby with a solid resume that included a victory in the Holy Bull (G3), but Catalytic will bring only two-race experience into the 1 1/8-mile centerpiece of Saturday’s 14-race program.

The 3-year-old son of Catalina Cruiser turned in a most impressive debut at Gulfstream Park on Oct. 7, winning going away by 5 1/2 lengths before going to the sidelines. He returned to action March 8 at Tampa Bay Downs, where he closed from far back to finish second, beaten less than a length, in a six-furlong, entry-level optional-claiming allowance.

“He got sick, and he missed some time. We had to back off. He got sidetracked. He got behind schedule,” Joseph said. “We got a race into him at Tampa. I thought everything went wrong and he still ran well. He was restless in the gate, he didn’t break well. At the quarter-pole it looked like he was going to be a distant fourth at best, and then he really flew home and just got beat. He was never going to win visually, but he just got beat (by three-quarters of a length) and galloped out well.”

In addition to making his stakes debut in the Florida Derby, Catalytic will be making his first start around two turns Saturday.

“The two-turn thing, you never really know until you run around two turns. From his running style, you would say he should handle it,” Joseph said. “The hardest part is that he’s giving up a lot of seasoning racing against these kind of horses and going up in class. I think he’s a quality horse.

“Can he overcome the lack of experience? Last time I thought he got a lot of experience. The first time he got a perfect trip. Last time things didn’t go well, and he was still able to run a decent race,” he added. “Can he improve that much? We’ll find out. That’s why we run the races.”

Julien Leparoux is scheduled to ride Catalytic for the first time in the Florida Derby, in which the lightly raced colt will clash with 2023 2-year-old champion Fierceness and Holy Bull winner Hades in an 11-horse field.