Speechify, Cay Dancer, Amen Kitten Among Noms for Gulfstream G3s

A trio of Grade 3 stakes are set to take place Saturday, Dec. 27 at Gulfstream’s 76th Championship Meeting, and when nominations closed, a total of 79 horses were put into consideration for the W.L. McKnight (G3), La Prevoyante (G3), and Mr. Prospector (G3).

The six furlong Mr. Prospector, set to be run for the 60th year, drew 17 nominations. Included in the group is the Ralph Nicks-trained Speechify, winner of last month’s Kenny Noe Jr. at Gulfstream Park West. Speechify, a 4-year-old son of Harlan’s Holiday, rebounded from an unplaced effort on the lawn in the Gin Rummy Champ Stakes in October to claim the Kenny Noe Jr., the first stakes victory of his career. He is three-for-five on the Gulfstream Park main track.

Also nominated to the six-furlong Mr. Prospector is Mel Paikoff’s Happy My Way. Last December, the gelded son of Wilko propelled an allowance win over Speechify into a highly successful 4-year-old campaign that included wins in Gulfstream’s Sir Shackleton Stakes and the Maryland Sprint Handicap (G3) at Pimlico as well as a runner-up effort in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga. After fading in the Vosburgh (G1) at Belmont Park in September, Happy My Way bounced back with a second-place finish in last month’s Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park behind the speedy Zee Bros.

Last year’s winner of the Mr. Prospector, Singanothersong, is also under consideration to defend his title. The 4-year-old colt has run just three times since that race but has finished in the money in seven of nine starts at Gulfstream.

The La Prevoyante Handicap, which will be contested at 1½ miles on the turf, closed with 25 nominations. Chad Brown’s Cay Dancer (IRE), who was entered in Saturday’s Tropical Park Oaks but did not draw into the race, is among the nominees. The 3-year-old daughter of Danehill Dancer (IRE) has shown an affinity for routing, having won a 1 ¼-mile handicap at Newberry this past summer. The La Prevoyante will be Cay Dancer’s first start in North America.

Trainer Christophe Clement nominated a quartet of fillies to the La Prevoyante, including the accomplished Parranda. The 5-year-old mare won four races during Gulfstream’s 2013-2014 winter meet, including the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf and the Suwannee River (G3). Parranda went on to carry the form she showed at Gulfstream to other tracks in the summer and fall, winning the Wilshire (G3) and Royal Heroine (G2) stakes at Santa Anita before finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1). Clement’s other three nominees are Irish Mission, winner of the Glens Falls Stakes (G3) at Saratoga; the graded stakes-placed Clearbrook; and Tabreed (GB).

Clement has won the La Prevoyante four times.

The W.L. McKnight Handicap, which, along with the La Prevoyante, is new to the Gulfstream Park stakes calendar, led the three  races with 37 nominations. Ken and Sarah Ramsey own six of the nominated horses, including Amen Kitten, winner of last year’s Tropical Park Derby; Royal Blessing, runner-up in the Valedictory (G3) at Woodbine; Saffron Hall, winner of the Claiming Crown Emerald Stakes on Gulfstream’s opening day; Bingo Kitten; and Cozy Kitten. Also among the Ramsey charge is the Mike Maker-trained Dark Cove, a 7-year-old veteran son of Medaglia d’Oro. Dark Cove would be making his first start of 2014 in the W.L. McKnight. He has won each of his last three races, all in graded stakes – the Stars and Stripes (G3) at Arlington, the Louisville Handicap (G3) at Churchill Downs, and the Elkhorn Stakes (G2) at Keeneland – but he has not run since July of 2013.

Let’s Go Stable’s Divine Oath is among the most accomplished runners nominated to the W.L. McKnight. The Todd Pletcher-trainee broke his maiden at Gulfstream before going on to take the American Derby (G3) and Kent (G3) in 2014. He was most recently third in the Twilight Derby (G2) at Santa Anita during Breeders’ Cup weekend. The W.L. McKnight would be the turf runner’s first try at 1½ miles.

The W.L. McKnight, La Prevoyante, and Mr. Prospector stakes each offer a purse of $100,000. Entries for the graded stakes will be drawn Wednesday.

Source: Gulfstream Park Communications