Thursday, September 25, 2025
Lennilu, Squire, Monster set for $75,000 race . . .

    HALLANDALE BEACH - The Leinster Hollywood Beach, indeed.

    The nine-horse field for Saturday’s $75,000 Leinster Hollywood Beach at Gulfstream Park features three very promising offspring of red-hot freshman sire Leinster – multiple stakes-winner Lennilu, as well as stakes-placed Squire and Monster.

    Patrick Biancone-trained Lennilu is scheduled to make a highly anticipated return to turf in the five-furlong test for 2-year-olds after prevailing by a nose in the $100,000 Desert Vixen, the six-furlong first leg of the Florida Sire Stakes series for fillies on Gulfstream’s main track.

    After rallying to win her 4 ½-furlong debut over a sloppy Keeneland main track on April 6, Lennilu made a highly successful transition to turf with a 3 ¾-length front-running victory in the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies at five furlongs at Gulfstream on May 10, earning a fees-paid berth into one of six stakes during the Royal Ascot Meet. She went on to finish third in the five-furlong, Gr. II Queen Mary before capturing the Desert Vixen.

    “She’s good. She has the attitude of a good horse,” Biancone said. “She doesn’t want to get beat.”

    The Hollywood Beach will be Lennilu’s final prep for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Oct. 31, as long as the race remains on turf. “If it comes off the turf, Lennilu will run the following weekend in Kentucky,” Biancone said.

    Lennilu, rated second at 2-1 on the Hollywood Beach morning line, is nominated to the $300,000 Indian Summer, a 5 ½-furlong turf event at Keeneland on Sunday, Oct. 5. Jonathan Ocasio has the return mount on Lennilu, who is owned by Amy Dunne, Caitlin Dunne, Brenda Miley, Jean Wilkinson, Hoffman Family Racing, Tranquility Lake Farms, Maury Hamilton and Christopher Harrington.

    Amy Dunne and Biancone are also well represented by Squire in the Hollywood Beach field. Squire, like Lennilu, has demonstrated versatility in his brief career. The 2-year-old gelding overcame bumping at the start of his 4 ½-furlong debut to win by a head at Gulfstream. He returned on turf to finish second in the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile behind Sandal’s Song, who went on to finish third in the Gr. II Norfolk at Royal Ascot. Squire finished fifth on dirt last time out following a less-than-ideal trip in the $100,000 Dr. Fager, the six-furlong first leg if the FFS series.

    Dalila Rivera has the call on Squire, who is rated third at 9-2.

    Arindel’s Monster, who finished fourth and fifth in his first two career starts in Kentucky, demonstrated a distinct preference for turf while scoring a nine-length front-running victory in a five-furlong maiden special weight at Gulfstream. “He really likes the turf, and he really likes the turf here,” trainer Jose D’Angelo said. “It’s not soft ground, and he really likes that.”

    Monster, who is favored at 9-5 on the Leinster Hollywood Beach morning line, set the pace in the 5 ½-length Skidmore on turf at Saratoga before settling for a second behind Bobrovsky, a highly- regarded Dale Romans-trained son of Daredevil. Monster’s performance in the Hollywood Beach will dictate his next start.

    “I’d like to go to the Breeders’ Cup,” D’Angelo said. Edgard Zayas, who was aboard Monster for his sensational maiden-breaker, returns to the saddle for the Leinster Hollywood Beach. Squire, Lennilu and Monster, all Florida-breds, will break from the three outside post positions – 7, 8 and 9, respectively.

     “I like his post,” D’Angelo said. “We have to go.”

    Leinster, a Rusty Arnold-trained son of Majestic Warrior, closed out his racing career with a victory in the 2021 Gr. III Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Stakes before entering stud duty at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Ocala.

    D’Angelo is also represented in the Hollywood Beach field by Fugget About It Racing Stables’ Itza Lock, a gelded son of Silver State who is coming off a front-running 3 ½-length maiden romp at Gulfstream in his second career start in a five-furlong maiden special weight on Tapeta. “He is really improving. That’s why I’m giving him a chance in the stakes,” D’Angelo said. Samy Camacho is scheduled to ride Itza Lock for the first time Saturday.

    Daugherty Racing’s Win N Juice, a Florida-bred son of Win Win Win, figures to make his presence felt in the Hollywood Beach. After finishing sixth in his debut in the Royal Palm Juvenile, he graduated at five furlongs on turf at Gulfstream and finished second behind Hey Nay Nay in the Tyro at five furlongs on turf at Monmouth. Undefeated Hey Nay Nay went on to win the Gr. III Del Mar Juvenile Turf. The Nolan Ramsey trainee failed to menace in the Juvenile Sprint at Kentucky Downs in his most recent start.

    Ramsey is also scheduled to saddle Robert Proulx’s Street Player, who is set to make his first start on turf after breaking his maiden at Gulfstream in his second career start and finishing off the board in a pair of stakes.

    Miguel Vasquez has the call on Win N Juice, while Yolber Torres has the mount on Street Player.

    Candido Vargas and Darinel Arguela’s The Princess Bro, a daughter of Win Win Win trained by Kevin McKathan, and Leon Ellman, Glassman Racing and Laurie Plesa’s Timeless Victory, a son of By My Standards trained by Eddie Plesa Jr., are slated to make their respective stakes debuts coming off debut maiden special weight victories.

    Trainer Daniel Hurtak’s Zevi’s Zone, a son of Uncle Chuck who graduated first off the claim in a $35,000 maiden claimer at five furlongs on Tapeta, rounds out the field.

Thursday, September 25, 2025
Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 returns . . .
    HALLANDALE BEACH - Friday’s programs at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park will mark the debut of the Sunset Six, and the return of the popular Coast-to-Coast Pick 5.

    The Sunset Six will always feature the final three races at Gulfstream and Santa Anita Park. The Sunset Six will be offered anytime both tracks are running. There is a $1 minimum, low 15-percent takeout, no consolation payouts, and a carryover if no one selects all six winners.

    The Sunset Six will be available to retail customers only.

    Friday also marks the return of the Coast-to-Coast Pick 5. Like the Sunset Six, there is a $1 minimum, low 15-percent takeout, no consolation payouts, a carryover if no one selects all five winners, and is available to retail customers only.

    Gulfstream’s first race post Friday is 12:50 ET. First race Friday at Santa Anita is 4 ET.
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Last 4 races scrapped . . .
    HALLANDALE BEACH - A severe thunderstorm bringing heavy rain and lightning through the area caused Gulfstream Park to cancel its final five races today out of an abundance of caution for horses, horsemen and fans.

    The decision was made following a lengthy weather delay prior to Race 6 with steady rain forecast into early evening.

    Exactas, Trifectas and Superfectas were refunded. The $1 Double (7-ALL) returned $4.10 and the $1 Pick 3 (3-7-ALL) returned $51.20.

     The Sunshine Meet will resume Friday with a nine-race program headlined by the $75,000 Hallandale Beach for 2-year-old fillies going a one-turn mile on the main track. Recent maiden winner Vita Mia is the 9-5 program favorite. Willow Case and Tessellate, respectively 1-2 in the Aug. 9 Sharp Susan, are also entere
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Thursday, September 18, 2025
Veteran has won more than 5,700 races . . .

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Joe Bravo turned 54 during the three months he was sidelined with a broken right pinky finger, giving the journeyman rider with more than 5,700 career victories a brief glimpse into retirement. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t for him. At least not yet.

    “I could retire tomorrow, yes, but if you wake up and you have no purpose, it’s kind of tough,” Bravo said. “For the last quite a few years now, I’ve not tried to ride a lot of races. I want to kind of hold on to my job. By not riding a lot of races, I think I can keep my job going a lot longer.

    “Every day you go out, especially here at Gulfstream Park, you’ve got these maiden special weight races that come out and you never know who’s going to come out of here. I remember going back to a thing like Curlin coming down the stretch in his maiden victory. That horse was coming down the middle of the racetrack. Nobody knew who he was … and it was tomorrow’s superstar. I’m kind of hoping to team up with one of those again.”

    Bravo is named on Fausto Gutierrez-trained 3-year-old colt Rashid in Race 7 Friday at Gulfstream, a claiming event for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for one mile on the turf. They are rated at 4-1 on the morning line, third choice in a field of seven.

    On Saturday, Bravo is named to ride stakes winner Big Data for trainer Michael Lerman in the $70,000 Duke of Mischief overnight handicap and Gutierrez’s Show Off in the $75,000 Ginger Punch Handicap on the undercard of the $200,000 Princess Rooney (G3), a ‘Win and You’re In’ qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).

    “I was off three months so it took me like two weeks I was getting on horses. I’m going to take another two weeks here at Gulfstream before I start,” Bravo said. “I only ride one race [Friday]. I want to see how it all goes. I ride two on Saturday, both stakes races. I like that. Stakes are good.

    “It’s all going to be touch and feel,” he added. “To be honest, in the back of my head I’m thinking, ‘I carry a stick.’ I broke my little pinky so when I go to hit, it’s going to be pretty interesting. That’s like the only question, physically, I have. It seems like, ‘it’s just a pinky,’ but that little pinky kept me out all summer.”

    Bravo, whose 5,719th and latest victory came June 6 at Churchill Downs, has not ridden since June 13 at Gulfstream when he was hurt following Special Aviator’s fourth-place finish as the favorite in one-mile optional claiming allowance on the grass. A seemingly minor incident turned into an unplanned summer holiday.

    “Everybody’s asking, ‘What happened? Where’s Joe been all summer long?’ You don’t really hear [about] it because it was pulling up after a race. I was galloping a horse out, and this game is so dangerous,” Bravo said. “It was one of those things where you don’t think you’d get injured. All of a sudden the horse stopped and she decided to go the other direction. I came off and when I went, I tried to brace myself.

    “They ended up having to do surgery. They put a screw in it, so all summer long I’ve been on vacation. It was kind of a nice time to step back from racing, but then I looked outside the racing world and said, ‘What [have] I miss[ed]?’ It seemed like every trip I did it was Saratoga, Del Mar, Monmouth Park. I missed racing. I was born 5-[foot]-2 for a reason. I was born for this stuff. I’m a jockey. What do you do on vacation? I visit racetracks.”

    Though diligent in his recovery, Bravo got a quick reminder of the demands riders face on a daily basis once he returned to the irons to gallop during morning workouts.

    “The first day I got o horses, I was so sore,” he said. “That was the biggest frustration for me. Ever since the surgery on the hand, I had hand physical therapy but then I was lucky enough on the off days – it was like a seven-days-a-week process – of doing personal training, too. So I kept myself halfway in shape like that, but there’s nothing like being back on a horse.

    “You’ve got get your timing back and you’ve got to take baby steps. When the doctor releases you, you can’t just go do it,” Bravo added. “You’ve got to do the gym to get basic [fitness], you’ve got to get the fitness on a horse, but then you’ve got to get your timing down. Turning for home, throwing the cross and getting after them. It’s a baby-step process.”

    The son and grandson of jockeys, Bravo rode his first race March 6, 1988 at Calder Race Course, where his first winner came 11 days later. A 13-time meet leader at Monmouth, mere miles from where he was born in Long Branch, N.J., ‘Jersey Joe’ ranks ninth among active riders in victories and 26th overall. He has earned more than $204 million in purses from 32,035 mounts.

    “Everyone says, ‘Joe, how did you almost win 6,000 races?’ Well, when I was younger I was a little bit more ambitious,” Bravo laughed. “I feel really bad for the younger riders coming up these days, because there’s not as much opportunity just because there’s not as much racing going on. I was blessed when I came up. I was riding day and night. Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Garden State Parkway ran at night, Meadowlands ran at night. Many times I’d ride at Belmont [Park] during the day, go over and ride Meadowlands at night, sleep in Manhattan and go do it again.”

    During his down time this summer, when not working out or rehabbing Bravo did some television analysis during the Haskell (G1) program at Monmouth and also attended the prestigious yearling sales in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

    “Having the summer off, it gave me the chance to think, ‘What am I going to do the day that I can’t ride any races?’ I did dabble in a little bit of commentating and stuff like that, but another kind of passion that I thought about and I would love to try to get into is bloodstock,” Bravo said. “I went to all the sales at Saratoga and everything. Looking at horses and how they develop, it’s kind of what I’ve been doing every day for 30 plus years.

    “When I look at a horse I kind of look at what they could kind of develop into. It’s something I’d like to dabble with,” he added. “If I could kind of mingle that in with commentary and do some bloodstock … I don’t think I could ever walk away from horse racing. Horse racing’s pretty fun. Every day you don’t know what to expect.”

    Winner of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) with Blue Prize and third in the 2014 Kentucky Derby (G1) aboard Danza whose first Grade 1 win came on Formal Gold in the former Donn Handicap at Gulfstream, Bravo isn’t thinking about reaching 6,000 wins or any other career milestones.

    “All I can do is worry about trying my best on the next horse I ride,” he said. “Hopefully we have a couple more years left to enjoy this game. You can’t put a number on anything. You never know what’s going to happen. This is a crazy world. Be appreciative of what you’ve got around you at the moment. Everything else is cherry."

Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Only third start for $165,000 purchase . . .




    David S. Romanik’s Argos (Nyquist - Athenian (IRE), by Acclamation (GB)) became a top-level winner and earned a fees-paid berth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) when he notched a thrilling victory in the $500,000 Summer Stakes (G1) at Woodbine Sept. 13, headlining the group of stakes-winning OBS graduates for the week. 

    Argos, trained by Riley Mott, was making his third career start in the Summer after winning his debut over 5 ½ furlongs on the Ellis Park turf in July, and then finishing third in the Soaring Free Stakes at Woodbine Aug. 16. The bay son of Nyquist was a $165,000 purchase by Romanik at this year’s OBS March Sale from the Majestic consignment after breezing in :20 3/5.

    “This horse breezed at OBS in :30.4 and the only other horse I’ve ever owned who did that ran in the Breeders’ Cup in 1989, so thought I had something special,” Romanik said. “We thought he was this caliber.”

    Saturday’s Woodbine card produced another OBS highlight as Caitlinhergrtness (Omaha Beach – Belatrix, by Giant’s Causeway), named after WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, got herself back in the winner’s circle with a victory in the $150,000 Ontario Matron Stakes (G3).

    It was the fifth win from 14 starts for the chestnut filly, who was named Canada’s champion 3-year-old female. Owned by WinStar Farm LLC, last year’s King’s Plate winner, trained by Kevin Attard, was consigned by Off the Hook to the 2023 OBS Spring Sale where she sold for $375,000 after breezing in :10 flat.

    At Churchill Downs Sept. 13, Khrysselv Mavarez’s Leon King Stable Corp.’s Bentornato (Valiant Minister-Her Special Way, by Put It Back), who was making his first start since his narrow loss to Straight No Chaser in last year’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), dazzled in his 4-year-old debut when he drew of for a 5 ¼-length win in the $300,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes. It was the fifth stakes win for the son of Valiant Minister, who is trained by Jose De’Angelo and boosted his career earnings to $1,282,180.

    Bentornato is a two-time OBS graduate, having been sold by Stuart Morris at the 2022 October Yearling Sale and then purchased by Champion Equine for $170,000 out of the Golden Rock Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2023 March Sale after breezing in :20 4/5.

    At Monmouth Park on Sept. 13, heavily favored Dripping Gold, (Lemon Drop Kid - Aurelia, by Danzig) trained by Shug McGaughey, surged late to win the $1000,000 Presious Passion by three-quarters of a length.

    Dripping Gold was purchased by West Point Thoroughbreds, which campaigns the gelding in partnership along with NBS Stable and Titletown Racing Stables, for $300,000 at the 2021 OBS March Sale from the consignment of Woodford Thoroughbreds after breezing in :10 1/5.