Success for Joseph despite turmoil

CMC – Though he faces uncertainty at another track in the United States, ace Barbadian trainer Saffie Joseph Jr logged two wins over the past two race days at his main base at Gulfstream Park.

Joseph, the winner of the past three race meets at the state of Florida’s main racing oval, maintained his hold on the top spot in the trainers’ championship with 14 wins for the spring-summer season, which started on April 6.

The 36-year-old prepared 8-5 favourite Stride that won by one length under Leonel Reyes in the U.S. $33 000 third race going 1 700 metres on the turf course on Thursday.

Stride was bumped at the start, but Reyes got the four-year-old, grey gelding to recover and raced within range two and three wide before angling four wide near the quarter pole and got up in the final 100 metres to clock one minute, 42.71 seconds.

On Friday, the Joseph-trained 4-1 bet Money Map grabbed a half-length win under Jose Morelos in the U.S. $29 000 fifth race going 1 500 metres on the turf course.

Morelos set Money Map to track the pace from the inside and produced the four-year-old, bay colt two wide around the far turn, and he took over in the middle of the homestretch, edged ahead leaving the eighth pole, and held on to finish in a time of 1 min, 29.99 secs.

Joseph was left searching for answers after the authorities at Churchill Downs in the American city of Louisville suspended him indefinitely on Thursday ahead of the lucrative Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

It followed the unexplained deaths of two horses he trained on the first two days of the spring meet at the famed racetrack.

Authorities prevented Joseph from entering horses in races or applying for stalls at Churchill Downs after four-year-old filly Parents Pride pulled up in the stretch during the eighth race this past Saturday then collapsed and died, and five-year-old gelding Chasing Artie died in similar fashion after the eighth race this past Tuesday.

Joseph was also forced to scratch several entries on the start sheet at Churchill Downs leading into Derby Day, including withdrawing Lord Miles from the feature race.

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