Double victory for Saffie Joseph Jr

HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida, CMC – Ace Barbadian trainer Saffie Joseph Jr collected two wins at two different tracks in the American state of Florida, most notably with R Harper Rose in the U.S. $145 000 Grade 3 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

R Harper Rose, under stable jockey Edgard Zayas, was sent off as a 2-1 second favourite over seven furlongs on the dirt in one of the co-featured stakes races on the 12-race card at the main racing facility on the south-east coast of the state.

Zayas never pushed R Harper Rose to take the lead early in the trip, but the two-year-old, bay filly was never far off the pace, pressing leader and 5-1 chance Fiona’s Magic, under Tyler Gaffalione, through the early splits.

R Harper Rose took over the running from Fiona’s Magic leaving the second turn, and  she gradually pulled away while drifting out several paths off the fence, and she hit the wire two lengths in front of the rival with a time of one minute, 24.34 seconds.

With her win, R Harper Rose earned 20 points towards qualifying for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 3 at Churchill Downs, but Joseph conceded the two-turn marquee race over 1 800 metres may be further than the filly may want to run.

“This is it for her, one turn,” Joseph said. “We’re not going to experiment. Last time, things didn’t go right, but we’re going to keep her to one turn. There’s a lot of races for her at one turn.”

On the western coast of the state, Joseph saddled the 7-5 favourite Novellie, under Edwin Gonzalez, that won by a neck in the U.S. $18 000 claiming fifth race over seven furlongs on the dirt at Tampa Bay Downs.

Gonzalez got Novellie to duel with the front-running pair on the outside up the backstretch before he raced the three-year-old, dark bay filly in the three path around the turn, and she dug in through the lane to get the win in a time of 1 min, 25 secs flat with a head bob.

Joseph tops the trainers’ standings across the board with 33 wins and earnings totalling close to U.S. $1.95 million for the winter-spring season at Gulfstream Park, where he is based, while he has saddled only five wins from 13 starts for earnings of a little under U.S. $250 000 at Tampa Bay Downs.

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