Palace and Day Meet in Gulfstream Handicap

The 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice has been made the 5-2 morning line favorite for Saturday’s running of the $250,000 Grade II Gulfstream Park Handicap for horses four-years-old and up racing a flat mile on the dirt. With the scratch of Brujo de Olleros, the field has been reduced to seven. The race will feature a rematch of horses that first met on the Triple Crown trail, as both Palace Malice and Itsmyluckyday ran the Kentucky Derby, finishing 12^th and 15^th, respectively. Following that, It’smyluckyday went on to run second in the Preakness Stakes, but skipped the Belmont.

Favorite has been out of the winners' circle lately

Palace Malice, a Kentucky bred, by the Hall of Famer Curlin, had only his maiden win going into the Derby, but had shown he could be competitive in the highest ranks, finishing second in the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes in his final prep before the Derby. After his Belmont win he also captured the Grade I Jim Dandy, but has not found the winner’s circle in three tries since. He comes in off a long layoff after running sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Itsmyluckyday (7-2), meanwhile, has been off even longer, as this will be his first start since breaking his pelvis last June in the Pegasus Stakes.

Falling Sky looking to move forward from sprints

With some questions regarding the top two, the race could be primed for an upset. Although he doesn’t have a graded-stakes win since taking the Grade I Travers in 2012, Golden Ticket (5-1) has remained competitive and has been on the edges, including running a strong second over a very good field in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The Penn-bred Falling Sky is actually listed as the second ML choice at 3-1, coming into this off a convincing win in the Grade III Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes, the second Grade III score of his career.