Coinage Looks to Get Back on Track in Kitten's Joy

Winless in two tries since finding graded stakes success last summer in his turf debut, D. J. Stable and Chester and Mary Broman's Coinage  will launch his sophomore season in the $100,000 Kitten's Joy (G3T) at Gulfstream Park Feb. 5.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is hoping to find better racing luck for Coinage, a son of Tapit   bred in New York by the Bromans. He ran third after getting bumped and being forced to steady early in the Nownownow at Monmouth Park, then tired to ninth after pressing the pace from post 12 in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T). Both races came at one mile.

"At Monmouth, he had some trouble at the start. He kind of stumbled and didn't get away from there," Casse said. "In the Breeders' Cup, it was probably just more about post position. When you go around at Del Mar going a mile and you draw outside, it's kind of brutal. He just had a tough trip. We're just trying to get him back and, hopefully, he'll have a little luck this time."

With his sire, dam Bar of Gold , and grandsire Medaglia d'Oro   all grade 1 winners on the dirt, Coinage began his career sprinting on the main track, breaking his maiden second time out and running third in the Rick Violette, the latter at Saratoga Race Course. In an effort to stretch him out, Casse put Coinage on turf for the 1 1/16-mile With Anticipation (G3T), and he responded with a front-running two-length triumph.

"We kind of felt like, just the way he moved, that he would like the grass. We worked him on the grass a couple times at Saratoga before we ran him on it and he just loved it," Casse said. "He was impressive that day. I know that he's more than capable, it's just about having a good trip. He's been compromised in his last two starts."

Fellow Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher entered the pair of Grand Sonata  and Royal Spirit . Whisper Hill Farm homebred Grand Sonata exits his first career stakes victory, a head decision over stablemate Chanceux  in the one-mile Dania Beach Jan. 1 at Gulfstream.

"It was a pretty gutsy effort," Pletcher said. "He had to kind of make up some ground off a slow pace and was able to get rolling late and get up in time. He was coming off kind of a tough trip in his prior race at Aqueduct Racetrack so we were hoping to get a cleaner trip and we were able to do that. He's pretty much shown up and run well every time."

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Royal Spirit will make his graded debut in the Kitten's Joy. The Into Mischief   colt broke his maiden by 1 1/4 lengths sprinting 7 1/2 furlongs on the Gulfstream turf Jan. 2, after ending his juvenile season running second in the Nownownow—six lengths ahead of Coinage—and fourth in the Awad at Belmont Park.

"He'd already had some stakes experience. He was second in the stakes at Monmouth so we were looking to get him in the winner's circle. We were happy to get the job done there and we've been focusing on this since then," Pletcher said. "He's got tactical speed. I think he's capable of putting himself in a good spot and go from there. He seems like he's coming into it the right way."

Impressive Maiden Winners Eye Graded Glory in Sweetest Chant

Teneri Farm and J Stables' Opalina , an eye-opening maiden winner over the course last fall, returns to Gulfstream Park looking to snap a two-race losing streak and earn her first stakes victory in the Feb.5 $100,000 Sweetest Chant (G3T).

Trainer Roderick Rodriguez said Florida-bred Opalina got a bit worked up prior to her sophomore debut in the one-mile Ginger Brew Jan. 1 at Gulfstream and faded to third after stalking the pace in her first race since mid-October.

After a pair of turf sprints last summer to begin her career, Opalina was a 12-length maiden special weight winner against fellow state-breds in mid-September at Gulfstream. Racing for the first time beyond five furlongs, it was contested at a mile over a yielding course.

"I was very confident in her that she was going to win like that. I had run her short, which is not her game," Rodriguez said. "That was her first time going long, a flat mile, so I was kind of expecting that performance."

Edward Seltzer's homebred Running Legacy  will be making just her second career start in the Sweetest Chant. The daughter of Gun Runner   was a 1 1/4-length winner in debut going one mile and 70 yards on Gulfstream's Tapeta Dec. 9.

"When she broke her maiden, she did it quite good. Hopefully, she'll handle the turf when we give her the chance," trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. "She's a filly that looks like she wants to go two turns and run all day long. I think this is the right step. We could go to an allowance but we feel like she's by Gun Runner and if she can get graded stakes-placed or even win, it enhances her value. She's a homebred so it's big for the Seltzers. There's a lot of reasons to give it a shot."

Trainer Chad Brown won the Sweetest Chant six straight years from 2012 to 2017 and is represented this year by Wonder Stables, Madaket Stables, and Golconda Stable's Miss You Ella , exiting a one mile, 70-yard maiden special weight victory over Gulfstream's Tapeta Jan. 6.

Entries: Sweetest Chant S. (G3T)

Gulfstream Park, Saturday, February 05, 2022, Race 10

• Grade IIIT
• 1 1/16m
• Turf
• $100,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:37 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Nostalgic (KY)	Junior Alvarado	118	William I. Mott	9/2
2	2Opalina (FL)	Luis Saez	118	Roderick R. Rodriguez	3/1
3	3Roughly a Diamond (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	120	Michelle Nihei	15/1
4	4Ambitieuse (KY)	Paco Lopez	118	H. Graham Motion	6/1
5	5Myfavoritedaughter (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	118	Jeff Engler	20/1
6	6Ocean Safari (KY)	Javier Castellano	118	Gilberto Zerpa	4/1
7	7Miss You Ella (PA)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	118	Chad C. Brown	10/1
8	8Battle Charge (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	120	Timothy E. Hamm	5/1
9	9Running Legacy (KY)	Dylan Davis	118	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	15/1
10	10Hal's Dream (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	118	Kenneth G. McPeek	12/1

Entries: Kitten's Joy S. (G3T)

Gulfstream Park, Saturday, February 05, 2022, Race 7

• Grade IIIT
• 1 1/16m
• Turf
• $100,000
• 3 yo
• 3:01 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Grand Sonata (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	123	Todd A. Pletcher	3/1
2	2Coinage (NY)	Luis Saez	123	Mark E. Casse	6/1
3	3Red Knobs (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	118	Dale L. Romans	12/1
4	4Speaking Scout (KY)	Junior Alvarado	118	H. Graham Motion	4/1
5	5Eldon's Prince (ON)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	123	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	12/1
6	6Royal Spirit (KY)	Paco Lopez	118	Todd A. Pletcher	5/1
7	7Father Glado (KY)	Javier Castellano	118	Jose Francisco D'Angelo	8/1
8	8Red Danger (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	123	Brian A. Lynch	7/2