Off 11 Months, Instant Coffee Returns at Gulfstream

Gold Square's Instant Coffee , an early contender on the Kentucky Derby (G1) scene last winter before his sixth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby (G2), makes his return to the races in a second-level allowance contest Feb. 17 at Gulfstream Park. The 4-year-old has been listed as the 5-2 favorite in the field of 12 older horses.

Instant Coffee has captured three of his five starts, including victories in the 2022 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) and 2023 Lecomte Stakes (G3) while under the care of trainer Brad Cox. The son of Bolt d'Oro  , unraced since the Louisiana Derby last March, received a lengthy break and joined the barn of Brittany Russell this past winter.

Al Gold of Gold Square said Instant Coffee was not recovering from any sort of injury in his time away.

"We were expecting him to run a lot better (in the Louisiana Derby) and he came out of the race tired. We just gave him a break," Gold said. "We were slow to get him back going but now he's fine. He's been training for a couple of months now down here and he should be ready to go. He looks beautiful, dappled out, and ready to run."

Gold, who lives part of the year in South Florida, shipped several horses in his stable down to Russell's string at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla. He has been on hand to witness Instant Coffee's breezes, including the colt's recent :48.2 half-mile work Feb. 10.

"His last work was pretty good," Gold said. "I'm looking forward to the race. He's been off a long time so it's a nice prep race for him to come back in. We're looking forward to running him here and hopefully, if he does well here we'll go to the Ghostzapper (Stakes) next month."

Instant Coffee will break from post 9 with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard in the 1 1/16-mile main track allowance optional claimer. Other contenders vying for the $92,000 purse (worth $73,000 to non-Florida-bred horses) include the comebacking Barber Road , runner-up behind Gold's Cyberknife   in the 2022 Arkansas Derby (G1) and sidelined since a fourth-place effort in the Blame Stakes (G3) last June; Lure Him In , a winner against state-breds last out in the Sunshine Classic Stakes; and the Bill Mott-trained Dai Vernon , the current second choice at 3-1 on the morning line and a winner of a 1 1/16-mile first-level allowance race at Churchill Downs in his most recent outing.