Smile Sprint Handicap 2015 at Gulfstream Park

Dave Bond | OTB Writer

Las Vegas, NV - Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida will play host to the Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap this Sunday, July 5. Horses three years old and upward will be after the winner's share of the $250,000 purse when they take to Gulfstream's dirt track and race six furlongs.

A field of nine older entries will take to the track in the Smile Sprint Handicap - race 11 on Gulfstream's Sunday schedule. Post time is 5:43 PM. Let's take a peek into the past performances of all nine entries for this Grade 2 stakes.

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2015 Smile Sprint Handicap Race Favorite Entries

Work All Week - Champion Male Sprinter of 2014 has 16 career starts with an impressive 12 wins and three third place finishes. He is coming off a second behind Alsvid in the Grade 3 Aristides Stakes at Churchill Downs May 30 which followed a terrific win in the Breeders' Cup Sprint and a win in his graded stakes debut - the Grade 3 Ogden Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland October 3. He also had a second in the minor Addison Cammack Handicap in July and seven straight wins including the minor Iowa Sprint Championship in June and the minor Hot Springs Stakes in March. He has produced two bullet workouts ahead of this race, including a :46 1/5 breeze at the Louisville oval June 28. Work All Week has been terrific the last couple of years, is the most accomplished of all the entries and hopes his hot streak continues Sunday. Florent Giroux gets the call from gate 8.

Alsvid - has 30 career starts for trainer Chris Hartman with 13 wins, seven seconds and three third place finishes and enters this week in the best form of his career - three straight wins. Last time out the win came by two lengths over Work All Week in the Grade 3 Aristides Stakes at Churchill Downs May 30 after a win in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Stakes at Oaklawn Park in April and an Allowance Optional Claiming score on that same track in March. He has placed in his last five starts overall and is expected to be competitive again Sunday. Chris Landeros gets the call from gate 4.

Smile Sprint Handicap 2015 | Remaining Contenders

Grande Shores - has been terrific lately for trainer Stanley Gold - six wins and nine runner-up finishes in his last 15 starts overall. He won the minor Parrot Key Stakes here June 6 after three straight runner-up finishes on this track including the minor Blue Herron Stakes in April, the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper Stakes in February and in the minor Florida Sunshine Millions Sprint in January. Grande Shores looks for his first graded stakes win Sunday and should definitely be in the mix on a track that he knows very well. Eddie Castro has the mount from post 5.

City of Weston - has 41 career starts with eight wins, seven seconds and eight third place finishes. He won the 2013 Grade 3 Gallant Bob Stakes and has been up and down since, mostly against lesser competition. City of Weston has looked OK lately however placing in five of his last six starts. Last time out was a third in the minor Parrot Key Stakes here June 6 after a win in the minor Blue Herron Handicap on this track in April and a third in an Allowance Optional Claiming here in March. His last graded stakes action resulted in a sixth in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint in February. City Of Weston could be a sneaky entry this week when he departs from post 3 with the superb Victor Espinoza guiding him.

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Wildcat Red - has 14 career starts - five wins, four seconds and two third place finishes - the lone off-the-board finishes were a troubled eighteenth in the Kentucky Derby, a fifth four starts back in the Grade 1 King's Bishop Stakes and a fifth last time out in the minor Florida Sunshine Millions Classic way back in January. Before that was an OK second in the Millions Classic Preview Stakes and a respectable third in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby in September. In July he had a decent third in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational and a 10 1/4 length win in the minor Quality Road Stakes at Gulfstream June 28. Other notable career results include a good second in the $1 million Grade 1 Florida Derby and a very impressive win streak - in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth February 22 and in the Grade 3 Hutcheson Stakes in February 2014. Wildcat Red enters as the most experienced entries in the field looking channel his early 2014 form He has six wins and two seconds in nine starts on this track and should be a factor again Sunday. Javier Castellano has been tabbed to ride from gate 2.

Falling Sky - will hit the track for the first time in nearly a year on Sunday. Last time out was a third in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap in August, 2014 which followed a win in the minor Donald LeVine Memorial at Parx in June, 2014. He did win the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint here in February, 2014 and did record a win in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes in 2013 - so we know that he can run. Falling Sky has five wins, a second and two third place finishes in 14 career starts and hopes to shake the rust Sunday from gate 6 with Edgar Prado in the reins.

Favorite Tale - has five wins, three seconds and a third place finish in 13 career starts. He looked very good last summer winning the Grade 3 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx in September and finishing second in the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Stakes in August but has looked just OK in three starts since that time. Last time out was a fifth in the Grade 2 True North Stakes at Belmont Park June 5 after a second in the minor Decathlon Stakes in May, a six month freshening and a fifth in the minor Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash in November. Favorite Tale hopes to return to the form he showed last summer when he departs from the rail with Edgard Zayas in the saddle.

Singanothersong - won two straight races on this track - including the 2013 Mr. Prospector Stakes and an Allowance Optional Claiming in November, 2013 - he hasn't tasted victory since. He has just five starts since with just one top-3 finish to show for it - a third in an Allowance Optional Claiming in September, 2014. Last time out was a fourth in the minor Parrot Key Stakes here June 6 after consecutive eighths - the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes in December and the Kenny Noe Jr. Stakes at Gulfstream Park West. Singanothersong has placed in just one of his last five starts and could be in deep this week. Juan Leyva hopes get Singanothersong back on track Sunday when he departs from post 7.

Ledokol - makes his stakes debut Sunday after 44 career starts produced seven wins, five seconds and three third place finishes. He enters on the heels of a three race win streak - all Allowance Optional Claiming this year after he failed to place in his previous two starts. Ledokol is in the best form of his career and looks ready for his step up in competition when he leaves from the outside post 9 with Pedro Cotto in the irons.