Gulfstream Maestro Luis Saez Goes Again! + 252/1 Acca

Gulfstream Park has been an extremely happy hunting ground for Luis Saez throughout his career, and when you look into his statistics at the venue, it makes for remarkable reading.

He holds a 33% strike-rate at Gulfstream Park from 1507 rides, amassing total prize-money of $12,525,756 and racking up a £757.58 profit to £1 level stakes. Absolutely incredible!

He rides eight horses at Gulfstream on Thursday evening, and we’ve looked into his better chances below!

Madame Moon (5pm)

Saez kicks off his day on the short-priced favourite Madame Moon in the 5:00pm maiden claimer, and she should be leaps and bounds above the competition in this. She finished an excellent third on her second career start at $25,000 claiming level, dropping down to $14,000 today. She’s unexposed and faces a modest bunch, and it would be a surprise if she couldn’t get off the mark.

Followhisfootsteps (5:30pm)

It’s another shorty in the following $12,000 claimer and Followhisfootsteps looks to have a great chance to return to winning ways. He was a winner at a slightly lower level two starts ago and made his debut for this yard when a close course and distance third.

He faces a field that, on paper, he has the measure of and this four-year-old looks set to have an excellent chance of landing a third career victory.

Blakey (6:31pm)

Finishing second at this level two starts ago over course and distance, Blakey didn’t entirely disgrace himself when down the field in a much higher level claimer on his latest outing. He’s down a peg today and faces a field that lacks any recent winning form. He’s not the most consistent, but he’s run well at much higher levels as recently as September, where he was third in a $42,000 allowance contest, and that form would give him a huge chance.

Paula Andrea (7:34pm)

Another strong chance for Saez in the 7:34 as he teams up with Antonio Sano and rides Paula Andrea. This filly has placed in course and distance races at this claiming level on two of her last three outings,  latterly when a close third behind a very warm favourite. Saez takes the ride for the first time and if working his Gulfstream magic on her, she should be gaining a second career success.

Soldado (9:07pm)

Winning two of his three career starts, the promising Soldado was a course and distance winner on his return from an eleven-month absence, winning stylishly at this level. He’s thoroughly unexposed and he’s tactically versatile, winning from behind on debut and scoring from the front on his return. He should have plenty more to offer as a sprinter and makes a huge amount of appeal.

Peacock Kitten (9.38pm)

Of course, in the final race of the night, Saez has the favourite and another warm one at that. It’s not hard to see why either, as Peacock Kitten was claimed for $36,000 when winning over course and distance in December. He ran with credit in a non-claiming event on his latest outing and has been given some time to recover since.

He makes his return at $16,000 level and his drawn well, so it’s difficult to see what can touch him in this line-up.