Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Dear Dad, Quester try turf
Can Dear Dad and Quester transfer their solid Tapeta form to turf? That is the key question handicappers will have to answer when trying to come up with the winner of Thursday’s $48,000 allowance and optionalclaiming feature at Gulfstream Park. The race is restricted to Florida-breds and will be decided at one mile, weather permitting.
Neither Dear Dad or Quester have started on turf. Dear Dad has been knocking on the door under similar conditions as Thursday’s race in each of his last three starts over the synthetic surface. He figures to move forward off his most recent outing when third, beaten less than two lengths and matching a career-best 80 Beyer Speed Figure, while making his first start in more than eight months.
Trained by Mark Casse, Dear Dad is out of the mare Table for Six, who won twice and banked over $200,000 on turf during her racing career.
Quester will be just the fourth horse Heather Smullen will saddle since taking out her training license earlier this month. Quester, one of two 3-year-olds in the race along with My Noble Knight, is coming off a popular 2 1/4-length maiden win going a mile and 70 yards on the Tapeta. He earned a 73 Beyer for the effort six weeks earlier while with trainer Todd Pletcher.
Like Dear Dad, Quester should handle the grass, being out of the mare Osare, a stakes winner of more than $200,000 herself on turf.
“Naturally I would have liked to run against straight 3-yearolds but Florida-breds is the next step and if he handles the turf, it opens up more options for us,” said Smullen. “If not, we know he’s always going to be a solid [synthtetic] horse.”
Smullen is best known as the regular exercise rider for 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly winner and ultimate 2-yearold filly champion Caledonia Road while working as an assistant for trainer Ralph Nicks. She also was the regular work rider for 2020 Florida Derby, Belmont, and Travers winner Tiz the Law.
Smullen’s riding career came to an end following a horrifying accident on Labor Day morning at Saratoga in 2022 that left her with a broken fibula and tibia in her right leg. She has served at Gulfstream Park as an assistant for Arindel Farms, as well as for trainers Dale Romans and Phil Serpe over the past several years.
“I always had it in the back of my mind to pursue a training career and am lucky that several owners have now given me that opportunity,” said Smullen, who currently has 10 horses in her barn with several more due in off the farm. “I’m looking forward to adding a few more 2-year-olds to the stable since I’ve had good success working with babies, like Caledonia Road, in the past.”
There are a handful of proven commodities to choose from in the headliner. They include Cosmic Speculation, a three-time winner on turf who won his maiden over the inner course against statebreds at 3 and a mid-level conditioned claimer on grass with a 77 Beyer in gate-to-wire fashion just three weeks ago.
Other key contenders include Swing Low, who comes in off a pair of solid efforts over the Tampa Bay Downs turf course earlier this spring, and Bold Majestic, who is the first career starter for his new trainer, Dale Carrington.