Saffie Joseph Jr.

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. After holding his own with his Saffie Joseph, Jr.-trained stablemate and last year's narrow GI TVG.com Haskell S. runner-up Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) in a weekend breeze, the highly regarded Collaborate (c, 3, Into Mischief--Quiet Temper, by Quiet American) will look to earn his diploma going a mile at second asking at Gulfstream Park Saturday. The Three Chimneys Farm and e Five Racing colorbearer, a $600,000 FTSAUG yearling,...

A last out runaway stakes winner will meet a pair of promising maiden winners in Saturday's GIII Claiborne Farm Swale S. going seven furlongs at Gulfstream. Save a forgettable trip to the post losing his rider at the start in the Jean Lafitte S. at Delta last November, Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music) has done no wrong in three other attempts, headed by a runaway, front-running tally in Gulfstream's six-furlong Limehouse S. Jan. 2. "The Swale is a good opportunity to stretch him out an eighth of a mile more....

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Everesting (c, 3, Frosted--If Not For Her, by Not For Love) stamped himself as one to watch following a better-than-it-looked fifth-place finish on debut behind 'TDN Rising Star' Annex (Constitution) going two turns over the Gulfstream lawn Jan. 16 (video). The gray's worktab included a pair of bullets at trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.'s Palm Meadows base, led by a four-furlong breeze in :47 (1/74) Jan. 9. Off at...

Looking to atone for his first career defeat when he suffered an equipment malfunction in the Jean Lafitte S. at Delta Downs Nov. 30, Slam Dunk Racing's Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music) made light work of his rivals as the 9-5 chalk in Saturday's Limehouse S. at Gulfstream Park. Smoothly away beneath Edgard Zayas, the chestnut stalked a fast pace outside of front-running Warrior's Pride (Poseidon's Warrior), eased to the front approaching the stretch and kicked home smartly to defeat the blinkered Tiger by a handy margin. Runway Magic (Runhappy)...

Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic), who exited an eighth-place finish in last Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby with a cut in his left front ankle, remains possible for the GI Preakness S. Oct. 3, according to Saffie Joseph Jr. "We got a couple cuts," said Joseph. "He has a staple in his ankle from a cut he got. It looks like he should be OK. Within seven to 10 days we'll decide. The main thing is the staple and when it gets taken out, how it's going to be." Ny Traffic also...

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association has announced its Florida-bred champions for 2019. For the 16th time in FTBOA history, Charlotte Weber was honored with a Florida-bred champion that was bred by her Live Oak Stud and owned by her Live Oak Plantation as Global Access (Giant's Causeway) was named the Florida-bred champion 3-year-old colt or gelding. Live Oak Stud was also named the Florida Breeder of the Year for the third time and the Leading Owner by Florida-bred earnings for the fourth time. Global Access won the 2019...

Roughly 90 minutes before he saddles Chance It (Currency Swap) in the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby, trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. will attempt to win his native country's most prestigious race, the $119,500 Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup, for the first time when he sends out American import Renaisance Frolic (Paynter). A stakes winner at two and three for trainer David Fawkes, the 5-year-old strung together a trio of allowance victories last fall at Churchill Downs and Indiana Grand and was a latest fourth in the rained-off Buddy Diliberto...

The 70 Beyer Speed figure Tonalist's Shape earned last time for her GIII Forward Gal S. score might have scared some bettors off of her and onto 'TDN Rising Star' Spice is Nice--who earned an 84 Beyer for her head-turning 12-length debut romp--but the Saffie Joseph, Jr. pupil proved plenty fast as she upped her record to five-for-five and continued her march towards the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks. A 19-1 debut winner for Juan Avila and Sabana Racing Stable Corp sprinting here last September, Tonalist's Shape was subsequently sold privately...

When Saffie Joseph, Jr. arrived in the U.S. from Barbados in 2011, the then 24-year-old didn't come here to be just another trainer. He wanted what racing in Barbados could never offer him, a chance to prosper on a big stage and to become one of the top trainers in the sport. Some nine years later, he's on his way, capturing training titles at Gulfstream and Gulfstream Park West and winning graded stakes with horses like GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Math Wizard (Algorithms). This year alone, he's won six stakes,...

Slam Dunk Racing, Legacy Ranch and Doug Branham's undefeated Tonalist's Shape (Tonalist), a dominant winner of the local Hut Hut S. on opening day of Gulfstream's Championship Meet, returns Saturday as a likely prohibitive favorite in her graded stakes debut, the seven-furlong GIII Forward Gal S. Rallying from well off the pace to score a 19-1 upset on debut here Sept. 28 for Sabana Racing Stable and trainer Juan Avila, the chestnut was privately purchased and transferred to the red-hot Saffie Joseph, Jr. barn, for which she notched another impressive...

Saffie Joseph Jr. lived what many might call an idyllic life in his native Barbados. Since relocating his family and bourgeoning racing stable to Southern Florida in 2011, however, the third-generation horseman has seen his own American dream given wings as he begins to realize his childhood ambitions. After arriving in the U.S. with only two horses, the 33-year-old's operation has expanded to a team 65-strong, including Grade I winner Math Wizard (Algorithms), GI Kentucky Derby hopeful Chance It (Currency Swap) and undefeated Tonalist's Shape (Tonalist). And while Joseph points...