Here’s a view of the field from the rail. Steal Sunshine, a 6-year-old son of Constitution, won his lead-in start at Gulfstream Park on dirt in mid-November and will return to the turf. He has made 25 of his 33 career starts at Gulfstream on both dirt and grass. The seasoned veteran of the group, Wolfie’s Dynaghost, last posted a career-best 114 Equibase Speed Figure at age 7 for his 2 ¾ length victory in the Grade 3 River City Stakes at Churchill Downs and will make his second career start for the Brian Lynch stable following a trainer change. In January, Chasing the Crown finished third by just 1 ¾ lengths in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes at Gulfstream and will make only his fourth start of the year for trainer Mike Maker. Siege of Boston claimed a 1 ¾ length victory at the optional compensation claim level last time out at Laurel Park. In August this year, Beach Gold set a track record at Ellis Park, covering a mile on the grass in 1:31.76 as he won the KY Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile Stakes and earned a career-best 116 Equibase mark. Cugino drew post 6 for trainer Shug McGaughey and has two straight wins in the Ft. Lauderdale. Naptown makes his career debut at Gulfstream Park; However, the gelding has been entered in a race on December 21 at Turfway Park. Defending Ft. Lauderdale winner Major Dude took post position 8 ahead of Hall of Fame duo Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez. Quatrocento is also registered at Turfway Park on December 21. If he files, the war colt will start his third consecutive deployment in the Ft. Lauderdale. Divin Propos pulled out all the stops and will make his third start for Saffie Joseph Jr.’s stable after a coaching change.
Analysis and top contenders:
Cousin has been remarkably consistent throughout his career, with six wins and four seconds from thirteen starts, all of which have come on turf routes. His only three finishes outside the Exacta were in tough company. Cugino, a son of Twirling Candy, has also proven himself on the grounds of Gulfstream Park, where he recorded a victory and two second places. Last December, Cugino won the Tropical Park Derby by a neck at 1 1/16 miles on the Gulfstream grass track before taking a six-month layoff to begin his four-year campaign. He returned in June with a victory in an optional claims race on his first start after the break. In August, he finished sixth in the Grade 1 FanDuel Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga before turning in a career-best performance in the Red Bank Stakes at Monmouth Park, recording a one-length victory to earn 109 Equibase Speed Figure. He followed that effort by battling valiantly to win the Grade 2 Red Smith Stakes by a nose at Belmont at the Big A in his most recent start. Cugino returns to Gulfstream Park for the first time since his victory in the Tropical Park Derby just over a year ago, shortening the distance from the 1 3/8-mile Red Smith to his favorite 1 1/8 miles. At this 1 1/8-mile distance, he has finished in the exacta in both starts, including a 4 ¼ length victory in the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs in June 2024. Jockey Flavien Prat has two wins from four starts aboard Cugino. Over the past three years, the partnership between Shug McGaughey and Flavien Prat has been especially effective on turf routes, posting a 36% win rate, along with 10 wins from 28 starts and a 65% return on investment. Hall of Fame trainer McGaughey also excelled with horses that won last time out, winning 31% and 59% in the money at all tracks last year. Given his recent form, proven ability at distance and over Gulfstream terrain, and the strength of his connections, Cugino appears well-positioned to win the Ft. Lauderdale deployment.
Wolfie’s Dynaghostthe most experienced runner in the field, shows no signs of slowing down as he ages. Last time out he won gate-to-wire in the Grade 3 River City Stakes, setting fast early fractions to cover 1 1/8 miles on the Churchill Downs turf in 1:45.58, just 0.07 seconds off She Feels Pretty’s track record. He posted a career-best 114 Equibase Speed figure in the River City and enters this race riding back-to-back wins with a combined winning margin of 6 ½ lengths. That 114 is the highest last-out figure in this field, and over the past year horses with the best last-out Equibase figure in graduated grass stakes have won at a solid 26% from 242 starts. The Ghostzapper gelding also has experience at Gulfstream Park, where he went 2-for-2 on the all-weather track and finished second in his only grass appearance. In 2025, Wolfie’s Dynaghost has made two starts at this 1 1/8-mile distance, both resulting in both gate-to-wire victories by a combined winning margin of 7 ¼ lengths. This will be Wolfie’s Dynaghost’s second start for trainer Brian Lynch, who has been excellent over the past month, winning 44% from 32 starts. Lynch has also excelled in the past year with horses achieving a win, 16 wins from 43 starts (37%) and 58% in-the-money with an 85% return on investment. Irad Ortiz Jr., who this year set the North American single-season winnings record for jockeys, takes the mount for the first time since the gelding posted a three-length victory in the Bert Allen Stakes at Colonial Downs in September 2022. Ortiz Jr. and Wolfie’s Dynaghost have had three previous starts with two wins between them. Wolfie’s Dynaghost could win on Saturday, although the key question is whether he can reproduce his dominant performance from last time.
Ft. Lauderdale Stakes defending winner Major Guy ticks a lot of boxes and ranks first in average speed with an Equibase Speed Figure of 107 and second in average class with a 113 in this area. The 5-year-old son of Bolt d’Oro has four wins on his resume and has posted a triple-digit Equibase figure in 12 of his 26 career starts. After winning the Ft. Lauderdale last December, Major Dude went 0-for-7 until his most recent start, where he took the Artie Schiller Stakes at Belmont at the Big A in mid-October and went a mile on the grass. Despite his 1-for-8 record this year, he has put in solid efforts at every start, finishing in the money five times and never losing more than 4 ½ lengths, all in stakes or graded stakes races. He stretches to his desired distance of 1 1/8 miles, where he has two wins and a second from four starts. John Velazquez, who went 4-for-9 over the past 30 days at Gulfstream, will be aboard Major Dude for the fourth straight time. Pletcher and Velazquez also combined to win 27% in all races at Gulfstream Park last year. Major Dude shot four furlongs:48.13 in his most recent breeze and looks to be in strong form as he attempts his 2024 Ft. Lauderdale win.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase speed figures in comparable races, are: Stealing sunshine (110), On the hunt for the Crown (118), Siege of Boston (113), Beach gold (116), Naptown (103), Four hundred (115), and Divine Word (112).
Win contenders in preference order:
Cousin
Wolfie’s Dynaghost
Major Guy
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