Gulfstream Park: Exotic Plays for the Suwannee River Stakes on Saturday

A full field of 12 fillies and mares will travel one mile on the Gulfstream Park turf in Saturday’s $165,000 Suwannee River S. (G3). The affair attracted a very well-matched cast and I feel compelled to spread with multiple runners in the grassy contest. 

Suwannee River Stakes Exotic Bets

$2 exacta box 8,9,11,12 ($24)
$.50-cent trifecta box 8,9,11,12 ($12)
$.10-cent superfecta 10,12 with 8,9,10,12 with all 8,9,10,12 with all ($10.80)

Analysis for the Suwannee River Stakes at Gulfstream Park

The most intriguing contender in the field to me is South African import #12 Bless My Stars who will make her first appearance for trainer Todd Pletcher. The Gimmethegreenlight five-year-old is a Grade-1 heroine with a ton of back class who has posted some solid morning drills since arriving in Florida. The bay mare gets a very tough post to work with, and she is running at a distance much shorter than her preferred voyage, but she has to be on my ticket with Irad Ortiz Jr. taking the reins. 

Fellow South African invader #9 Golden Hostess has run well from a pair of turf sprints since coming to the States and is very intriguing on the stretch out to eight furlongs. The five-year-old has displayed a nice turn of foot late in two straight dashes and seems poised to make an impact with another step in the right direction on Saturday. The Gold Standard mare could peak in her third run in the U. S. with John Velazquez in the silks. 

The Christophe Clement-trained #11 Breath Away is consistently very good and sports a 3-2-1-0 mark on the course, which includes a fine win in the Sanibel Island S. here in April 2023. The Bated Breath four-year-old comes off a fine second in the Forever Together S. at Aqueduct on November 10 and will be a major factor with something resembling that effort. Dylan Davis retains the mount. 

Chad Brown’s #8 Saffron Moon will make her local debut and is a very logical exotics inclusion in the affair. By Malibu Moon, the five-year-old rallied for a clear second in a strong allowance event at Keeneland in her latest appearance off of the year-long absence and figures to improve second time off the bench. The Kentucky-bred has some tactical speed and will be well-placed approaching the turn for home with Tyler Gaffalione in the silks.