Night Prowler, winner of the Dania Beach Stakes, and Dubai Sky, winner of the Kitten's Joy Stakes, will square off in the 1-1/16-mile Palm Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park Feb. 28 to determine who is the best 3-year-old grass horse in Florida.
To show how close these two are, Croninthebarbarian, who also is among the 11 horses entered, finished a fast-closing third to Night Prowler in the Dania Beach, beaten 1-1/4 lengths, and then came back to finish a fast-closing third to Dubai Sky in the Kitten's Joy, beaten three-quarters of a length.
Croninthebarbarian finished a head in front of Night Prowler when she ran second in the Pulpit Stakes at Gulfstream Park West Nov. 29 -- after winning the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Stakes Sept. 6 -- so the son of Stroll can also lay claim to the 3-year-old turf title at Gulfstream with a victory Saturday.
Night Prowler and Dubai Sky know something about turf racing, coming from the barns of Chad Brown and Bill Mott, respectively. Dubai Sky, owned by Three Chimneys Farm and Besilu Stables, has more tactical speed than Night Prowler and there is very little speed in the Palm Beach, which could allow the son of Candy Ride to control the pace.
Night Prowler, owned by Paul Pompa Jr., is a relentless closer who has turned in powerful stretch runs in all four of his career starts.
Dubai Sky, who will be conceding four pounds to Night Prowler, will be ridden by John Velazquez and will break from post 5, while Night Prowler has Javier Castellano aboard and will break alongside in post 6.
PALM BEACH STAKES DRAW
The Garry Simms-trained Croninthebarbarian, who is also a consistent closer with in-the-money finishes in six of his seven career starts, will have to break from post 10 and will be ridden by Julien Leparoux.
What makes the Palm Beach such an intriguing race is that there are several others in the field who could be any kind, such as Divisidero. By Kitten's Joy, the colt owned by Gunpowder Farms has only one career start, but turned in an explosive run from 11th nearing the head of the stretch to break his maiden, despite having to go six-wide turning for home. Trained by William Bradley, Divisidero gives away a lot of experience, but could be a factor in the final furlong.
And then there is Bear Stables' Bears Personality, who will be making his grass debut for trainer Reade Baker. The son of Awesome Again showed a liking to the Polytrack at Woodbine, winning back-to-back races impressively.
Another interesting horse is the Josie Carroll-trained Decision Day, who breaks from post 11, and has a victory in the Coronation Futurity on Woodbine's Polytrack to his credit, along with an impressive maiden victory. The son of Macho Uno ran terribly in the Holy Bull Stakes on dirt, but has turned in two solid half-mile breezes on the grass at Palm Meadows since that race.
If you thought the Kitten's Joy was a strong race, then you have to give a shot to the fourth- and fifth-place finishers, respectively -- Felifran and Eh Cumpari -- who finished right behind Dubai Sky, beaten by 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 lengths.
Kathy Ritvo will take a shot with Call Me Crazy, who is coming off a maiden victory, following three straight second-place finishes.
Rounding out the field are a pair of stakes-placed horses who have a shot at a price -- High Noon Rider, third in the Springboard Mile on dirt at Remington Park, and Nutty Futty, third in the With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.