Gulfstream Saturday

The 7th at Gulfstream is the G3 Herecomesthebride. Tough race with four out of the top five finishers in the last month's overnight Coconut Grove Stakes meeting again after they all finished within 1 3/4 lengths of each other. Musical Romance (8-1) did not come out of that race, and maybe will get overlooked in the betting despite having beaten In the Rough (4-1), the Coconut Grove winner, two races back. Three-year old daughter of Concorde's Tune was forced to take up when she found a wall of horses while gaining on the turn; and she showed determination and a nice closing burst to get home in time. It was an impressive move forward off her turf debut, and, after a race on the synthetic at Ocala which I'll toss, she's a play at this price in her third grass try, breaking from the inside two hole.

In the 8th, Custer (5-1) has been a consistent performer on the turf since switching to the surface at Monmouth last summer, fits in this flawed field class and Beyer-wise, and starts from a favorable post for the live Edward Plesa barn (three wins and four seconds from his last 13 starters here). Tierra Del Tigre (12-1) came on last fall on Woodbine; graduated on the grass, and returns to that surface off a layoff after two good efforts on the Poly. Versatile and consistent four-year old son of Catienus could add value to the exotics here.