Gulfport among six in Champagne

Sep 29, 2022 James Scully/TwinSpires.com

The second of 37 qualifiers in the Road to the Kentucky
Derby series, Saturday’s Champagne S. (G1) at Aqueduct has attracted Gulfport, a smashing 12-length winner
of the Bashford Manor S. at Churchill Downs in June.

Six juveniles will compete in the one-turn mile event, and the
top five finishers will receive points on a 10-4-3-2-1 scale toward a berth in
the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Gulfport will seek
to bounce back from a pair of runner-up finishes in Saratoga stakes. The Uncle
Mo colt sustained his first career setback when finishing a troubled second to
Damon’s Mound in the Saratoga Special (G2) in mid-August, and Gulfport held for
second in the Sept. 5 Hopeful (G1) after setting the pace over the sloppy track.
Jose Ortiz will pick up the mount.

A pair of Saratoga maiden winners, Verifying and Champions
Dream, merit series respect in their stakes debut.

Verifying, who
cost $775,000 and is a half-brother to champion and $3.9 million earner
Midnight Bisou, will jump straight to stakes competition following an
impressive first-out maiden triumph on the Aug. 27 Travers undercard, netting a
97 Brisnet Speed rating for the 1 3/4-length decision. Brad Cox trains the bay
colt from the first crop of Justify, and Joel Rosario retains the assignment.

Champions Dream,
a $425,000 son of Justify, graduated stylishly at first asking on Sept. 3,
scoring by a 2 1/4-length margin wire-to-wire as the odds-on favorite, and the
gray colt shows a pair of bullet workouts in preparation for his initial stakes
start for Danny Gargan, and Manny Franco will take over the reins.

Hopeful third Blazing
Sevens, a smart debut maiden winner for Chad Brown, will add Flavien Prat for
his second stakes appearance. Ellis Park Juvenile S. victor Top Recruit and romping New York-bred
stakes winner Andiamo a Firenze complete
the field.