Champion sprinter Work All Week (City Zip) headlines a field of nine signed on for Sunday's GII Smile Sprint S. at Gulfstream Park. Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint upsetter was second-best behind the streaking Alsvid (Officer) while making his seasonal debut in the GIII Aristides S. at Churchill Downs May 30. Work All Week has worked a pair of sharp bullets beneath the Twin Spires since, including a best-of-53 four-furlong move in :46 1/5 June 28. “We weren't looking for him to work that fast, but he did it all on his own,” owner/breeder Richard Papiese said. “We hope it's an indication that he is going to run a big race this weekend.”
The aforementioned hard-knocking 6-year-old Alsvid, an earner of $994,225, caught fire this spring. He followed an optional claiming win at Oaklawn Mar. 27 with a tally in the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. Apr. 9, good for a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, respectively. His two-length victory in Louisville marked his first success over Work All Week, who had defeated him in two previous meetings.
Falling Sky (Lion Heart), a razor sharp winner of last term's GIII Gulfstream Park Sprint S., makes his 5-year-old debut for new trainer Marty Wolfson. A game victor of the Donald LeVine Memorial H. at Parx for George Weaver last June, Falling Sky was last seen finishing a respectable third in Saratoga's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. Aug. 2.
The Smile Sprint is a 'Win and You're In' for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
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