Gulfstream: Joey Muscles Looks to Overpower Rivals in Saturday’s Proud Man

By David Joseph —-

Joey Muscles; Lauren King Photo

Joey Muscles Looks to Overpower Rivals in Saturday’s Proud Man

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Trainer Jena Antonucci has been there for Joey Muscles from Day 1, breaking and developing John Grossi’s homebred into a 2-year-old colt with a bright future.

“He was always a strong-minded colt,” Antonucci said. “He had a shoulder injury as a yearling, but he’s always been a strong, strapping colt with a strong constitution.”

Joey Muscles will seek to throw his weight around in Saturday’s $95,000 Proud Man, a six-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds, which will co-headline Saturday’s Gulfstream Park program with the $95,000 Sharp Susan, a six-furlong event for juvenile fillies.

The Florida-bred colt got a little mud kicked in his face in his June 8 debut, but the burly son of Khozan was only better for the experience when he returned to the Gulfstream track a month later to graduate impressively.

“Sure, everyone wants to win first time out, but there is a lot to be gained by watching one grow from the experience,” Antonucci said. “I think you got to see that in his next race where it all made sense – ‘OK, I understand what my job is here.’”

In his 4 ½-furlong debut, Joey Muscles got away slowly from the rail post position as the 8-5 favorite before running into traffic, but he recovered nicely to finish third over a sloppy track.

“He kind of broke and shied away a little bit. Seeing him get it together and figure the job out pretty quickly and go on to want it was an important part of growing the horse,” Antonucci said. “He did a lot of things right that day. All the other incidentals, should we call them — the paddock, saddling, the gate, the pony and all that stuff – we were pleased with how he handled them.”

In his return at five furlongs, Joey Muscles stalked the pace into the stretch before powering to a 1 ½-length victory over a next-out winner as the 8-5 favorite.

“I don’t doubt this horse is going to want more ground, “Antonucci said. “We broke him and developed him for Mr. Grossi. That’s not a surprise that we’re seeing it for him in the afternoon.”

Jose Morales has the return mount on Joey Muscles, who is scheduled to face seven rivals, including Amy Dunne and trainer Patrick Biancone’s Classic of Course, who is coming off an even fourth-place finish in the June 6 Tremont at Saratoga.

Prior to shipping to New York, the Florida-bred son of Awesome of Course debuted at Gulfstream Park with a front-running 6 ½-length victory under Emisael Jaramillo, who has the return call Saturday.

David Hunt’s I’mbiggerthanilook will also bring two-race experience into the Proud Man, finishing second in his debut and graduating June 30 with a dominating 2 ½-length front-running victory. The Jose Pinchin-trained son of Adios Charlie will break from the rail under Drayden Van Dyke.

Trainer Antonio Sano is scheduled to unveil RRR Racing’s Rafid, a homebred son of Into Mischief out of UAE Oaks (G3) winner Rayya. Leonel Reyes has the call.

Shadybrook Farm Inc.’s Mila’s Wish, Palm Beach Racing V LLC’s Legal Maneuver, Mr. Pug LLC and JPG2 LLC’s Naughty Rascal, all first-out debut winners, and Juan Ramos and Benjamin Ramos’ debuting Rocka Storm round out the field.

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