Cairo Prince’s promising 2-year-old colt Eldon’s Prince made it two stakes wins in a row with his victory on Saturday in the $75,000 Armed Forces S. at Gulfstream Park.
The win for Eldon’s Prince comes just one day after Smokin’ Jay won the Allied Forces S. at Belmont Park. The pair are just two of Cairo Prince’s 10 stakes horses of 2021.
Eldon’s Prince, who was coming off a dominating win in the Aug. 21 Proud Man on the Gulfstream turf course, had a much closer finish in the Armed Forces, which was moved from the turf to the main track.
Eldon’s Prince was near the back of the eight-horse field early on, then made a big middle move on the turn to put himself in contention. He was forced to go four-wide into the stretch, then ran down No Nay Franklin (IRE) to win by a head in 1:25.02 for the seven furlongs on a fast track.
“We didn’t want to change surfaces so quick. We always wanted to try him on dirt later down the lane at a longer distance. We talked it over with A.P. Gentry, the owner of Gentry Farm, and he said, ‘Roll the dice and see what happens,’” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “He always trained well on dirt. He’s going to want to run longer, a mile, a mile-and-an-eighth, the longer the better. He just has the ability to overcome something that is not his niche.”
Eldon’s Prince has now won two of three starts and earned $99,675. Bred in Canada by William D. Graham, he is out of Cat’s Garden, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Forest Secrets and Grade 3 winner Rumor Has It.
