And Uwish Stretches Out for Saturday’s Mambo Meister

Two-Turn Turf Handicap on Florida Sire Stakes Undercard

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Adam Porter, Suzette Parker and trainer Joe Orseno’s And Uwish has established himself as a crack sprinter on turf and Tapeta in recent starts. Saturday, the 4-year-old gelding will have the chance to prove himself around two turns on turf in the $70,000 Mambo Meister Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

The Mambo Meister, a mile handicap scheduled for turf, will be a supporting feature on an 11-race program co-headlined by the $100,000 Dr. Fager, the six-furlong first leg of the 2025 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds sired by accredited Florida stallions, and the $100,000 Desert Vixen, the first FSS leg for juvenile fillies.

And Uwish most recently finished a solid second behind Reef Runner in the Aug. 3 Warrior’s Pride, a five-furlong overnight handicap on turf in which he was just a length off the winner. The son of Mshawish’s performance looked all the more solid when Reef Runner came back to finish first in a field of 12 in the Aug. 30 Green Flash Handicap (G3) at Del Mar, only to be placed second following a highly controversial disqualification.

“I think his last race was great. I thought he ran a winning race, but he just got caught,” said jockey Edgard Zayas, who has been aboard And Uwish in all four of his races this year. “It shows he got beat by a very nice horse. That horse came back to win that race in California.”

And Uwish entered the Warrior’s Pride coming off a hard-fought victory in the July 6 Successful Native Handicap, a 5 ½-furlong handicap on Tapeta in which he closely attended the pace while racing three wide before gamely eking out a victory by a neck.

And Uwish, rated second at 7-2 on the morning line, has raced around two turns once before, finishing fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Sophomore Turf for Florida-breds at Tampa Bay Downs in March 2024 before going to the sideline for more than 13 months.

“He has definitely matured. He’s a very fast horse, but at the same time he can actually relax,” Zayas said. “I’m hoping at a mile, I can get him to settle a little bit. I’m excited to ride him.”

And Uwish will carry 119 pounds, three fewer than BC Racing LLC’s Prevent, the 122-pound highweight trained by Carlos David.

Prevent is coming off a fifth-place finish in an Aug. 1 allowance on turf, in which he showed the way into the stretch before weakening. In his prior start, the 4-year-old son of Neolithic registered a front-running 3 ¼-length victory in the Soldier’s Dancer at Gulfstream that was taken off the turf and contested at a mile and 70 yards on Tapeta.

Emisael Jaramillo is slated to ride Prevent for the first time Saturday.

Celis Stud LLC’s Kalik (119) and Amy Dunne and trainer Patrick Biancone’s I Know I Know (118), who finished second and third, respectively, in the Soldier’s Dancer, will return in the Mambo Meister.

Carlos Narvaez-trained Kalik, who won the 2023 Pennine Ridge (G2) at Belmont, was claimed out of a second-place finish in a $25,000 claimer on turf in his previous start. Miguel Vasquez is slated to ride the 5-year-old gelding for the first time.

I Know I Know, who went on to capture an off-the-turf allowance following the Soldier’s Dancer, will be joined in the starting gate Saturday by stablemate Classic of Course (117), who will coming off a two-month freshening after winning the Cutler Bay during the Championship Meet and finishing off the board in the American Turf (G1) on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

I Know I Know, who will be ridden by Jonathan Ocasio, and Classic of Course, who is scheduled to be ridden by Romero Maragh, are the only 3-year-olds in the 11-horse field.

Trainer Jose D’Angelo is represented by Lugamo Racing Stable LLC’s Tocayo (121), who finished second behind I Know I Know last time out after finishing fifth in the Soldier’s Dancer, and R T Racing Stable’s Dominican Pioneer (120), a former Wesley Ward trainee who ran in the Showmaker Mile (G1) at Santa Anita without success in 2024. Leonel Reyes has the call on Tocayo, while Yolber Torres has been named on Dominican Pioneer, the 3-1 morning-line favorite.

Joseph Nimrod’s Stroke of Midnight (119), coming off back-to-back wins in allowance company; Chevan Maharaj’s Goes the Clown (119), who has won back-to-back allowances after being claimed for $25,000); NBS Stable’s Anamnestic (119) and Ryan Racing Inc’s American Speed (117) round out the field.

The Mambo Meister is carded as Race 9 and will be contested following the Dr. Fager in Race 8 and prior to the Desert Vixen in Race 10.