GULFSTREAM Park hosted two Grade 1 stakes on February 6th. Mshawish stamped his ticket to Dubai by winning the Donn Handicap, while Lukes Alley earned his first Grade 1 stakes score in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap.

Making his third consecutive start on the dirt (after 19 starts on turf and one on synthetic), Mshawish proved he’s just as good or better on the dirt, posting a professional effort against proven – if not indomitable – stakes horses.

Eleven-time winner Valid finished second, with restricted stakes winner Mexikoma third. Travers winner Keen Ice was sent off favorite but failed to threaten, closing some ground to finish sixth over a track that wouldn’t be conducive to his late-running style.

Trained by Todd Pletcher for Al Shaqab Racing, Mshawish could become one of the better older dirt horses based in America. He’ll test that claim in Dubai.

Speaking about the dirt experience, Pletcher said: “It was something we talked about all the way back to Saratoga 2014.

“When he came in, he was very impressive to watch breeze on the dirt, but we always had turf options, if you look at his form from Europe, his turf form was good, we weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel.

“He ran a bang-up race in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile, after that, it was like, ‘okay, we’ve got to try the dirt.’ He just hung a little in the Cigar Mile, it was creditable enough to keep moving forward on the dirt.”

He continued: “We were impressed in the Hal’s Hope. After we saw that race, we felt like we needed to make a decision on what would be the best option for Dubai,

“I think we answered the question we were hoping to answer, to earn a shot in the World Cup.

“We needed to see it in a Grade 1 scenerio, two turns, I loved the way he finished, the way he galloped out. Does that mean he’s going to get a mile and a quarter against the best horses in the world, we don’t know, but it gives us room for optimism. The World Cup has an international flavor with an extra helping of America,” said Pletcher.

Lukes Alley upset the Gulfstream Park Handicap, rallying from fourth to collar Shining Copper by a neck. Favorite, The Pizza Man, failed to fire, winding up fifth in his 2015 debut. Canada’s champion older horse in 2014, Lukes Alley improved his career record to eight-for-14 (with four seconds) while claiming his biggest career victory.

A homebred of Eugene Melnyk, Lukes Alley is by Melnyk’s Travers winner Flower Alley, out of Melnyk’s undefeated A.P. Indy mare Vaulcluse. Canadian-based Josie Carroll trains Lukes Alley.

Mor Spirit wins

Gary Stevens is one of the few jockeys who can rival Smith’s list of greats. The 52-year-old rider, riding on a completely replaced right knee, continues to add to his list.

Stevens guided Mor Spirit to win the Grade 3 Robert E. Lewis, a race before Songbird’s demolition job. Trained by Bob Baffert and owned by Michael Lund Petersen, the son of Eskendereya sat off the pace before rolling to an easy score over Uncle Lino and I Will Score.

It’s only February, but Mor Spirit has the look of a May horse. He’s now won three of five starts (with two seconds), comes from off the pace and could benefit from taking the same road – or avoiding the same road – as Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Both horses skipped the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, perhaps, a new way to get to the dance.