HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida, CMC – Champion Barbadian trainer Saffie Joseph Jr captured his 10th successive trainers’ title in record-breaking fashion at Gulfstream Park when the 2024 Royal Palm Meet ended on Sunday.
The 37-year-old Joseph, who has won the trainers’ title since 2015, ended the season with 93 victories from 311 starters, surpassing the 71 victories he recorded in 2021.
Jose D’Angelo finished a distant second behind Joseph with 43 winners from 227 starters.
Edgard Zayas regained the top spot in the jockey standings for the summer meet with 112 winners.
Joseph and Zayas had wrapped up their respective titles long ago, but the owner’s title was far more competitive among Ken Ramsey, Vicente Stella Stables, and Moshe Mark, who ended the meet in a three-way tie.
Joseph, however, sealed the deal when One Sharp Cookie won the day’s third race.
With jockey Skyler Spannabel in the saddle, One Sharp Cookie, the favorite, won by two and a half lengths at 1:16.98 in the Allowance Optional Claiming, a 1300-meter sprint.
They finished ahead of Holiday Pay, Joseph’s other trainee, who placed second.
The Joseph-trained Comedy Town emerged as a main-track attraction during the season.
The 6-year-old gelding, who had run his first 24 races on either turf or Tapeta for several trainers with moderate success, established himself as an unexpected dirt specialist while winning three straight races on the main track, including the Smile Sprint and the Benny the Bull Stakes.
The 2024 fall meet gets underway Friday and runs through November 24.
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