Joseph Jr. Wins 15th Straight Gulfstream Training Crown

Saffie Joseph Jr. put the finishing touches on his 15th consecutive leading trainer title at Gulfstream Park Sunday as the 2025-2026 Championship Meet concluded its prestigious 72-day winter stand. It was the fifth straight Championship Meet title for Joseph, a 39-year-old native of Barbados whose string of success dates back to Gulfstream's 2021 Royal Palm stand. He was tops with 255 starters, 45 wins and more than $4.7 million in purse earnings, capturing Race 7 Sunday with 4-year-old colt Miami Frank ($4.40) and the Race 11 finale with Barakah ($38.80). "It's a lot of help," Joseph said. "Obviously my name is in the program, but it takes all the owners and the staff. They do everything. It's a full team, and a lot of people make it possible. We're grateful and thankful to keep it going." Joseph's biggest win of the Championship Meet came with Skippylongstocking in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 24 over his stablemate, defending champion and fellow 7-year-old multimillionaire White Abarrio. Skippylongstocking also won Gulfstream's Harlan's Holiday (G3) in December and subsequently captured the Essex Handicap (G3) March 21 at Oaklawn Park. Other stakes wins for Joseph came with R Disaster in the Hurricane Bertie (G3), Claret Beret in the Royal Delta (G3), Solitude Dude in the Swale and Neoequos in the Sunshine Turf. He is eight wins shy of 1,500 for his career. Entering Sunday, Joseph ranked third nationally with $5.8 million in purse earnings and seventh with 50 wins in 2026. "The Pegasus was definitely the highlight," Joseph said. "To run first and second in that race and have both horses be at 7 years old, both of them started their careers here at Gulfstream and they're still going. It's amazing. We know we're getting toward the end. I've been thinking about it, to have those two horses in their final year, hopefully we have some young ones coming up to replace them." Irad Ortiz Jr. finished as leading rider of the Championship Meet for a fourth straight time and record-extending seventh overall, with 82 wins from 312 mounts (26 percent). Tyler Gaffalione was second with 68 wins but led all jockeys with more than $5.3 million in purses earned. Ortiz, 33, spent the final weekend of the Championship Meet honoring out-of-town commitments, taking off eventual Curlin Florida Derby (G1) winner Commandment but taking the Arkansas Derby (G1) with Renegade. Represented by agent Steve Rushing, he finished second with $3.94 in purses earned. Among Ortiz's victories were the Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) and Mucho Macho Man with Commandment, Forward Gal (G3) with On Time Girl and Fort Lauderdale (G3) with Wolfie's Dynaghost. On Dec. 13 he picked up his 1,000th Gulfstream Park winner with White Claw Woman. Bruno Schickedanz scored in Race 10 Sunday with Irish-bred Palace View ($6.80) to tie Rachel Gerson's Starry Night Racing as leading owner with 10 wins. Among Starry Night's victories was 3-year-old Fulmine in the March 14 Hutcheson.