The Sunshine Classic goes Saturday at Gulfstream Park at a mile and a sixteenth and, on paper, it’s a small but interesting field of six. My eye immediately goes to Neoequos, a newly turned four-year-old who kept far better company midway through his three-year-old season than he faces here. This is a colt who was good enough to make the Kentucky Derby field, and that alone tells you the level he was operating at not long ago.

He’s been sprinting of late, but I’m willing to forgive his last two starts as having legitimate excuses, and I actually like the cutback-and-stretch-back out angle here. More importantly, I see a scenario where Neoequos can find himself on or very near the lead, and that is always dangerous at Gulfstream, a track that can reward speed when a horse is comfortable and left alone. He’s already shown he likes this surface, and if he gets brave up front, they may not reel him in.

At a projected price of 3-1 or even 5-2, I’m willing to take the shot. He brings speed, class, and upside into a race where I don’t see a lot of margin for error from the others. That’s where I’ll land.

I talk a lot about patience in my approach to playing this game. For me, Saturday looks like a good day to exercise it.