HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Red Crescent and Pudding, veterans who can still hold their own near the top of the local sprint division on their best days, are among the key contenders in the best of three allowance races to be offered Sunday at Gulfstream Park, a $52,000 optional claiming and allowance dash to be decided at six furlongs. The headliner is one of only two main-track events on a card that also includes eight races to be run over the Tapeta course. The 8-year-old Red Crescent returned from a 19-month hiatus a month ago to finish second going seven furlongs under conditions similar to Sunday’s race. Sent postward at odds of 41-1 off the long layoff, Red Crescent rallied from near the rear of the field to finish two lengths behind the stakes winner Gatsby, the starting highweight and morning-line favorite in Saturday’s Gil Campbell Memorial Handicap. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets. Red Crescent, who was injured last winter, is trained by John Vinson, who was sidelined for quite some time himself after suffering a heart attack and undergoing triple bypass surgery last year. “We sent him to the farm and he was just so tough to handle away from the racetrack,” Vinson said. “Anytime I sent him to somebody it was a disaster. When I finally got back to the point I was feeling stronger and able to handle him, we brought him back to the track, he trained well and he really ran great all things considered the first time back. “He’ll never be the same horse he was, but he’s still good enough to compete at the right level. I’d prefer not to run him six furlongs, but I didn’t want to put him in with those horses in the [Campbell], so this was the next option. It will probably be his last start here for a while since I plan to race at Tampa this winter.” Pudding, a former $16,000 claimer, has gotten better with age, having earned $136,000 as a 6-year-old in 2021 and nearly $143,000 already this season. Trained by Elizabeth Dobles, Pudding posted a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure winning a restricted stakes last spring at Tampa and nearly matched that mark when finishing second behind Willy Boi in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint here on July 2. Pudding will look to bounce back from a wide-running third as a 4-5 favorite under starter allowance conditions last month. Pudding turned back to 5 1/2 furlongs for the first time since 2018 in that race, won by Sunday opponent Smiling Teufles. Smiling Teufles is in peak form, having captured three of his last four starts while posting his best Beyer Figure, a 95, winning his last start. Owned and trained by Dan Hurtak, Smiling Teufles has been ridden throughout the majority of his career by Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado. Prado has been aboard the 4-year-old son of Teuflesberg for six of his seven victories and rides him on Sunday. Yes I’m a Beast should again prove the one to catch. He led early and finished second to Smiling Teufles on Sept. 9. Went West, idle since Feb. 21, registered a lifetime-best 96 Beyer Figure winning this same condition off a layoff here last fall in a strong field that included Gatsby and Pudding. He has trained forwardly for his return over both the main and Tapeta courses for owner-trainer Louie Roussel III. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.