It doesn’t get any better for an opening-day main event at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino, as the $100,000 Grade III Hal’s Hope Stakes on Sunday features a pair of racers trained by Todd Pletcher who are gearing up for huge 2010 campaigns after health problems kept them on the backside for some time.

Harlem Rocker was derailed for nearly one year due to a variety of ailments, while Quality Road suffered lacerations to his limbs in a starting gate accident which made him a late scratch out of  the November 7 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park’s Oak Tree Racing Meet. The duo will be facing seven quality opponents in the one-turn mile on the dirt surface in Hallandale, Florida. It is the eighth of nine races, with post time slated for 4:43 p.m.

Jockey Eibar Coa will be aboard Harlem Rocker, age five, who missed nearly all of 2009 due to a number of health issues that halted even light training for a number of months. The 2008 winner of the Prince of Wales Stakes - the second gem in Canada’s Triple Crown - made a solid return to the races on November 14 with a runner-up finish in a $100,000 optional claiming event at Churchill Downs.

The prior race on November 29, 2008, was marred by a controversial steward’s decision that snatched victory from the son of Macho Uno in the Grade I Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, New York. After a lengthy inquiry, it was determined that Harlem Rocker interfered with Tale of Ekati in the deep stretch. The pair switched spots in the final results as many in the crowd jeered the decision. The Stronach Stables runner was being pointed to a winter 2009 campaign at Gulfstream Park, but instead piled up bills through treatments at the veterinarian’s office.

Quality Road was last seen striding away from the starting gate in the prestigious Breeders’ Cup race after a serious of events; refusing to load, finally led into the gate by assistant starter’s while being blindfolded, but quickly rearing up and breaking through the front barrier of the gate. The son of Elusive Quality had to be vanned coast-to-coast - after a stopover at Churchill Downs - due to refusing to be loaded into a plane bound for New York days after the starting gate woes.

The 2009 winner of the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park was then pointed to the November 28 Cigar Mile, but ultimately not entered. Owned by Edward P. Evans, the four-year-old has been working forwardly in December while clocking times at the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Florida. Jockey John Velazquez will have one-half of the race won if he can get the colt to settle down before stepping into the starting gate.

The Hal’s Hope is shaping up to be a classic stretch duel, with Quality Road trying to win from the front of the pack and Harlem Rocker cranking into gear about midway through the turn. Legitimate splits will be clocked by five-year-old Le Grand Cru, who should explode into the lead under jockey Jose Lezcano, as Quality Road sits comfortably in second and the Richard Dutrow-trained Helsinki waiting to pounce at mid-pack with jockey Julien Leparoux willing to sit chilly.

The fans won’t be in their seats in the drive to the winner‘s circle, as Harlem Rocker inches by Quality Road in the final yards for the win, with a game Le Grand Cru repelling the six-year-old Helsinki for third. The other racers slated to compete are You and I Forever, Colonial Causeway, Suyeta, Spin Master and Congressional Page.

The $60,000 check for the winner will be a nice way to start the new year, but don’t be surprised if a handful of contenders emerge out of the race for a 2010 Eclipse Award in the categories of Horse of the Year and Older Male Horse.