Grupo 7C Racing Stable Jesus' Team, second in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) and Breeder' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), is headed to Saratoga.
After working a sharp four furlongs in :47.40 from the gate Friday morning at Gulfstream Park's Palm Meadows Training Center in Palm Beach County, trainer Jose D'Angelo said the 4-year-old son of Tapiture will ship north for the $120,000 Alydar at 1 1/8 miles Aug. 6 at Saratoga.
“Everything went very well this morning,” D'Angelo said. “He went in 47 and change and it was perfect, just what we were looking for. The plan is to leave [Saturday] for Saratoga.”
D'Angelo said Jesus' Team would work next weekend at Saratoga, where he finished third last year in the Jim Dandy (G2). Junior Alvarado will be aboard in the Alydar.
After following up his runner-up finish in the Pegasus with a sixth-place finish in the Dubai World Cup (G1) in March, D'Angelo gave Jesus' Team four months off before returning July 11 in an overnight handicap at Gulfstream. Jesus' Team finished fifth while lacking his usual late kick.
“I really think he just needed the race,” D'Angelo said. “He had run eight tough races in a row, and two weeks before his last race it had rained a lot and we didn't do what we wanted to do with him before the race.”
Jesus' Team captured a $25,000 claiming race at Gulfstream in his first start for D'Angelo in May 2020 before taking a tour of the East Coast and Midwest to compete against the best horses in training and amass more than $1.3 million in purses. The Kentucky-bred colt finished third in the Jim Dandy and Preakness (G1) at Pimlico, before finishing second behind Knicks Go in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He returned to Gulfstream to win the Claiming Crown Jewel in December before finishing second again behind Knicks Go in the $3 million Pegasus in January during the 2020-2021 Championship Meet.
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