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After Hard-Luck Trip In Breeders’ Cup, Imprimis Gearing Up For 2021 Campaign

Breeze Easy LLC's two-time graded-stakes winner Imprimis, exiting a hard-luck trip in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (Grade 1), returned to the work tab with a three-furlong move over Gulfstream Park's inner turf course Sunday.

Imprimis covered the distance in 36.06 seconds for trainer Joe Orseno. The 5-year-old gelding was within striking distance in the stretch of the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint only to check sharply after being moved inside by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and lost all chance, finishing 13th.

“It was just a tune-up. We're going to scope him and we're going to look at him and see if we need to evaluate anything, so that's why I wanted to get this into him,” Orseno said. “I was real happy with him. I got 36 [seconds], the clockers just sent me 36-and-1 and out in 48, so it was excellent.”

A stakes winner in each of his three seasons of racing, starting with the 2018 Jim McKay Turf Sprint at Pimlico Race Course, Imprimis won the Shakertown (G2) in 2019 and the Turf Sprint (G2) Sept. 12 at Kentucky Downs as his prep for the Breeders' Cup.

Imprimis is undefeated in four starts at Gulfstream, including the 2019 Silks Run, his last time over the track. Orseno is looking at the $75,000 Janus on New Year's Day and the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Feb. 13, both for 4-year-olds up sprinting five furlongs on the grass.

“We're talking about it. February, for sure, and then his races will be spaced out two months apart,” Orseno said. “We were thinking about Saudi Arabia for about a minute and a half and then decided we didn't want to do that to him at the risk of knocking him out for the rest of the year.

“He doesn't need to do that. If I keep him on that every two months, his next race will be Keeneland and then Belmont and then Saratoga and it's spread out pretty good,” he added. “At least we have a plan. Let's hope he cooperates.”

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Pegasus World Cup: Between Hard Races, Round Pen Plays Important Role For Jesus’ Team

On the morning after his hard-fought victory in Saturday's $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel, Grupo 7C Racing Stable's Jesus' Team was very much on course for a planned start in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 23.

“Jesus came out of the race good and happy,” trainer Jose D'Angelo said.

Jesus' Team spent Sunday morning winding down in a round pen at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach, after grinding out a victory by three-quarters of a length in the 1 1/8-mile headliner of Saturday's 22nd Claiming Crown, a nine-race event that pays tribute to the claiming horses that provide the backbone of the daily racing programs at racetracks throughout the country.

“I'll give him a week in the round pen before preparing for the Pegasus World Cup,” said D'Angelo. “In between the hard races the last five months, I think the round pen has been very good for him. It's good for him mentally and physically,”

Jesus' Team, a 3-year-old son of Tapiture, became Claiming Crown-eligible when he started his career in the claiming ranks but has developed into a multiple Grade 1 stakes-placed performer, having finished third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in his two starts prior to the Jewel to earn the 2-5 favorite's role Saturday. The stretch-running colt worked hard to earn the victory over loose-on-the-lead pacesetting Storm Runner, who did his best to fight off the favorite. Jockey Luis Saez, who rode six winners Saturday, opted to keep Jesus' Team closer to the early pace than usual to closely monitor the dangerous Storm Runner.

“It was a hard race. He had only one work before the race. I chose only one work to keep him happy and healthy. I had confidence in him,” D'Angelo said. “In his last two races, he ran back to front – only one move. [Saturday] he made two runs, like he did in the Jim Dandy. He ran close to the front early. That's not good for him.”

D'Angelo said he expects the Jewel to set up Jesus' Team perfectly for the Pegasus.

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Gulfstream: Saturday’s Claiming Crown Card Features Guaranteed Pool Of $250,000 In Rainbow 6

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot will be guaranteed at $250,000 Saturday, when the popular multi-race wager's six-race sequence will include six Claiming Crown Stakes.

The $150,000 Claiming Crown Jewel will kick off the Rainbow 6 sequence in Race 6. Grupo 7C Stable's Jesus' Team, who finished third in the Oct. 3 Preakness (G1) and second in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in his two most recent starts, is rated as the 6-5 morning-line favorite for the 1 1/8-mile feature for 3-year-olds and up that have started for a claiming price of $35,000 or lower. The Jose D'Angelo-trained 3-year-old son of Tapiture is scheduled to prep for a planned start in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

The co-featured $95,000 Emerald, a mile 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds and up that have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or lower, follows in Race 7. Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Tusk is scheduled to come off an 11th month layoff since a victory in the Tropical Park Turf (G3) in January. Trainer Michael Maker, the all-time leader in Claiming Crown victories for a trainer, entered six horses (including one also-eligible), headed by defending champion Muggsamatic.

The $85,000 Rapid Transit, the $95,000 Tiara, the $90,000 Canterbury, and the $75,000 Iron Horse will complete the Rainbow 6 sequence.

The $80,000 Glass Slipper (Race 2), the $75,000 Express (Race 4) and the $90,000 Distaff Dash (Race 5) will kick off the popular Claiming Crown event.

The Rainbow 6 went unsolved went for the third straight day of the 2020-2021 Championship Meet Friday, when multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $36,663.54.

The jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

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Trainer Mike Maker Tries To Cap Banner Season With 11 Entrants In Claiming Crown

Winding down the best season of his career and coming in off the Churchill Downs' fall title, trainer Mike Maker looks to add to his record 17 victories when the 2020 Claiming Crown returns to Gulfstream Park on Saturday, Dec. 5.

Maker has 11 horses spread among five of the nine stakes comprising the Claiming Crown, which serves as a Breeders' Cup-style championship for the blue-collar horses that are the backbone of American racing.

The Claiming Crown stakes are run under starter-allowance conditions, restricted to horses who have competed for a designated claiming price or cheaper within a certain time frame. The Claiming Crown is a partnership between the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. This is the event's 22nd year and ninth straight at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Maker aims to improve on what already is his best season since leaving his job as an assistant trainer to D. Wayne Lukas to open his own stable in 2003. His horses have won a career-best 253 races (third in North America) and more than $13.47 million (fifth in North America) this year through Thursday. That includes Maker earning his third Breeders' Cup victory with Three Diamonds Farm's Fire At Will in the $1 million Juvenile Turf at Keeneland, one of the stable's trio of Grade 1 winners in 2020, the others being Zulu Alpha in Gulfstream's Pegasus World Cup Turf and Aquaphobia in Monmouth Park's United Nations.

“I'm very happy, and hopefully we can add to it this weekend,” he said of his season.

Maker, who also won the Kentucky Downs' 2020 training title, seeks to pad his 33 stakes victories this year (fourth in North America) in the Claiming Crown.

Headlining his contingent is Three Diamonds' 5-year-old mare Jakarta, the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the $90,000 Claiming Crown Distaff Dash at five-eighths of a mile on turf. Jakarta won Gulfstream Park's Powder Break Stakes last year and this year captured Kentucky Downs' $100,000 Claiming Crown prep before finishing a close third behind multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy in Keeneland's Grade 3 Buffalo Trace Franklin County.

Maker's six entries by themselves would make a great betting race in the $95,000 Emerald, a 1 1/16-mile turf affair that attracted an overflow field. The six pack includes 2019 winner Muggsamatic, who was moved to his barn in the spring; 7-2 favorite Hieroglyphics, a winner of two straight in New York; Apreciado, third in last year's W.L. McKnight (G3) at Gulfstream; Iowa-bred Artie's Rumor, a winner in an Oct. 22 Keeneland allowance race in his first start after the $40,000 claim; Aqueduct's 2019 Gio Ponti winner Temple, and Sniper Kitten. Owned by 16-time Claiming Crown-winning owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Sniper Kitten needs two defections in order to get in the 12-horse field.

The Maker Claiming Crown assembly also includes 3-1 second choice Unmoored and the stakes-placed Tiger Blood in the $90,000 Canterbury at five-eighths of a mile on turf; 7-2 second choice and recent $25,000 claim Long Blade in the $75,000, six-furlong Express; and Treasure Trove, claimed for $40,000 in his last start and the 7-2 second choice in the $150,000 Jewel at 1 1/8 miles.

“I think we've got a good group of horses,” Maker said. “Jakarta fits very well. Treasure Trove was claimed in Indiana with this spot in mind, with Jesus' Team obviously the one to beat there. We're tough in the Canterbury but Fiya looks awful tough. A lot of live chances as far the Emerald, but I don't think they can separate any of our horses. I think it will come down to the trip.”

While owners such as Three Diamonds, Paradise Farms, David Staudacher, Michael Dubb, Ken and Sarah Ramsey, and Hooties Racing, Michael Hui and WSS Racing also compete at the top of the game, Maker says his clients really enjoy the Claiming Crown. The trainer said he claims a fair number of horses with not only the Claiming Crown in mind but also the lucrative prep races at Kentucky Downs.

“It's a good way to finish off the year,” Maker said. “We've claimed a lot of horses, a lot of horses fit here, and we've had good success. It's a great way to kick off the meet at Gulfstream. It's been a lot of fun. When you claim a horse, you kind of figure out how to get out (investment-wise) and make money, and the Claiming Crown is one of the factors that always goes into the decision.”

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