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Gear Jockey Gears Up In Saturday’s Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint

Gear Jockey will gear up for his 2022 campaign in Saturday's $100,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint (G3) where the Calumet Farm homebred produced a career breakthrough during last season's Championship Meet.

The Rusty Arnold-trained 5-year-old registered a maiden-breaking victory in his ninth career start that would set the tone for a most productive 2021 season that culminated in a start in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.

“He started out his 4-year-old year as a maiden and he got good. During the year we figured out what he probably wanted to do – be a sprinter instead of going long. He had a great year,” Arnold said. “He didn't run well in the Breeders' Cup. He didn't finish off the year, but he's freshened up good and he's ready to go.”

Gear Jockey made a wide bid on the turn into the backstretch but flattened out in the stretch to finish sixth in the five-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“The race was fine. We broke good and got in a good spot. I'm not sure he's a perfect five-eighths horse. His best races have been from 5 ½ [furlongs] to three-quarters [of a mile],” Arnold said. “He might not be at his best at five-eighths. Sometimes you have trouble finding [longer races than five furlongs]. We'll stretch out a little bit when we leave here, but we just need a starting point to get going.”

The five-furlong Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint will co headline Saturday's program with the $100,000 Ladies Turf Sprint, a five-furlong dash for older fillies and mares.

“He's done great. He's had five works here in Florida – the last two were very good. He's ready to roll,” Arnold said.

Clearly, Gear Jockey was no ordinary eight-race maiden when he broke through with his first victory in a mile maiden special weight race on turf Jan. 21, 2021. He was a graded stakes-placed maiden when he finished third in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Santa Anita.

“We've liked the horse all along. You could tell when we ran him in the Breeders' Cup as a maiden. He ran third, beaten about a length or so,” Arnold said.

Gear Jockey came up a half-length short while finishing third in the Canadian Turf (G3) in his next start. He went on to win a mile allowance at Keeneland before flattening out late to finish fourth in a mile allowance at Churchill Downs. Arnold opted to try him at sprinting distances at Saratoga, where he won an allowance and finished a late-closing third in the Troy (G3), both at 5 ½ furlongs on turf.

“He just didn't want to finish off his races last year,” Arnold said. “He had two or three that he looked like he was going to win, and he hung. We decided to back him up and sprint him, and he seemed much more comfortable.”

Gear Jockey earned a trip to the Breeders' Cup while winning the six-furlong Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G3) by 2 ½ lengths.

Luis Saez is scheduled to ride Gear Jockey for the first time in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint.

Just For Fun Stables Inc.'s Warrior's Pride is slated to seek his third sprint stakes in only his fourth career start on turf. The 4-year-old son of Poseidon's Warrior had won two of six starts on dirt before registering a front-running victory in the five-furlong Texas Glitter in his turf debut during the 2020-2021 Championship Meet. The Antonio Cioffi trainee went on to win the Turf Sprint for Florida-breds two starts later during the Spring/Summer Meet before heading to the sidelines following an off-the-board finish in an overnight handicap on turf Aug. 7.

Junior Alvarado, who rode Warrior's Pride to his Texas Glitter score the only time he has ridden him, returns to the saddle Saturday.

Trainer Mohamed Jehaludi and Bibi Jehaludi's Omaha Beach is scheduled to seek a return to form Saturday following a trio of off-the-board finishes since finishing second behind Golden Pal in the July 15 Quick Call (G3) at Saratoga.

The 4-year-old son of Temple City, who broke his maiden in the five-furlong Hollywood Beach at Gulfstream in his second lifetime start, will be ridden by Miguel Vasquez.

Peace Sign Stables' Belgrano, a turf-sprint stakes winner who finished third in the mile Tropical Turf (G3) last time out; Golden Kernel Racing Stable's Yes I Am Free, who most recently finished fourth in the five-furlong Janus; Crown's Way Racing LLC's Richy, a late-rallying winner of a starter allowance on the Tapeta last time out; and Pedro Estevez's Breakthrough, eighth in the Janus; are also entered in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint.

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White Abarrio Pulls Off 6-1 Upset In Holy Bull

C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's White Abarrio took advantage of a favorable pace scenario to win Saturday's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes by about five lengths, upsetting the nine-strong field as the fifth choice at odds of 6-1. Unraced since his third-place finish in the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 27, White Abarrio reiterated his preference for the Gulfstream surface over which the colt won his first two races.

The 3-year-old son of Race Day pressed the early pace and took command turning for home, pulling away under Tyler Gaffalione to complete 1 1/16 miles over Gulfstream's fast main track in 1:42.80. Trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., White Abarrio's victory earned him 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

After missing the break, Mucho Macho Man Stakes winner Simplification (7-2) rallied in the lane to hold the place over late-running 8-5 favorite Mo Donegal in third. Galt, the full brother to champion Songbird, finished fourth, while Cajun's Magic was fifth.

“It was a big performance,” Joseph said of his winner. “We were ahead of schedule all the time and then he got sick and we missed two works. We ended up going from being ahead of schedule to being behind. Quality horses overcome those things.

“He trains like a horse that will handle a distance, but until they do, you never know for sure. I thought the [Kentucky] Jockey Club was a great education. He showed he could get two turns and today he answered it emphatically.”

Breaking near the outside of the field, White Abarrio was very sharp out of the gate and was able to make it over to the two-path to stalk unexpected pacesetter Galt. Simplification, the speed of the race on paper, was forced to make his run from seventh after missing the start.

White Abarrio kept up the pressure on Galt through fractions of :23.93 and :47.31, drawing even with that rival around the far turn. In the short run to the first wire, Gaffalione kept White Abarrio busy as the colt easily pulled away from the field to win by about five lengths. Simplification made his way up to second, and while never threatening the winner he was game to hold off the very late run from favorite Mo Donegal and secure the place. Galt faded to finish fourth.

“It was an ideal trip,” Gaffalione said. “The horse broke sharply and put me where I wanted to be. He settled nicely on the backside and when I called on him, he gave me another gear and finished the job well.

“I don't think distance is going to be a problem. He was just hitting his best stride down the lane and, galloping out, I had a really difficult time pulling him up. I was calling for the outrider.”

Bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm, White Abarrio is out of the unplaced Into Mischief mare Catching Diamonds, who is a half-sister to multiple Group 3 winner Cool Cowboy. Purchased for $7,500 as a yearling at the OBS Winter sale, the colt returned to the OBS ring in March to command a final bid of $40,000. Now a three-time winner from four starts, White Abarrio boasts earnings of over $240,000.

“I would say off this, the ball is in our court, why not go straight to the [G1] Florida Derby [April 2]?” Joseph suggested. “It gives him good spacing, and …if he makes the Kentucky Derby it will be his third race [this year]. That would be ideal right now, but we'll talk it over whether to go to the [G2] Fountain of Youth [March 5] or not.”

Additional Quotes from Placed Connections:

Jockey Javier Castellano (Simplification, 2^nd): “I'm not disappointed at all. I'm very satisfied the way he did it. I know we expected to be on the lead, but we learned something. He's starting to develop himself, and the good thing it seems to me that he doesn't have to be on the lead. He proved that he can come from behind, also. The first time going two turns, he did it and he did it really well. He finished up really good. The other horse, he got the jump and unfortunately we had the bad break.”

“He didn't break sharp out of the gate. There was so much noise and everybody screaming 'no' and he backed up a little bit. When he backed up they opened the gate. It was the wrong time when they opened the door and he didn't break sharp. But I don't have anything negative with the horse. I'm very positive on the horse. I think he's going to move forward. He was running at the end and he was galloping out good. I think he's a really nice horse. He put himself right behind horses and I let him feel the dirt in the face and then angled out a little bit to give him a little break and keep track of the horses. He did it really well.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher (Mo Donegal, 3^rd): “I thought he finished really well, it just took him a little while to get out in the clear and get going. The last hundred yards he was making up a lot of ground. He just kind of ran out real estate at the end. I was happy with the way he closed. It actually kind of hurt us that [Simplification] didn't break well because it kind of altered the fractions of the race and there wasn't a whole lot of pace on and that's always a disadvantage at Gulfstream. I was pleased with the horse's performance. He ran well and finished up good.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Mo Donegal, 3^rd): “I had a little stumble out of there. It was the last thing I wanted to happen, but it happened. I went to Plan B after that. I tried to save some ground and try not to be too far and I had to keep on him to help him to improve my position the whole time. He still finished good. He was in some position by the second turn. I didn't want to be waiting by the three-eighths pole because I know my horse. I know he needs to go start going a little earlier but I had nowhere to go, so I had to wait and go around them into the clear and he was flying at the end, honestly. He ran a good race.”

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Girl With A Dream Shows The Way In Forward Gal

Jim Bakke and Gerry Isbister's Girl With a Dream provided trainer Brad Cox with a little bit of consolation Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

One week after the Cox-trained Knicks Go was denied a repeat victory by Life Is Good in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream, Girl With a Dream led throughout the seven furlongs of the $100,000 Forward Gal (G3) to notch her first graded-stakes success by a length.

“There just aren't a lot of graded stakes opportunities where we run, at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn, so we had targeted this race after her last start. She was doing good and came out of her last race strong, so we shipped her over Tuesday,” Cox said from Fair Grounds. “We thought we'd let her do her thing and go to the front and try and make them catch us and it worked out great.”

The Forward Gal was among five graded stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday's program that was headlined by the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3), the first graded stakes on the Road to the Curlin Florida Derby (G1).

Girl With a Dream ($12.80) went right to the lead under Luis Saez to show the way along the backstretch as favored Radio Days dropped well off the pace. The Cox trainee set fractions of 22.85 and 45.73 seconds for the first half mile with graded stakes-placed Diamond Wow in close pursuit entering the turn into the homestretch. Radio Days launched a wide sweep into contention entering the stretch but was unable to catch the loose-on-the-lead daughter of Practical Joke.

“She broke from there pretty sharp. She went and she was pretty comfortable all the way,” Saez said. “We came to the top of the stretch and I felt like I had a lot of horse. She kept battling, and she beat them. She felt pretty big in front. I felt like every step when the other filly came close to her, she responded more. I was pretty happy to be on top of her.”

Girl With a Dream ran seven furlongs in 1:23.42. Radio Days, who entered the Forward Gal 2-for-2, finished second under Dylan Davis, 6 ¼ lengths ahead of Last Leaf and jockey Miguel Vasquez.

Girl With a Dream won her debut at Ellis Park in July before finishing far back in the Spinaway at Saratoga in September. The Kentucky-bred filly rebounded to finish second at Keeneland next time out before winning her last two starts of 2021 at Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds.

“She was really impressive in her Ellis win and I liked her in the Spinaway but she was inside and she didn't get away great and then didn't run her race,” Cox said.

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Grand Sonata Continues Pletcher Parade In Kitten’s Joy

Whisper Hill Farm homebred Grand Sonata (Medaglia d'Oro) found racing room when he needed it, surging through an opening in deep stretch to run down stablemate Royal Spirit and win Saturday's $100,000 Kitten's Joy (G3) by a neck at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The 10th running of the 1 1/16-mile Kitten's Joy on turf was the second of five graded-stakes for 3-year-olds on a program highlighted by the 33rd edition of the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3), the next step on the road to the $1 million Florida Derby (G1).

Winner of the one-mile Dania Beach Jan. 1 at Gulfstream in his previous start, Grand Sonata ($13.60) completed the distance in 1:41.53 over a firm course under jockey Tyler Gaffalione to give Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher his second stakes win of the day following My Prankster in the Claiborne Farm Swale (G3).

It was the fifth graded-stakes win over the last two Saturdays for Pletcher, including last weekend's $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) and $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1). Overall he has 12 stakes wins at the 2021-2022 Championship Meet, seven of them in graded company.

“I thought he was a little bit overlooked today,” Pletcher said of the winner, sent off as the co-third choice in a field of eight with Royal Spirit. “All his turf races have been good. He had a really tough trip at Aqueduct and didn't get the win but he's a really nice colt, very professional.”

Coinage, winner of the With Anticipation (G3) last summer in his turf debut, was sent to the front by jockey Luis Saez and ran a quarter-mile in 24.03 seconds and a half in 48.22 pressed by Royal Spirit on his right hip. Gaffalione had Grand Sonata settled in third along the rail, with 40-1 long shot Red Knobs on his outside.

“We were concerned there wasn't much pace on paper and Coinage can be tough when he gets loose, so we wanted to be aware of that. The fractions were pretty modest. I thought both horses were in good spots and both finished up well,” Pletcher said. “Actually I thought Royal Spirit might have it for a second, but this horse has a big turn of foot and Tyler knows that. Once he got him in the clear they finished in a rush.”

Royal Spirit moved up to even terms with Coinage exiting the far turn with Gaffalione still looking for room in behind. A couple of openings closed quickly in the stretch before Grand Sonata was able to tip out around Royal Spirit and came with a dramatic late burst to get the edge.

“I had a ton of horse. I had to be patient to wait for a spot. A little crack opened and he hesitated just a little bit, but I had so much horse, he wound up getting through and finished the job nicely,” Gaffalione said. “Mr. Pletcher and I spoke before the race. He said he didn't see much speed in the race and to just follow [Coinage] around there and wait for a spot. When he got out, he really finished well.”

Coinage stayed on for third, 1 ¼ lengths behind Royal Spirit, followed by Eldon's Prince, Red Danger, Speaking Scout, Father Glado and Red Knobs.

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