Gulfstream | Horse Racing Free Tips

White Abarrio Returns To Work Tab With Holy Bull As Target

C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's White Abarrio, sidelined earlier this month after spiking a temperature, returned to the work tab with a sharp half-mile breeze Friday at Gulfstream Park ahead of the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 5.

With jockey Tyler Gaffalione up, White Abarrio went four furlongs in 47.05 seconds over a fast main track, ranking first of 40 horses. It was the Race Day colt's first breeze since a five-furlong move in 1:01 Jan. 10.

“He missed some time because he had a little virus he was fighting,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “Thankfully, today he worked super and all is on track. All being well, we'll probably go to the Holy Bull with him.”

Joseph has been pleased with the way White Abarrio has bounced back from his illness and wasn't surprised with how fast he went Saturday.

“Timing-wise, we wanted a good, strong work. He's a good horse, and he makes it look it pretty easy,” Joseph said. “We wanted a good, strong work and that's why we worked him a little further out than closer to the race.”

White Abarrio debuted with a come-from-behind 6 ¾-length maiden special weight victory Sept. 24 at Gulfstream, returning with a front-running, four-length optional claiming allowance triumph Oct. 29. White Abarrio suffered his first loss when third to Smile Happy in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) Nov. 27.

Smile Happy; Ken McPeek-trained stablemate Tiz the Bomb, winner of last fall's Bourbon (G2); 2021 Remsen (G2) winner Mo Donegal; Giant Game, third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1); and Simplification, winner of Gulfstream's Mucho Macho Man Jan. 1, are all under consideration for the Holy Bull.

The 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull is the second of Gulfstream's series of 3-year-old stakes leading to the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) April 2, preceded by the one-mile Mucho Macho Man and followed by the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) March 5, also at 1 1/16 miles.

“It looks like it's coming up a competitive race but we feel he's as good as anybody in there,” Joseph said. “All being well, we'll give him his chance.”

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Former ‘Bad Boy’ Doswell Ready To Step Up In Pegasus Turf

Joseph Allen's Doswell first arrived at trainer Barclay Tagg's barn with no wins and a 'bad boy' reputation. While the two subsequent years haven't completely erased his idiosyncrasies, the 7-year-old gelding and contender in Saturday's $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) at Gulfstream has learned how to co-exist and be successful just being himself.

“He's gotten better, but that's because we understand each other,” Tagg's longtime assistant trainer and exercise rider Robin Smullen said. “I'm really the only one that gets on him except for breeze time. We kind of have a mutual respect for each other, and that's really what it's all about.”

Tagg is effusive in his praise for job Smullen has done with Doswell, whose career full of stops and starts began with renowned trainer John Gosden in England in the summer 2017. By the time he raced again in January 2019, he was in South Florida with trainer Chad Brown.

“Robin's a superior rider and we've had no problems with him since [some] gate stuff early on. Now everything's been fine. He's a lovely horse. He gets along with her well,” Tagg said. “He's a big, strong horse. He needs a strong bit for day-to-day galloping and things like that, but Robin could take him out there and gallop him on a loose rein if she wanted to. It all works out pretty well.”

Doswell ran second in each of his first four career races, never beaten by more than three-quarters of a length. He broke his maiden in his sixth start and first race for Tagg in August 2020 off an 11-month layoff and has never finished worse than third in seven tries.

His most recent race was his best, going gate to wire to capture the 1 1/8-mile Fort Lauderdale (G2) Dec. 18 at the same course and distance by 1 ½ lengths over Atone, who also returns in the Pegasus Turf.

Junior Alvarado, aboard in the Fort Lauderdale, will ride back from Post No. 7 in a field of 12. Doswell is listed at 10-1 on the morning line.

“Last time I said to Junior, 'Just take him away from the pony and let him warm him up. That's what he wants,' and he was fine,” Smullen said. “I think if you just understand him and try to get along with him and let him do his own thing, that's really all he wants.”

“He's smart. He's smart enough to know that he knows what he wants to do. He loves to run, he wants to run,” she added. “If you start getting in his face about you can't do this, you can't do that or you can't gallop that fast, he gets very, very upset.”

Doswell was a picture of composure schooling in the paddock and walking ring during Thursday's races, part of his regular pre-race routine. Smullen beamed as she watched him and took video to show Tagg.

“He's not always good, so every chance that you can to help him be a better horse, you do. If that means schooling, that's what it means. I'll tell you, he's [being] really good,” she said. “He was like this the last time he ran. He was pretty quiet. He loves to do it.”

Smullen was impressed how Doswell has bounced out his most recent effort, just his 12th career start and third in a graded stake, after finishing a troubled second in the Fort Lauderdale and third in the W.L. McKnight (G3) on the Pegasus undercard last winter.

“He's great. He came out of the Fort Lauderdale great, which is surprising because he had such a jump up in number that you would have thought that maybe he was a little tired or this or that, but not at all. He came out of it really well,” Smullen said. “He's carrying his weight well, too. That's a good thing.

“He likes the track, he's doing well and we just hope he gives a good performance and gets to show himself, and if he hits the board we'll be tickled to death,” she added. “It's nice to be part of such a big day, especially with a horse like Doswell, who is kind of an underdog.”

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Veteran Jockey Edwin Gonzalez Steps Into The Spotlight, Rides All Three Pegasus Races

Jockey Edwin Gonzalez left behind the night life for the beach life 10 months ago, venturing to Gulfstream Park at the tail end of the 2020-2021 Championship Meet after dominating under the radar at Penn National.

The 29-year-old jockey has walked out of the shadows of night racing in Pennsylvania to further his career at the Hallandale Beach, FL racetrack where he will step into the spotlight to ride in all three Pegasus World Cup Invitational races on Saturday's spectacular 12-race program.

“I've come from the bottom,” Gonzalez said. “I got lucky with my agent and all the people who have helped me. I love to win races. I keep working hard. When I got here, I got a lot of opportunities.”

Gonzalez and agent Kevin Meyocks have made the most of their opportunities while based year-round at Gulfstream, so much so that Gonzalez has been named to ride Tracy Farmer's Sir Winston in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) presented by 1 S/T BET, Live Oak Plantation's March to the Arch in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) presented by Baccarat, and Pedigree Partners LLC's Shifty She in the $500,000 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational presented by PEPSI.

Sir Winston and March to the Arch are trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, while Shifty She is conditioned by Saffie Joseph Jr., who is currently atop the 2021-2022 Championship Meet trainer standings.

“I started winning races for everybody, Casse, Saffie, so many trainers gave me opportunities,” said Gonzalez, who is sitting sixth in the Championship Meet jockey standings with 19 winners. “I kept giving 100 percent to the horses to make everybody happy and keep working hard.”

Gonzalez got off to a fast start at Gulfstream, winning 59 races, including the 1500th of his career that started in his native Puerto Rico, during the Spring/Summer Meet before going to the sidelines for two months after sustaining a hairline fracture in his right leg July 3. He rode three winners on his first day back and has continued to entrench himself at Gulfstream.

Gonzalez will ride Sir Winston, the 2019 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner, for the first time in the Pegasus World Cup, in which he will face defending champion Knicks Go and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Life Is Good.

“I think he has a good chance because you have those two horses that will be in front. I'll be put my horse behind them and then make a run,” Gonzalez said. “My horse is working good. He worked the other day in 47 [seconds] and it was like he was galloping.”

After riding March to the Arch, a multiple graded-stakes winner with more than $980,000 in earnings in the Pegasus Turf, Gonzalez will seek his second graded-stakes victory aboard Shifty She in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf. Gonzalez guided the daughter of Gone Astray to victory in the Noble Damsel (G3) at Belmont Park Oct. 23. Gonzalez has gone 3-for-3 aboard Shifty She before finishing second last time out at Gulfstream in the Suwannee River (G3), in which she held gamely to finish a half-length behind Sweet Melania.

“She's a nice filly. I think she has a good chance to win. In her last race, I don't think she was 100 percent. This race, she'll be 100 percent,” Gonzalez said. “She's here. She doesn't have to ship, which is in her favor.”

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Hurry Up And Wait: Italian Import Wakanaka Ready For U.S. Debut In Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf

Wakanaka has a hurry-up-and-wait story that has delivered her to the TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Invitational (G3) Presented by PEPSI Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Bred in Ireland and purchased at a British sale for a mere $4,274, the 4-year-old daughter of Power built her reputation in Italy. Team Valor International CEO Barry Irwin was well aware of her juvenile success, enlisted Gary Barber, a partner in many other horses through the years, and completed the deal to purchase the filly about 10 months ago. Irwin said the name Wakanaka has its origins are in Zimbabwe and means “she's beautiful.”

Now trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Wakanaka has recovered from a physical issue and will have her U.S. coming-out party in the newest addition to the Pegasus World Cup Invitational program.

Wakanaka and jockey Umberto Rispoli will start from Post 2 in the 1 1/16th miles turf race for older fillies and mares.

“She was a good 2-year-old. She would have been the second-best 2-year-old filly in Italy,” Irwin said. “She had six starts: four wins, two seconds. She got beat by the filly (Aria Importante) that wound up being the champion.”

Irwin said that Wakanaka is built like a sprinter, not overly tall but stout and powerful. Three of her 2-year-old wins were in turf sprints by a combined 10 ¾ lengths.

A goal for top 3-year-old fillies in Italy is the Premio Regina Elena Italian One Thousand Guineas (G3) contested at the Capannelle Racecourse in Rome in late April.

“Everybody wants to win the 1000 Guineas equivalent. There it's a Group 3, but it's a Classic,” Irwin said. “That's the big focal point for all the fillies.”

Irwin said the major question about Wakanaka was answered on March 17 in her prep for the Premio Regina Elena, the Premio Cesare Degli Occhi at San Siro.

“Nobody knew if she could rate and they were able to rate her,” Irwin said. “She went a mile and she won by (6 ½) lengths, very impressively.”

Based on that performance, Irwin began the process of trying to buy the filly.

“I was contacted by an agent that we buy a lot of horses with,” he said. “I've gotten plenty of horses in Italy and done extremely well with them. We've had a champion and a couple of Grade 1 winners over the years. I was familiar with the type of races that she was running in. I watched her and I had somebody go in there and check her out for me, a friend of mine who lives there.”

Irwin said he balked at the asking price, then reached out to Barber. The plan they developed was to buy the filly but allow the owner/trainer Diego Dettori to run her in the Premio Regina Elena in his colors and keep whatever purse money she earned.

“He's a young guy,” Irwin said. “It was his first big win. All we wanted was the filly.”

Wakanaka managed to overcome some traffic issues and improved to 6-2-0 from eight starts.

“She had kind of a rough trip. She was stuck between horses. She did rate well,” Irwin said. “Then when she got out, with about a furlong and a half to go, she exploded, opened up about two and a half and then won in hand by a length and a half.”

“We were very happy with that race. She got good speed ratings in Europe for that effort. She's a very likable filly. She's got a lot of pizazz about her. And she's got instant turn of foot, which is the one thing that we liked. That's why we buy so many horses over there. You tell them to go, and it's like now.”

Irwin said they asked Mott to train the horse because of his past success with horses from Italy. It did not turn out to be a be a smooth transition from Europe to American racing, though.

“She wound up getting bone bruising so we had to turn her out for two months,” Irwin said.

When she was ready, trainer Mark Casse and his staff helped get her fit before Mott arrived for the winter at Payson Park. Irwin said that Wakanaka got Mott's attention when she turned in a bullet work on Dec. 13. She has worked every week since and Irwin and Mott decided to run her in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf.

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