Prior to the April 2 $600,000 Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks, there had been talks of a possible Qipco Two Thousand Guineas bid for Magadela Racing, Lesse’s Tiz the Bomb.
Tag: Racing
Fulsome Rallies From Last To Edge Cezanne In Oaklawn Mile
Juddmonte Farms homebred Into Mischief colt Fulsome rallied from last to win the Grade 3, $400,000 Oaklawn Mile Stakes over odds-on favorite Cezanne in his 4-year-old debut on Saturday at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark.
Ridden by Florent Geroux for trainer Brad Cox, Fulsome put his head in front of Cezanne and jockey Flavien Prat in deep stretch, winning by a neck and stopping the timer in 1:36.43 for the mile on a fast track.
Cezanne finished two lengths ahead of Runnin' Ray in third, with Necker Island fourth, Silver Prospector fifth, Mo Mosa sixth, Roadster seventh, Market Analysis eighth and Law Professor last in the field of nine older runners. Dark Vader was scratched.
Fulsome paid $18.80 for the win, his sixth in 10 career starts. Graded for the first time, the Oaklawn Mile was Fulsome's third graded stakes victory following wins in the G3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs last May and the G3 Smarty Jones at Parx Racing last August. The latter was a prep for the G1 Pennsylvania Derby, where Fulsome finished fourth behind Hot Rod Charlie in his final start prior to the Oaklawn Mile.
Shuffled back shortly after the start, Fulsome trailed the field as Market Analysis set the early pace, going an opening quarter mile in :22.73 and the half in :45.87. Approaching the far turn, Fulsome moved up while still in hand, then switched to the outside and circled the field, fanning into the stretch six wide. After six furlongs in 1:10.65, Cezanne – who raced in third and in the clear most of the way – took command and led past the furlong pole, the seven furlongs clocked in 1:23.78. Coming off a victory in the G2 San Carlos going seven furlongs at Santa Anita, Cezanne was unable to fight off Fulsome in deep stretch, settling for second.
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Gufo Takes Flight Late To Win Pan American
Otter Bend Stables' Gufo saved his best punch for last, turning in a powerful finishing kick to chase down and overpower Abaan to win the $200,000 Pan American Stakes (G2) Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
Away from the races since early November when the 5-year-old was 10th in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1), Gufo showed no signs of rust, settling toward the back of the pack in the 1 1/2-mile grass stakes before mounting a late charge to blow past Abaan and win in a hand ride under jockey Joel Rosario. Novo Sol was third.
Gufo, the Christophe Clement-trained homebred son of Declaration of War was ahead of just one horse most of the way as Tide of the Sea led the before tiring in the final turn. Abaan took over at that point, opening up a two-length lead.
But Gufo went storming past in midstretch, giving him his first victory since last August when he won the Sword Dancer (G1) at Saratoga. Final margin of victory was two lengths. The 3-10 favorite, he returned $4.
“It was a good trip. He broke good,” Rosario said. “That's the way he is – show some speed and then take his time. The pace was pretty good. I tried to save as much ground as I could and turning for home, he had a nice kick.”
The victory improved Gufo's career mark to eight wins in 15 career races and he remained at unbeaten at Gulfstream, where he is now 4 or 4.
“I thought it was very impressive. I'm delighted. He belongs to a gentleman, Mr. (Stephen) Cainelli who is a wonderful man, so I'm thrilled,” Clement said. “This was his first race of the year. The idea is to go to the Man o' War (Stakes [G1] May 14 at Belmont Park) and we'll go from there.”
Clement added that Gufo's trip was perfect.
“He wasn't too far back. When he asked him to quicken on the outside, he was there for him. We were not thrilled with the blinkers in his last two races last year. Looking back at it, I probably should have (removed them) earlier, but that's OK. We live and learn.”
Assistant trainer Miguel Clement said: “The whole stable is very fond of the horse. He's been with us since the very beginning. Except for his last start, he's always been incredibly consistent. He's just a top-class horse. We have lots of big races mapped out for him already.”
Cainelli bred Gufo with longtime friend Dr. John Little. A Kentucky-bred, he is out of the Petionville mare Floy.
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Fearless Romps By Open Lengths In Ghostzapper
Repole Stable's Fearless, a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Ghostzapper, lived up to his 1-5 favoritism at Gulfstream Park Saturday with a six-length tally in the $100,000 Ghostzapper Stakes (G3).
The race, named for the 2004 Horse of the Year and Racing Hall of Fame member, was one of 10 stakes worth $2.2 million in purses on Saturday's 14-race card headlined by the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1).
Fearless, who finished second in the Fred W. Hooper (G3) and Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) going around one-turn, appreciated the stretch-out to 1 1/8 miles. The Todd Pletcher-trained 6-year-old gelding pushed his career record at Gulfstream to five wins to go along with three runner-up finishes in eight starts
Fearless stalked the pace around the first turn and along the backstretch as Carlos L. put up fractions of :24.24 and :48:08 for the first half mile. Jockey Luis Saez sent his hard-knocking mount after the tiring pacesetter on the turn into the homestretch, and the Kentucky-bred gelding drew clear.
Capocostello closed late to nip 2021 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth winner Greatest Honour by a nose for second money. Fearless ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.03 on a fast track.
“We felt like we were controlling the pace,” Saez said. “We came to the three-eighths, somebody put pressure on us. But he kicked on again. At the top of the stretch, he was all by himself. The way he finished, he finished pretty strong, pretty comfortable. I had a lot of horse left.”
Fearless, who returned $2, was bred in Kentucky by Helen Groves Revocable Trust from the Street Cry mare And Why Not. He has a 6-5-1 record from 14 career starts.
“When he's in good form, he generally puts himself in a good spot,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “I thought when he broke well and he went to the first turn, it looked like (Carlos L.) was getting a little rank and Luis (Saez) kind of let him go. Then, he was in a good stalking spot with an honest enough pace up front and he just kind of kept building up momentum as he went along.
“It's not so much about the tactics of it. He kind of tailed off last year and he was getting himself way too far out of the race. I knew when he broke well and he was putting himself in a good spot, it was more about that because that was some of the trouble we were having before we gave him a little bit of a break. He just wanted to give himself way too much to do early on.
“We'll figure it out. There's a lot of opportunities with a horse that you can kind of space around a little bit. Maybe the Pimlico Special (G3 May 20) might be good timing.”
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