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Eye Of A Jedi Upsets Coaltown at Gulfstream; Math Wizard Fifth

Eye of a Jedi stared down the most imposing rivals of his career Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and pulled off a 17-1 upset victory in the $55,000 Coaltown Handicap.

The Steve Budhoo-owned and –trained 5-year-old gelding rallied far off the pace to defeat multiple Grade 1 stakes-placed Diamond Oops by 1 1/4 lengths in the mile overnight handicap, in which Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby winner Math Wizard finished fifth.

“He's a good horse. These are old tough veterans that he beat. They don't come back in a race; they go,” Budhoo said. “He's just coming into his own. He ran a good race last time and ran fourth in the Hal's Hope (G3) before that.”

Eye of a Jedi, who captured the Sea of Tranquility Stakes during Gulfstream's 2019 Summer Meet, rated well off the pace set by Wentz, who put up fractions of 23.86 and 46.17 seconds for the first half mile while pressed by Diamond Oops, the even-money favorite.

Diamond Oops moved to the lead without encouragement from jockey Luca Panici on the turn into the homestretch and appeared to be on his way to a comfortable victory when the Patrick Biancone-trained gelding suddenly stalled, giving Eye of a Jedi a chance to build momentum while rallying four-wide into the stretch. Diamond Oops kicked back into gear through the stretch, but was no match for Eye of a Jedi and jockey Marcos Meneses.

“The last time, I made a little mistake with the horse,” Meneses said. “Today, it was perfect. He broke good from the gate, I helped him a little bit, and he had a perfect trip. I liked being outside. The trainer did a great job. It was a difficult race, but the horse was doing perfect and he got the job done.”

Red Crescent, who stalked the pace three wide, finished third, a length behind Diamond Oops and ahead of 1 ¼ lengths ahead of Garter and Tie. Math Wizard made a mild bid to enter contention at the top of the stretch before fading to fifth, another neck back.

Eye of a Jedi carried 118 pounds, seven fewer than Diamond Oops, who conceded between two and 12 pounds to his eight rivals.

“I only race him sparingly,” Budhoo said. “He's always gives his best and he's sound.”

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Does Cezanne Justify The Hype Of Previous Baffert Stars?

Cezanne, who topped Fasig-Tipton's sale of two-year-olds in training last year at Gulfstream Park when he fetched a final bid of $3.65 million, kicked off his racing career with a 2 1/2-length victory in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race last Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Cezanne was sent away as an overwhelming 2-5 favorite and posted a final time of 1:16.13. Leading jockey Flavian Prat rode the Kentucky-bred three-year-old colt by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin.

Bob Baffert trains Cezanne for owners Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Michael B. Smith and St. Elias Stable.

“Cezanne was credited with a 90 Beyer Speed Figure,” said Jon White, Santa Anita's longtime morning-line oddsmaker. “Considering he was making his career debut as a three-year-old, I wondered how a 90 Beyer stacks up against the debut Beyers for Arrogate, West Coast and Justify. They also debuted at the age of three for Baffert.

And they all went on to be voted an Eclipse Award that same year as the champion three-year-old male (Arrogate in 2016, West Coast in 2017 and Justify in 2018).

“Because there had been so much hype for Cezanne's debut, some probably expected to see him win by a bigger margin and get a higher Beyer. But a 90 is a lot higher than Arrogate's 80 Beyer in his career debut. And keep in mind that after Arrogate's debut, what he did later that year was extraordinary.”

In the first start of Arrogate's career, he finished third in a six-furlong maiden race at Los Alamitos on April 17, 2016. Later in the year he won the Travers by 13 ½ lengths while breaking Saratoga's track record for 1 ¼ miles.

In his final start at three, Arrogate won the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita beating California Chrome and other older horses.

“What Cezanne's 90 Beyer is comparable to was West Coast's figure in the first start of his career when he got a 91,” White noted.

West Coast began his career by finishing second in a one-mile maiden race at Santa Anita on Feb. 18, 2017. Later in the year he won the Travers and the Pennsylvania Derby before finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar.

“Justify's debut Beyer went through the roof, a 104, when he won his first race by a huge margin,” White said. “That really was some performance. Justify showed everyone right from the start what an outstanding equine athlete he was.”

Bursting on the scene early in 2018 at Santa Anita, Justify registered a 9 1/2-length victory in a seven-furlong maiden race on Feb. 18. He subsequently won the Santa Anita Derby and swept the Triple Crown, then was retired after the Belmont Stakes. Justify won all six of his career starts.

“Cezanne raced a bit greenly in his first start and should improve with that race under his belt,” White said. “I also think there's a good chance that he will do well when he goes farther. Baffert has said that he believes Cezanne has the potential to have a big second half of the year like Arrogate and West Coast.

“So it's sure going to be interesting to see what Cezanne can do during the rest of the year.”

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Veteran Pure Sensation Leads Clement Arsenal In Belmont Day Stakes

Trainer Christophe Clement sports a record of 26-7-4-2 at the Belmont Park spring/summer meet in Elmont, N.Y., winning at a 27 percent clip going into Saturday's card, and will look to add to those totals next Saturday where he will saddle a number of stakes contenders.

In the Grade 1, $250,000 Jaipur presented by America's Best Racing, Clement has 9-year-old seasoned veteran Pure Sensation, winner of the 2016 Jaipur, as well as stakes winners Shekky Shebaz and White Flag under consideration.

Patricia Generazio's Pure Sensation, a veteran of 36 lifetime starts, owns 11 stakes victories, including four wins in the G3 Turf Monster at Parx Racing. He is closing in on the $2 million mark having banked $1,998,550. He has not raced since finishing fifth in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.

White Flag, a Robert Evans homebred, won the 2017 Allied Forces at Belmont Park and the 2018 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship. The son of War Front has placed against graded stakes company three times, including a third-place effort in the G1 Highlander at Woodbine in September.

A winner of the Lucky Coin at Saratoga last summer, Shekky Shebaz was third in the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November.

“Pure Sensation, Shekky Shebaz and White Flag are possible for the Jaipur, we'll decide over the weekend,” said Clement.

Clement plans on sending G1 winner Decorated Invader for the G2, $150,000 Pennine Ridge over the Widener Turf Course. Owned by Terry Finley's West Point Thoroughbreds, William T. Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, the sophomore son of Declaration of War won his 2020 debut in the Cutler Bay on March 28 at Gulfstream Park.

Following a second-out maiden triumph at Saratoga, Decorated Invader bested G1 company in the Summer at Woodbine en route to a fourth-place finish in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita.

“Decorated Invader has done very well,” Clement said. “Physically, he's very nice to look at, he's impressive in his works and impressive in his races.”

Clement is also thinking ahead with two of his winners this meet and said that Friday allowance winner Wegetsdamunnys could return in either the $100,000 Mount Vernon on July 2 against her New York-bred counterpart or the 80,000 River Memories against open company going 1 ½-miles on the turf.

“[The Mount Vernon] is 20 days out but we'll try to do it. Another option is the mile-and-a-half [River Memories] stake at the end of the meet, so we'll have a look at that,” Clement said.

A five-time winner, Scott Krase and Peter G. Stokes' Wegetsdamunnys, bred in the Empire State by Wellspring Stables, is still in search of a first stakes victory. Friday's victory was her first start since finishing eighth in the G3 Long Island on November 30 at Aqueduct.

Clement said Oak Bluff Stables' New York-bred Therapist could race in either the $100,000 Kingston going 1 1/16 miles on July 5 or the $75,000 Banrock going six furlongs on July 9.

“He's doing well,” said Clement. “We have two choices he has could sprint going six furlongs or go towards a mile and a sixteenth. We'll just train him and let him tell me which way we'll go.”

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No Joke: Funny Guy Gets 101 Beyer Speed Figure With Commentator Win

Trainer John Terranova said he was delighted with the performance of Funny Guy, who captured Friday's one-turn mile Commentator at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., off a nine-month layoff, where he garnered a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

Owned by R. A. Hill Stable, Gatsas Stable and Swick Stable, Funny Guy had not raced since finishing sixth in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby on September 29 at Remington Park, which was his lone start against open company. He collected his third career stakes win in the Commentator after taking the Albany at Saratoga and the Times Square division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series last April at Aqueduct during his 3-year-old campaign.

Terranova left all options open for the 4-year-old son of Big Brown, including a start against open company.

“We'll see as we go down the road into the summer what the schedule will be like,” Terranova said. “He's a really nice colt that we've liked all along since we've got him. He's progressed beautifully over the course of time. I'm just happy to see him back and happy that people have had the patience to wait things out and just stay the course. I'm grateful that he's a sound and happy horse.”

Terranova said Funny Guy has been ready to run for quite a while, but was not concerned about the long layoff.

“He's pretty smart. He's kind of unique in that way. He's one of those smart colts that just knows what's up, That's just the impression he gives you,” Terranova said. “We loved him all along. We were coming off a bit of a break and we weren't planning on being gone that long, nobody was.

“He had been ready for a while,” added Terranova. “It looked pretty competitive for a New York-bred stake, and he was going up against older horses. It was a great performance, Joel [Rosario] gave a great ride and we were expecting a big performance out of him, how big was the question.

Terranova also said Curragh Stables' Killybegs Captain will be receiving some time off due to an ankle injury. The graded stakes-winning son of Mizzen Mast last raced when taking the Pelican at Tampa Bay Downs on February 15.

“He's getting some time off right now. He had a deal with his ankle. We're just going to see what happens into the summer, into the fall,” Terranova said.

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