Delta Bluesman ultra impressive Smile Sprint winner
For today's Summit of Speed card at Gulfstream Park, the sprinters were on display and speed was key. Battling through scorching fractions, Delta Bluesman still had plenty left in the tank to pull away in the stretch to an open lengths victory in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint Stakes.
Chief Lion won the break, but Delta Bluesman was quick into stride from his rail post. With Delta Bluesman gaining the initial advantage on the inside, those two wasted no time in opening up on Limousine Liberal, who was racing in third. Eighty Three took up fourth, with Storming Inti, More Applause, and Copingaway behind him.
Approaching the far turn, Chief Lion pulled on even terms with Delta Bluesman and poked a head in front. Glued to one another, those two raced through blazing splits of :21.70 for the opening quarter and :43.81 for the half.
Exiting the far turn, the whip was out on Limousine Liberal, but the gelding was unable to gain any ground on the battling duo. Ahead of him, Delta Bluesman has fought back along the rail and regained the lead at the top of the stretch.
From the head of the stretch, Delta Bluesman simply increased his advantage to the wire, eventually stopping the clock for the 6 furlong affair in a snappy 1.08:94. Although Limousine Liberal was unable to make up any ground on the pacesetters exiting the far turn, he was able to close the gap late and steal second from a tiring Chief Lion.
Eighty Three rounded out the superfecta, and More Applause, Copingaway, and former stakes winner Storming Inti completed the order of finish.
As the 9-5 second betting choice, Delta Bluesman paid $5.00/$2.60/$2.20. Race favorite Limousine Liberal returned $2.60/$2.20 for the place, and third choice Chief Lion returned $2.40 for the show. The $2 exacta paid $11.20, the $1 trifecta returned $14.20, and the $0.10 superfecta was worth a meager $2.27.
After the race, winning jockey Emisael Jaramillo stated, “The pace was violent. I just rode my horse. The other horse (Chief Lion) came to me and opened up a half length, but my horse came back when I asked him. He never gave up.”
When asked about getting headed by Chief Lion heading into the far turn, winning trainer Jorge Navarro replied, “Yes, because he can be a chicken. I was amazed that he dug in like that. When (Chief Lion) came up, I thought, 'Jaramillo, what are you doing?' because he doesn't like horses coming up next to him. But maybe he is changing, coming around, and becoming the horse that we thought he was in the morning.”
“He trains like a good horse,” Navarro continued. “He worked (a half) :46 last week and the exercise rider said he did it like nothing. Getting him off the turf has been key. I keep knocking myself in the head; I wasn't patient enough.”
By Wagon Limit and out of the Darn That Alarm mare Smoke Alarm, Delta Bluesman is owned by Monster Racing Stable. After being multiple stakes placed, this was the first graded stakes attempt for the 6-year old gelding. Today's win was his first official stakes victory, graded or listed, which improved his career record to 43: 9-10-7 for total purse earnings of $432,037. Two starts back, Delta Bluesman did cross the wire first in the Decathlon Stakes at Monmouth but was disqualified to last due to interference in the stretch.
The Smile Sprint Handicap is a “Win and You're In” event for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
“This was his fourth start in two months so I'm going to take my time with him. The owner's dream is to go to the Breeders' Cup, so that's why we came here,” said Navarro in regards to current and future plans for Delta Bluesman. “I wasn't sure if we would win and I told him, 'Just being in the race is a pleasure. And if he wins it, then, hey, I'll make your dreams come true.' I'm going to give him 50-60 days and then find one or two races before the Breeders' Cup.”