Gunnevera guns it late to win the Saratoga Special

The 2016 Saratoga Special (G2) was certainly special for a little-known colt named Gunnevera and for his jockey Javier Castellano. The Florida invader caught the favorite, Recruiting Ready, four strides before the wire and won the 6 ½ furlong event by a length, giving Castellano his fourth victory of the day.

As the starting gates opened, the 23-1 longshot Get Lit N Get Wild took a short lead with the trio of Recruiting Ready, Tip Tap Tapizar and Sonic Mule racing as a team, barely a length behind. It was a long way back to Gunnevera, who broke slowly and was galloping leisurely around the Saratoga oval.

As the contenders raced to the 3-furlong pole, Recruiting Ready bore in around the turn, causing Tip Tap Tapizar to bounce off of Sonic Mule.  Ricardo Santana, Jr. had to sharply check Tip Tap Tapizar, as Recruiting Ready came over, causing Tip Tap Tapizar to lose position, while Irad Ortiz, Jr. quickly pulled Recruiting Ready back on course.

Recruiting Ready put away a tiring Get Lit while running the half in 45.04 and started pouring on the speed, quickly opening up by four lengths and getting six furlongs in 1:10.28. Meanwhile, Javier Castellano put Gunnevera in gear.  The duo went wide around the turn and took aim on Recruiting Ready. Gunnevera raced through the stretch with long, ground eating strides. In mid-stretch it appeared that he wouldn’t get there in time, but the game colt was able to pull off the victory by a length. Gunnevera’s final time for 6 ½ furlongs was 1:17 over a fast track that had seen rain earlier in the day.  Recruiting Ready finished 14 lengths ahead of Tip Tap Tapizar.

Castellano had plenty of praise for Gunnevera. "My horse is a really good horse. We came from behind, in the clear and finished really well. I think he had a really good setup today and everything went the right way. “

He continued, “Everything worked out great, we had a perfect trip. Long term, he is going to be a really nice horse."

On his four wins of the day, Castellano exclaimed, "It's amazing. It's a really tough and competitive game. There are a lot of great riders here. It's a tough colony and as you can see the standings are all pretty close in numbers. Today was a great day."

After an objection by Santana and a Steward’s Inquiry, Recruiting Ready was placed last for interference. Tip Tap Tapizar placed second and Sonic Mule third.

Horacio DePaz the conditioner of Recruiting Ready, commented, "Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] told me when the other horse [Tip Tap Tapizar] switched leads he came out a little bit and bumped off of him and went in. I'm not sure. He said he didn't come over. He held his ground.

Gunnevera rewarded his backers with $20.40, $8.20, $10.20. Tip Tap Tapizar returned $8.50, $11.00; and Sonic Mule paid $5.40. The $2 exacta was $153.50, the $2 trifecta was a generous $377.00 and the $2 superfecta paid $316.50. 

Gunnevera (Dialed In - Unbridled Rage, by Unbridled) was bred by Brandywine Farm & Stephen Upchurch. The Chestnut colt sold for a bargain $16,000 to his trainer Antonio Sano on behalf of Peacock Racing Stables, LLC.  The son of Freshman Sire Dialed In has a 4-2-1-0 race record and has banked $$156,000 in earnings.

Gunnevera ‘s trainer Antonio Sano revealed his plans for the colt.  "I liked the race but I told [Javier] Castellano, 'he's slow but the last three furlongs are strong.' I liked this horse at a longer distance. We'll see you September 5 here [for the Grade 1, $350,000 Hopeful]."

The winning trainer continued, "He just needed more distance. It was a good job from Castellano."