'Barn favorite' Krampus breaks through in Gulfstream's Canadian Turf
William Schettine’s Krampus resolutely held off the stretch challenge of favored Breaking the Rules in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Canadian Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park, capturing the first stakes race of his career in a photo finish.
The Canadian Turf, a mile turf stakes for older horses, was one of nine graded stakes on Saturday’s 14-race program, which was headlined by the $400,000 Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth (G2), the key prep for the $1 million Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (G1) March 30.
Krampus, who was coming off a troubled off-the-board finish in the Feb. 9 El Prado Stakes at Gulfstream, received a perfect trip under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who rated the homebred gelding in second behind pacesetter Siem Riep, who set comfortable fractions of 24.55 and 48.65 seconds for the first half mile.
Velazquez sent Krampus after the tiring pacesetter on the far turn while getting outside pressure from Breaking the Rules and taking a narrow lead into the homestretch. Breaking the Rules, the 3-5 favorite ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., made a stretch-long outside bid but was unable to get past Krampus. Holiday Stone finished third under Manuel Franco.
Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Krampus ($11.60) ran a mile over a firm turf course in 1:34.98.
“This is the kind of trip I was hoping he was going to get. Sometimes he gets a little far back,” Mott said. “He makes a nice run but it seems like, when he’s up close like this and able to stay up close and get in a nice stalking position, he runs real hard. He doesn’t wanna let anybody by.
“He’s one of those horses, he’s really kind of a barn favorite. He’s probably not the best horse in the barn but nobody tries harder than he does. You know what I mean? He’s a real neat, real neat kind of horse.”