Encino chases 5th straight win in Gulfstream Park Mile

Godolphin’s Grade 3-winning homebred Encino will put his four-race win streak on the line when he returns to stakes company for Saturday’s 81st running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Gulfstream Park Mile.

The Gulfstream Park Mile for 4-year-olds and up is the sixth of nine stakes, eight graded, worth $2.15 million in purses on a 14-race program headlined by the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) for 3-year-olds.

Encino will be making his second start as a 4-year-old after ending a 289-day gap between starts with a popular front-running one-length optional-claiming allowance victory going 1 1/16 miles Jan. 16 at Fair Grounds. The final time was 1:45.59 over a main track rated good.

“He did everything we wanted him to do last time, and (trainer) Brad (Cox) was pleased with him going into that race,” said Godolphin’s director of bloodstock Michael Banahan, who oversees all its U.S.-based runners. “He was able to keep his win streak alive, and I think this is a good spot for him.

“He has plenty of speed himself, so I think Gulfstream will probably suit him. We’re not really 100 percent what distance he wants, but I think a mile, mile and a sixteenth will suit him. The shorter distance might really be in his wheelhouse,” he added. “We’re looking forward to the race.”

Encino has not lost since being beaten a neck when second in his December 2023 unveiling at Turfway Park. Each of his first three starts came over its all-weather surface, capped by a one-length triumph in the John Battaglia Memorial last March.

“The only reason he was on the synthetic really was situational. He was down here at the training center (and) it just made sense to get him up to Brad’s string at Turfway and see what we had. He jumped up each time after his first start and kept progressing,” Banahan said. “I suppose with a 3-year-old at that time of the year we wanted to see what he could do on dirt and whether he could get on the Derby trail even though it was a little bit of a late start.”

Encino made his main track debut last April in the 1 1/16-mile Lexington (G3), the last points-qualifying race for the Kentucky Derby three weeks later. He was withdrawn from contention when a soft-tissue injury flared up the Tuesday before the race and forced him to the sidelines for the rest of the year.

“When he won the Battaglia we were keen to see what he would do in the Lexington. It was a nice field and he won it well, and we were on the verge of getting into the Derby when he came up with that little injury and we had to give him the rest of the year off,” Banahan said. “It’s good to have him back. I think he’s got plenty of talent, but we’re not too sure what his ceiling is.”

Encino, rated as the 9-2 third choice on the morning line, will break from Post 3 of nine with jockey Luis Saez.

“We missed the second half of last year with him and we’re glad that he’s doing well and getting back on track again,” Banahan said. “This will be a big race for him to see what our future goals will be with him that he might be able to reach.”