Gulfstream roundup: Fearless powers to victory in the Ghostzapper
Repole Stable’s Fearless, a multiple grade stakes-winning son of Ghostzapper, lived up to his 1-5 favoritism at Gulfstream Park with a six-length romp in the $100,000 Ghostzapper (G3).
Fearless, who finished second in the Fred W. Hooper (G3) and GP Mile (G2) going around one-turn, appreciated the stretch-out to 1 1/8 miles. The Todd Pletcher-trained 6-year-old gelding pushed his career record at Gulfstream to five wins to go along with three runner-up finishes in eight starts.
Fearless stalked the pace around the first turn and along the backstretch as Carlos L. put up fractions of 24.24 and 48:08 seconds for the first half mile. Jockey Luis Saez sent his hard-knocking mount after the tiring pacesetter on the turn into the homestretch, and the Kentucky-bred gelding drew clear.
Capocostello closed late to nip 2021 Fountain of Youth winner Greatest Honour by a nose for second money. Fearless ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.03.
Ghostzapper Quotes
Winning Trainer Todd Pletcher (Fearless): “When he’s in good form, he generally puts himself in a good spot. I thought when he broke well and he went to the first turn, it looked like [Carlos L.] was getting a little rank and [jockey] Luis [Saez] kind of let him go. Then, he was in a good stalking spot with an honest enough pace up front and he just kind of kept building up momentum as he went along.”
“It’s not so much about the tactics of it. He kind of tailed off last year and he was getting himself way too far out of the race. I knew when he broke well and he was putting himself in a good spot, it was more about that because that was some of the trouble we were having before we gave him a little bit of a break. He just wanted to give himself way too much to do early on.”
“We’ll figure it out. There’s a lot of opportunities with a horse that you can kind of space around a little bit. Maybe the Pimlico Special [G3 May 20] might be good timing.”
Winning Jockey Luis Saez (Fearless): “We felt like we were controlling the pace. We came to the three-eighths, somebody put pressure on us. But he kicked on again. At the top of the stretch, he was all by himself. The way he finished, he finished pretty strong, pretty comfortable. I had a lot of horse left.
Gufo surges late in stretch to win Pan American
Otter Bend Stables’ Gufo saved his best punch for last, turning in a powerful finishing kick to chase down and overpower Abaan to win the $200,000 Pan American Stakes (G2).
Away from the races since early November when the 5-year-old was 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Gufo showed no signs of rust, settling toward the back of the pack in the 1 1/2-mile grass stakes before mounting a late charge to blow past Abaan and win in a hand ride under jockey Joel Rosario. Novo Sol was third.
Gufo, the Christophe Clement-trained son of Declaration of War was ahead of just one horse most of the way as Tide of the Sea led the before tiring in the final turn. Abaan took over at that point, opening up a two-length lead.
But Gufo went storming past in mid-stretch, giving him his first victory since last August when he won the Sword Dancer (G1) at Saratoga. Final margin of victory was two lengths.
The victory improved Gufo’s career mark to eight wins in 15 career races and he remained at unbeaten at Gulfstream, where he is now 4 or 4.
Pan American quotes
Winning trainer Christophe Clement (Gufo): “I thought it was very impressive. I’m delighted. He belongs to a gentleman, Mr. (Stephen) Cainelli who is a wonderful man, so I’m thrilled. This was his first race of the year. The idea is to go to the Man o’ War and we’ll go from there.”
“It was perfect. He wasn’t too far back. When he asked him to quicken on the outside, he was there for him. We were not thrilled with the blinkers in his last two races last year. Looking back at it, I probably should have (removed them) earlier, but that’s OK. We live and learn.”
Winning assistant trainer Miguel Clement (Gufo): “The whole stable is very fond of the horse. He’s been with us since the very beginning. Except for his last start, he’s always been incredibly consistent. He’s just a top-class horse. We have lots of big races mapped out for him already.”
Winning Jockey Joel Rosario (Gufo): “It was a good trip. He broke good. That’s the way he is – show some speed and then take his time. The pace was pretty good. I tried to save as much ground as I could and turning for home, he had a nice kick.”
“He seemed he was fine without the [blinkers]. He finished really well.”
Family Way makes the grade in the Orchid for Walsh
Hunter Valley Farm, Debra O’Connor and Marc Detampel’s Family Way, outfinished when second in last month’s The Very One (G3) in her prior start, swept to the lead on the far outside and passed her rivals through the stretch to become a graded-stakes winner in Saturday’s $150,000 Orchid (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
Rather than press the pace as she did in the 1 3/8-mile The Very One March 5, Family Way ($5.60) settled near the back of a six-horse field under patient handling from Tyler Gaffalione as 16-1 long shot Champagne Ivy led the way through the opening quarter-mile.
Scarabea, fourth by a half-length in the 1 1/2-mile La Prevoyante (G3) Jan. 29 at Gulfstream, was eager to go after running third early on and found herself on the lead approaching the stretch for the first time tracked by Champagne Ivy with Harajuku saving ground on the rail and Beautiful Lover in the clear three wide.
The order stayed that way until they straightened for home and Gaffalione set Family Way down for a drive to the wire, forging a short lead past the eighth pole and drawing clear to win by 1 3/4 lengths in 2:29.08.
Harajuku held second over Beautiful Lover, followed by Sister Otoole, Scarabea and Champagne Ivy.
Family Way is a 5-year-old daughter of champion Uncle Mo who made her first three starts in France in the fall of 2020 before coming to the U.S. She won the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon last September, and came up a length short of Virginia Joy in the The Very One.
$150,000 Orchid (G3) Quotes
Winning trainer Brendan Walsh (Family Way): “She got a good trip. A nice short field. Tyler [Gaffalione] said she settled fantastic when she got the cover. She didn’t get cover last time, and we wanted ideally to have her get cover, and she did. When he tipped her out, she took off. I think she’s getting better actually. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of her yet.”
Winning jockey Tyler Gaffalione (Family Way): “Today the main thing we wanted to focus on was getting her cover. Last time, she was just doing a little too much too early. We wanted to get her back there, try to get her to turn off, so that way we could have more of a finish. And she did exactly that. The main thing with her is you've got to get her covered. The European fillies, they turn off when they get the cover, and like you saw today, she relaxed beautifully, and when I took her out, she finished up well.”