Gunnevera back to work with Saratoga's Grade 1s on deck

Salomon Del Valle’s multiple-stakes winner Gunnevera registered his first workout Saturday morning since finishing third in the March 30 Dubai World Cup (G1), going a leisurely half mile at Gulfstream Park West in 51 seconds.

Second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic and Woodward (G1), Gunnevera returned from Dubai and was given time off in Ocala before returning to Sano’s barn earlier in the month.

“We wanted to bring him back slow,” Sano said of the 5-year-old son of Dialed In. “He worked this morning for the first time. He went in 51, very easy.”

A winner of more than $5.5 million, Gunnevera, the 2017 Fountain of Youth (G2) hero and runner-up in that year’s Travers Stakes (G1), could be headed back to Saratoga.

“The plan is to run at Saratoga in the Whitney and the Woodward . That’s the plan right now,” Sano said. “Maybe one race before Saratoga here at Gulfstream? We’ll have to see.”

Last year, Gunnevera returned from Dubai to win an allowance race Aug. 10 at Gulfstream before running in the Woodward. But he was coming back from a hoof injury, however.

This time, he could prep earlier with the Whitney on Aug. 3 and Woodward set for Aug. 31.