Notyouraveragejoe Springs Upset in Showing Up

 

He’s Notyouraveragejoe – at least, on turf.

The Steve DiMauro-trained Notyouravergejoe again showed an affinity for running on grass Saturday at Gulfstream Park West, where he pulled off a 17-1 upset in the $90,000 Showing Up Stakes to win his second stakes on turf in as many tries.

The son of Discreet Cat scored by 1 ¼ lengths in the mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds while earning every dollar of the $60,000 winner’s share of the purse. Ridden by Eduardo Nunez, Notyouraverage Joe broke sharply to grab an early lead while quickly challenged by Little Daddy and jockey Edgard Zayas, who kept the pressure on around the first turn and along the backstretch. Notyouraveragejoe inched away on the far turn and continued on to post an impressive hard-earned victory.

“I thought he ran great. I was happy he got the lead. I thought there was a horse on the inside that had some speed, but that never developed,” said DiMauro, who trains the winner for Darsan Inc and Appaloosa Finance. “I was a little concerned when that horse challenged him on the backside and pressed him, but he ran well.”

Dustymour finished second under Santiago Gonzalez, a nose in front of Shiva Ryan and jockey Diego Gomez.

Notyouraveragejoe ran a mile on turf in 1:36.57 in his first race since finishing off the board in the Quality Road Stakes over Gulfstream Park’s main track on June 28 and only his second race of the year.

“It was a long time getting him back to the races. I’m just happy that he ran a good race, never mind win,” DiMauro said. “He’s had some physical ailments, nothing major. I had to stop with him once during the winter. I got him back to the races in June but he aggravated it again and I had to stop again. He’s a bit of a handful to train, so it’s been difficult. It’s rewarding for him to win.”

Notyouraveragejoe broke his maiden over a sloppy Gulfstream main track in September 2013 in his fourth lifetime start. He came right back to win the $100,000 Juvenile Turf, a restricted stakes for Florida-bred horses, in his grass debut last November at Gulfstream. He then finished second in the off-the-turf Pulpit Stakes before going on the shelf until June.

“Obviously, he likes the grass. He’s 2-for-2 on it, so I’d like to keep him on it if I can,” DiMauro said.

 

Source: Gulfstream Park Communications