Ribo Bobo Choice in Sir Shackleton

The speedy Ribo Bobo will likely be the heavy favorite in the Sir Shackleton. The 6-year-old gelding will look to continue his winning ways at Gulfstream in the 6 ½-furlong stake. He has won 11 of his last 12 races and is three-for-three so far this season at Gulfstream, all in stakes. His recent wins include the Sunshine Millions Sprint and the Caixa Electronica Stakes.             

Early in the week, it was thought Ribo Bobo might bypass the Sir Shackleton, but on Wednesday Jason Servis said his horse is ready to go.            

“He’s doing really good,” Servis said. "We’ve been wanting to run here. Ideally, would I have liked to have a couple more weeks, sure, but it just didn’t work out that way.”            

Ribo Bobo was a former $6,500 claim for Servis, an investment that has more than paid off. Ribo Bobo has yet to finish worse than second for the trainer.            

“It really didn’t hit me until the last couple of wins,” Servis said. “Him winning 12 of 13, it’s amazing. I might never get another horse like this.”            

Happy My Way will return to stakes action in the Sir Shackleton. The 5-year-old Hard Spun gelding won an allowance on February 20th after running an impressive second to Ribo Bobo in the Sunshine Millions Sprint and sizzling in a December allowance, running six-furlongs in 1:08 4/5.             

After the two hard races, trainer Joe Orseno resisted temptations to run in a few stakes races and dropped Happy My Way back down in company, but now he believes his horse is ready for another step up in class.            

“I believe in the bounce, and I believe horses need at least 3 weeks to a month to get over races,” Orseno said. “I just thought I’d give him the extra time. He’s doing real well now and he’s real sharp going into this.”            

Orseno credits a race on the Monmouth Park turf course last July for Happy My Way’s improved form, but he also believes the horse can run his best on the dirt – when it’s at Gulfstream.            

“I thought the turf put this horse running in the right direction,” Orseno said. “It sparked him and he trained better – more aggressive and alert. But he ran so well on the dirt (at Gulfstream) last year, so we decided to run on it again, and he ran better numbers than some of the top sprinters out there. I’ll probably run him back on the grass again somewhere, but he’s running so well here, so I hope he keeps taking the right step. I’m expecting a big effort and hopefully it’s big enough to win the race.”