Rosario to Ride Wildcat Red in Sunshine Millions Classic
Joel Rosario, an Eclipse Award finalist for the second year in a row as top jockey, will ride multiple graded stakes winner Wildcat Red in the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Classic on January 17 at Gulfstream Park.
Rosario will be aboard the popular Florida-bred son of D’wildcat for a five-furlong breeze Saturday over Gulfstream’s main track, Wildcat Red’s fifth and final work prior to the 1 1/8-mile Classic. Last week, he went the same distance in 57.48 seconds, the fastest of 38 horses.
“It will just be a routine breeze,” trainer Jose Garoffalo said. “With the fast fractions that he went last week, we are going to try to go slower than that. He’ll be all right. He’s ready for the race.”
Rosario becomes the seventh jockey to ride Wildcat Red in what will be his 14th lifetime start, following Edgard Zayas, Paco Lopez, Javier Castellano, Luis Saez and Hall of Famers John Velazquez and Edgar Prado.
In his career, Wildcat Red has five wins and three seconds in eight starts at Gulfstream including victories last winter in the Hutcheson (G3) and Fountain of Youth (G2) and runner-up finishes in the Florida Derby (G1) and Gulfstream Park Derby.
“He is a rider that is very good when he runs on the lead, and I think he’s going to fit well with the horse,” Garoffalo said. “I think he is the kind of rider that we need, especially on this track where we can use his speed. That’s the way he runs best, especially here.”
Rosario, currently 7-for-55 at the Championship Meet which opened December 6, is also known for being a strong finisher with horses. He ranked third in purse earnings and fourth in wins at last year’s Championship Meet.
"He’s very strong at the end, too. He’s very versatile,” Garoffalo said. “We are happy to have him. I hope this time we keep the rider for as far as we can. We’ll see what happens.”
Source: Gulfstream Park