X Y Jet Holds Off Candip in Gulfstream Sprint
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Photo:
Lauren King/Gulfstream Park
A slight bobble at the break may have given trainer Jorge Navarro reason for pause but it wasn’t enough to slow down the speedy X Y Jet, who rocketed to the lead and held off Candip for a 1 ¼-length victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3).
It was the third victory of the Championship Meet and fifth consecutive win dating back to last fall for the 4-year-old Kantharos gelding, who furthered his reputation as one of the country’s elite sprinters.
Favored at 1-2 in a field of eight, X Y Jet ($3) ran 6 ½ furlongs in 1:15.95 over a fast main track under regular rider Emisael Jaramillo, aboard for each of the last four races including wins in the Mr. Prospector (G3) and Sunshine Millions Sprint this winter at Gulfstream.
“Coming into the paddock, he wasn’t the same horse as last time out. He was ready. I was like, ‘Oh my God, they’re in trouble,’” Navarro said. “My biggest concern with X Y Jet has always been the gate. I don’t know what happens back there, if he’s not paying attention to what goes on, but I always tell Jaramillo, ‘Please make sure of a clean break, that they’re holding his head up so he’s not looking down.’ We went through that last year, and he was a nightmare. I know what kind of a horse he is. We’ve always thought he was a nice horse.”
Breaking from the middle of the field, X Y Jet bobbled when the starting gate doors sprang open but quickly got his legs underneath him and sprinted to the front, blazing through a quarter-mile in 21.84 seconds and a half in 43.80 while chased by Grade 3 winner Trouble Kid and Candip.
X Y Jet extended his lead to three lengths rounding the far turn as Trouble Kid dropped back and Ready for Rye, a winner over X Y Jet in last year’s Swale (G2) at Gulfstream, launched his bid on the outside. Tiring as they approached the wire, the winner had plenty left to hold off Candip, who was 1 ½ lengths ahead of Ready for Rye. Griff, Grand Bili, Trouble Kid and Viva Majorca completed the order of finish.
“He stumbled when he left the gate. He didn’t break good today. After he stumbled, he gathered himself and he made the lead. They put pressure on him, but when they looked him in the eye, he got in the bridle,” Jaramillo said. “When he turned for home, he got in a different gear. In the lane, it looked like he was waiting on horses, but he has so much class, when I called on him, he just drew away again.”
Despite the break the early fractions didn’t concern Navarro, who used the race as a springboard to the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen run at about six furlongs March 26 in Meydan. Trainer and horse will leave their Gulfstream Park West base in mid-March.
“I felt pretty comfortable. Once I saw the 43 [seconds for a half-mile], I was like ‘6 1/2 [furlongs], 43, whoa, we’re not going three-quarters today.’ You know what, he likes a challenge. If you look at it, every time he got beat last year he got beat by a nose, a head. I knew he was going to come right back,” Navarro said. “I’m going to keep him happy now. In a way, the 43 I kind of loved it because I’m not planning to do anything with him right now. I’m going to keep him happy, that’s it. I’m going to go [to Dubai] and go on a vacation.”
Source: Gulfstream Park
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