'Zoned in' Uncle B runs to 35-1 upset in Claiming Crown Emerald
David Caprio’s Uncle B, claimed out of his 4-year-old debut 11 months earlier over the same course, took the lead in mid-stretch and outran his rivals to the wire to spring a 35-1 upset of Saturday’s $125,000 Claiming Crown Emerald at Gulfstream Park.
The 1 1/16-mile Emerald for fillies and mares 3 and up which had started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less since Jan. 1, 2017 was the eighth of nine starter stakes worth $1.11 million on an 11-race Claiming Crown Day program highlighting Opening Day of Gulfstream’s 2018-19 Championship Meet.
This marked the seventh straight year in South Florida and 20th overall for the Claiming Crown, created in 1999 to honor the blue-collar horses that are the foundation of the racing industry nationwide. An agreement was reached this fall to keep the event at Gulfstream through 2021.
Ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. for trainer Lilli Kurtinecz, Uncle B ($74.60) finished up in 1:41.76 over a firm turf course to win by three-quarters of a length for his second career stakes win and first since taking the OBS Sprint in January 2017.
Your Only Man made a late move to get up for second, a neck ahead of narrow 3-1 favorite Aquaphobia. It was a neck back to 30-1 long shot Who’s Your Drama followed by Montclair, who had his four-race win streak snapped.
“Lilli told me she had a lot of confidence in her horse,” Santana said. “He broke really well and we had him stalking in great position. By the three-eighths pole, everyone started moving and we were in a great position at that time. He picked it up by himself without me asking. I waited for the turn for home, gave him a smooch and he gave it all to me.”
Santana settled Uncle B by himself in fourth as Birdsnest Party, Driven by Thunder and Souperfast battled through contested fractions of 23.67 seconds, 47.47 and 1:11.32. Santana tipped Uncle B three wide rounding the far turn and the gelded son of Zensational got rolling to reel in Driven by Thunder at the eighth pole and edge away.
Uncle B won three straight starts after being claimed for $16,000 out of a fifth-place finish Jan. 13. He hadn’t won in four tries since, most recently tiring to last in a one-mile optional claimer Oct. 21 at Gulfstream Park West.
“We didn’t want to go here, but he’s just been crawling out of his skin. I work him every week and he took me around. I couldn’t pull him up last week. I could tell he was zoned in,” Kurtinecz said. “We’re in starter-$16,000, and that’s kind of where he belongs.
“We were going to the OBS Sprint race because he holds the track record there, but I don’t know anything about that surface and I’ve been stretching him out,” she added. “The owner wanted to run. I said, ‘No red flags. Let’s go for it.’”