Gulfstream News & Notes: Multiple G1 Winner Jaywalk to Launch 2019 Season at Gulfstream

By David Joseph —-

Jaywalk; Joe Labozzetta Photo

Multiple G1 Winner Jaywalk to Launch 2019 Season at Gulfstream
Maker Enters Six Looking to Extend Claiming Crown Record
Driven by Thunder Makes Return for Pletcher in $125,000 Emerald

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – D. J. Stable and Cash is King’s Jaywalk, the leading contender to take home an Eclipse Award as this year’s champion 2-year-old filly, is expected to kick off her sophomore season during Gulfstream Park’s 2018-19 Championship Meet.

Jaywalk is currently getting some down time on the farm in Ocala, Fla, trainer John Servis said, after her win streak went to four races with a commanding 5 ½-length triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Nov. 2.

“That was her fifth start as a 2-year-old, so we shut her down and sent her to Ocala to give her a little R and R. We’ll start her up toward the end of the year and start getting her ready for her 3-year-old campaign,” Servis said. “The first Grade 1 that we’ll point for will probably be the [Kentucky] Oaks. She’ll run once or twice at Gulfstream probably and either from there to the Oaks or from there to Keeneland and then the Oaks, depending on how she’s doing and where she’s at.”

Jaywalk debuted in a maiden special weight June 23 at Monmouth Park, finishing second to subsequent Schuylerville (G3) runner-up Nonna Madeline. From there, Jaywalk broke her maiden and won the White Clay Creek Stakes and Frizette (G1) before taking on nine rivals in the Breeders’ Cup.

“She trained so good going into the Breeders’ Cup. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know if she was good enough to beat those fillies,” Servis said. “There were some really good fillies in there and I told the owners going in, ‘She couldn’t be doing any better. It’s just a question of if she’s better than they are.’ That’s what it came down to. She was running against the best in the country, you know?”

Among Gulfstream’s races for 3-year-old fillies in 2019 are the $150,000 Forward Gal (G3) at seven furlongs Feb. 2, the $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) at one mile March 2, and the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) at 1 1/16 miles March 30.

“I would think either the Forward Gal or the Davona Dale would probably be her first start back. It just depends on whether she’s going to be ready in February or whether she’s going to be ready in March. There’s a lot a races ahead of her, hopefully,” Servis said. “She’s pretty special.”

Gulfstream Park will host the Eclipse Awards for the seventh straight year in the Sport of Kings Theater on Thursday, Jan. 24.

Maker Enters Six Looking to Extend Claiming Crown Record

Already the winningest trainer in event history, Mike Maker can add to his record when he sends out six horses in four of the nine Claiming Crown races Saturday on Opening Day of the Championship Meet.

Maker, 49, extended his record to 16 Claiming Crown victories last December when Special Ops captured the $125,000 Emerald. The 1 1/16-mile turf event has been his most successful race with seven wins, and he has both Souperfast and millionaire Slim Shadey entered this year.

This marks 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. Total handle for the Claiming Crown has surpassed $10 million each of the past four years, topped by a record $11.925 million in 2017.

“I haven’t really thought about that, honestly,” Maker said. “It’s nice to be No. 1 on any kind of list, I guess. It was nothing that I really set out to be a goal. It just kind of worked out that way.”

Fourteen of Maker’s wins have been for Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who lead all owners with 15 Claiming Crown victories. Together, they won four races in 2017 and Maker also enjoyed a three-win day in his Claiming Crown debut in 2007.

In all, Maker has had at least one winner in nine of the last 11 years including three in the day’s richest race, the $200,000 Jewel, the most recent coming with Parent’s Honor in 2012.

“It’s always a fun day,” Maker said. “It’s a great event for these types of horses and a chance for them to be recognized. It’s a big day for the staff and the owners and everyone to really enjoy.”

Maker will send out Race Me Home and Bad Student in the 1 1/8-mile Jewel, the last of 11 races Saturday that begin with an 11:50 a.m. post time. He also entered 2017 runner-up Peru in the $125,000 Tiara and Maniacal in the $110,000 Canterbury.

“I grew up in Detroit so that’s the way I started out, with claiming horses,” Maker said. “It’s nice to see that the program that you present to the horses makes them do well or different ideas you have for the horses helps make them successful, and you can’t help but enjoy that.”

Driven by Thunder Makes Return for Pletcher in $125,000 Emerald

Though he has been claimed away twice within the past year, Repole Stable’s Driven by Thunder has enjoyed his longest association – and most success – in the barn of Todd Pletcher. Together they’ll look to recapture that magic in Saturday’s Claiming Crown Emerald.

Driven by Thunder drew Post 5 in an overflow field of 16 that includes two also-eligibles. Jockey Luis Saez, who set a Championship Meet record with 137 victories in earning his second straight riding title, will be aboard.

Pletcher, the elite Championship Meet’s leading trainer an unprecedented 15 straight years as well as North America’s all-time leader with more than $368 million in purse earnings, has never won a Claiming Crown race.

Driven by Thunder is a gelded 4-year-old son of Overdriven that was purchased by Mike Repole for $65,000 as a 2-year-old in training in April 2016. He made his first seven starts for Pletcher, with a record of 2-1-2 including a maiden victory April 2, 2017 at Gulfstream.

Overall, Driven by Thunder has won all seven of his races from 13 starts with Pletcher and is four-for-five over the Gulfstream Park turf course, which underwent a complete $1 million renovation for the winter.

“He’s a cool horse,” Pletcher said. “He’s one that we’ve always liked and we’ve had some success with, and he’s a Florida-bred. We felt like claiming him back and bringing him to Gulfstream hopefully for another productive winter was the right move. The fact that he’s eligible to the Emerald is a good starting point.”

Driven by Thunder was claimed away for $25,000 in September 2017 and made three starts for trainer Ray Handal before Pletcher got him back for the same price two months later. He had three wins at last winter’s Championship Meet and five in six races before we was claimed for $25,000 out of an August win at Saratoga.

Pletcher and Repole haltered him for $32,000 out of his next start Sept. 16 and gave him plenty of time before his return with seven works, the last four coming at the Palm Beach Downs training facility.

“We kind of played it by ear at first and then we just felt like he needed a little extra time to get ready,” Pletcher said. “He’s run well fresh in the past and with this race, knowing that it was going to be here, we felt like we’d take a shot at it with a fresh horse.”

Driven by Thunder has won at distances from 6 ½ furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, on dirt and turf. He has prior stakes experience in the 1 1/16-mile Soldier’s Dancer June 9 at Gulfstream, where he set the pace before tiring to fifth behind Emerald rival Salute the Colonel.

“He’s a fun horse. He’s been a consistent horse. He’s versatile, he runs turf or dirt, so there’s a lot of options with him,” Pletcher said. “He runs no matter where we’ve put him and he’s versatile in distances, but the one thing we have found is he tends to run his better races when he’s on the lead. Depending on the pace scenario, most likely we’ll try to have a forward position with him.”

Gulfstream Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; XpressBet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets