Gulfstream: Claiming Crown Previews

By David Joseph —-

‘Yodel’ in Tune for Saturday’s Claiming Crown Rapid Transit

Navarro-Trained Whyruawesome ‘Phenomenal’ for Express

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who has achieved a series of career firsts in 2019, is scheduled to saddle Yodel E. A. Who for a start in Saturday’s $110,000 Claiming Crown Rapid Transit at Gulfstream Park.

Joseph, who notched his first Grade 1 win when he saddled Math Wizard for a victory in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby and won his first Florida Sire Stakes final when he sent out Chance It for a triumph in the $400,000 In Reality this year, will seek his first Claiming Crown success in Saturday’s $1.1 million nine-race event that pays tribute to the blue-collar horses that are the backbone of the day-to-day Thoroughbred industry.

Yodel E. A. Who is more than likely the up-and-coming trainer’s best chance to add another first to his growing resume.

The 3-year-old gelded son of Creative Cause will seek his fourth straight victory in the seven-furlong sprint for horses that have started for a claiming price of $16,000 or lower. The Joseph trainee, who raced for a $12,500 claiming tag in February, was claimed for $40,000 for Isla Stables LLC, Big Frank Stable and Basset Stable out of a 10 ½-length victory at Gulfstream Park Sept. 19. He came back with a powerful triumph in a Nov. 17 optional claiming allowance victory at Gulfstream Park West, where he won by 3 ¼ lengths after running 6 ½ furlongs in 1:16.07.

“We claimed him in good form, so we claimed him at the right time. That was a big key,” Joseph said. “He maintained his form. It was great to see him win again. He’s a nice horse and he’s training well.”

Yodel E. A. Who was also nominated for the $300,000 Jewel, the 1 1/8-mile Claiming Crown headliner, but Joseph opted to keep him sprinting Saturday, when he is scheduled to meet nine rivals.

“We don’t want to change anything. He’s won at 6 ½ [furlongs] and a mile. The race is seven furlongs so it fits in between,” he said. “I think it’s a good spot for him.”

Yodel E. A. Who, who will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione for the first time, has won his last three starts by a combined 17 lengths.

“He’s a horse who could go on and do some nice things for us, hopefully,” Joseph said.

Trainer Jorge Navarro, who has saddled the winners of nine Claiming Crown races, will seek his third success in the Rapid Transit with Julian de Mora Jr. and JN Racing Stables LLC’s First Deal, Sandy Goldfarb’s Benefactor and Ron Hendrickson’s Who’s Out.

First Deal will also seek his fourth straight victory in the Rapid Transit. The 3-year-old son of Turbo Compressor has won six of nine starts during his career that started with a nine-length debut victory in a $16,000 maiden claiming race at Tampa Bay Downs in February.

“The horse was showing me nothing, so I sent him to Tampa. My assistant at Tampa called me and said, ‘We have a nice one.’ I said, ‘What do you mean we have a nice one? This horse never showed me anything,’” Navarro said. “We ran him for [$16,000] the first time and he won easily. Then, I was worried somebody claimed him, but thankfully, nobody did.”

First Deal is coming off back-to-back stakes victories at Monmouth Park.

“His record speaks for itself. I think he’ll be one of the favorites because he was running against some quality sprinters at Monmouth Park,” Navarro said.

Benefactor finished third in the Mr. Prospector Stakes at Monmouth last time out, while Who’s Out is coming off a starter allowance at Parx.

Hector Diaz Jr. has the return mount aboard First Deal, while Kendrick Carmouche has the call on Benefactor and Emisael Jaramillo is set to ride Who’s Out.

Imaginary Stables and Glenn Ellis’ Royal Squeeze, the winner of the Big Drama Stakes during Gulfstream’s Spring Meet; and Midnight Stable Inc.’s Rol Again Question, an allowance winner at Parx last time out; are among the top contenders for the Rapid Transit.

Long Ball Stable’s D T Goodie, Auricchio and Jacobson LLC-Radon’s Rayo My King, Secure Investment’s Empire Power, Paradise Farms Corp. and Steve McCanne’s Just Kidding,

Navarro-Trained Whyruawesome ‘Phenomenal’ for Express

Trainer Jorge Navarro will seek his third Claiming Crown Express success at Gulfstream Park Saturday when he saddles saddles Whyruawesome and Tale of Fire for the $110,000 six-furlong sprint for horses that raced for a claiming price of $8,000 or lower.

Navarro is particularly impressed with Imaginary Stables and Glenn Ellis’ Whyruawesome.

“The horse is training really good. His numbers are phenomenal,” Navarro said. “The way he’s been running, he should be running with the best sprinters in the country with those numbers.”

Whyruawesome finished second in the Mr. Prospector Stakes at Monmouth last time out after winning his three previous starts.

“We bought him at Keeneland two years ago. I was stretching him out and we figured out that he didn’t want to go that far. Since we started sprinting him, he’s really turned it around,” Navarro said. “He’s going to be 9. He’s a sound horse.”

Monster Racing Stable’s Tale of Fire has never finished off the board in 10 starts since being purchased at sale for $20,000 in the Summer of 2018. The son of Tale of Ekati won his career debut in July 2017 before racing in Dubai four times.

“He ran the first time in Fort Erie. Somehow he ended up in Dubai. I thought if somebody spent the money to go to Dubai, they probably thought they had something there,” Navarro said.

Kendrick Carmouche has the call on Whyruawesome, while Emisael Jaramillo is slated to ride Tale of Fire.

Paradise Farms Corp. and Walder Racing’s Fast Pass is scheduled to make his first start since finishing off the board in the Korea Sprint (G1) at Seoul Racecourse Sept. 6.

“Korea took a lot out of him. Flying back home took a lot out of him, but we gave him a break and he’s back now and doing excellent. I sent him to the farm for a little bit and he worked really well the other day, so I’m hoping we can get the same sort of effort (as last year) with a little better result this year,” trainer Peter Walder said.

Fast Pass, who closed from 10th to third in last year’s Express, had earned an invitation to race on the Korea Cup undercard after winning the Opening Lead Stakes and finishing third in the Smile Sprint (G3) during Gulfstream’s Spring Meet.

“To tell you the truth, I never thought that he would turn out the way he did. He ran for $4,000 never-won-two-lifetime at one point and to say that he would make the Claiming Crown two years in a row, let alone take us to Korea, is quite incredible,” Walder said. “I don’t know how much that trip took out of him and that he’s sitting on go for this race, but I’m hoping that he shows up for the rest of the year and that the break that we gave him will pay off down the line. I just don’t know that I have him tight enough for this race.”

Cristian Torres has the mount aboard the 8-year-old son of Successful Appeal.

Manuel Real’s Travy Boy is scheduled to seek his third-straight win and second-straight stakes victory Saturday. The Gilberto Zerpa-trained 4-year-old gelding scored by 2 ¾ lengths in the Millions Sprint Preview at Gulfstream Park last time out.

Paco Lopez has the return mount aboard the son of Gemologist.

David Staudacher’s Northern has been popular at the claiming box recently in his last three starts, ending up in the care of Michael Maker, the all-time leading Claiming Crown trainer with 16 victories. The 5-year-old son of Adios Charlie, who has won half of his 14 starts this year, enters the Express off a second-place finish in an Oct. 12 optional claiming starter allowance at Gulfstream Park.

Tyler Gaffalione has the mount.

Basset Stables’ Take Charge Dude will also seek his third-straight win Saturday. The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained 4-year-old gelding, who was claimed for $6,250 in July, won a five-furlong turf sprint Oct. 25 before capturing a six-furlong starter allowance on the Gulfstream Park West main track.

Ricardo Santana Jr. is slated to ride the son of Take Charge Indy for the first time.

Brett McClellan’s Harryhee, Kasey K Racing Stable LLC and Michael Day’s Brother Chub, David Gruskos’ Nick the Cardshark and Silver Leaf Stables’ Bordini round out the field.

Forest’ Ready to ‘Fire’ in Saturday’s $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel

$1.1 Million Nine-Stakes Event a Tribute to Blue-Collar Thoroughbreds

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Shirley Lojeski’s Forest Fire will bring stakes credentials into Saturday’s $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel, which will highlight the $1.1 million, nine-race event for horses that have raced for a claiming price of $35,000 or less.

The Claiming Crown, which will be hosted by Gulfstream Park for the eighth consecutive year, is a tribute to the blue-collar horses that serve as the backbone of day-to-day thoroughbred racing. First-race post time is set for 11:50 a.m.

Forest Fire may not be a blueblood but it’s a bit of a stretch to view the 4-year-old gelded son of Friesan Fire as strictly a blue-collar horse.

“He had shown that he was a stake horse early on in his career,” trainer John Servis said. “In his third or fourth start we put him in a stake and he got beat by three-quarters of a length, so we always knew he had talent.”

Forest Fire finished a close second in the 2018 Private Terms Stakes for 3-year-olds at Laurel Park after back-to-back victories in his second and third career starts. The Pennsylvania homebred went on to win two of his next three starts before heading to the sidelines with a knee chip. He may have seemed headed to the claiming ranks when he returned to action with a pair of dismal efforts, but he turned things around after a throat condition was addressed.

“Because those races were so bad, it gave us an opportunity to take a little bit of an edge and run him for a tag to take a shot and see if we could get a win,” Servis said. “Since the throat surgery, he’s come back running and running good.”

Forest Fire became Claiming Crown-eligible while winning for a $35,000 claiming tag in a July 29 optional claiming allowance race at Parx. He came right back to win another optional claiming allowance at Parx before capturing the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic at Laurel at 1 1/8 miles in his most recent start.

“He seems to be getting even better. Paco Lopez rode him in Maryland and he thought there was a lot of horse left. He felt like he was just toying with those horses,” Servis said. “We’re excited about him going in the right direction and seeing what he is.”

Lopez has the mount in the 1 1/8-mile Jewel, in which Forest Fire will face eight rivals.

“I think I’m going to have to beat my family members, the way it looks,” said Servis, whose brother John will be represented by M and A Racing LTD’s Leitone and whose son Tyler will saddle Troy Johnson and Charles Lo’s Degrom.

Leitone, a Group 1 winner in Chile, was claimed out of a 13 ¾-length victory for a $12,500 price June 16 at Belmont Park. The 5-year-old son of Dunkirk has raced four times, winning both starts on dirt. Most recently, Leitone captured a $50,000 claiming race at Belmont Park by 7 ½ lengths. Jose Lescano has the mount aboard the Chile-bred.

Degrom, who won at first asking at Colonial Downs after being claiming for $20,000 at Parx July 15, finished second to a next out winner in a Laurel optional claiming allowance last time out.. Tyler Gaffalione has the call aboard the 5-year-old Congrats gelding.

Trainer Jorge Navarro, who saddled Aztec Sense for a victory in last year’s Jewel, is scheduled to saddle a pair of entrants in the grand finale of the Claiming Crown event – Flying P Stable’s Ekhtibaar and Woodland Farms’ Holiday Bonus.

Ekhtibaar will be making his first start for his new connections since being claimed for $25,000 out of a fourth-place finish over a sloppy Saratoga track Sept. 2.

“We claimed him at Saratoga with the intentions of running him in the Claiming Crown. The horse is training really good,” Navarro said. “We’ve made changes. He’s training like a good horse.”

The 6-year-old son of Bernardini, a Shadwell homebred who began his career with Chad Brown, will be ridden by Kendrick Carmouche.

Holiday Bonus has won only three of 30 starts but has earned more than $300,000.

“He’s been running against some good horses in New York. He was sent to my barn to aim for the Claiming Crown,” said Navarro, who has saddled nine Claiming Crown race winners, second only to Michael Maker’s 16. “We’ve had nowhere to go with him. He’s run out of conditions. He’s been training really good, also.”

Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount aboard the 5-year-old gelded son of Harlan’s Holiday.

Town and Country Racing LLC’s Third Day enters the Jewel off back-to-back wins at Churchill Downs. The Brian Lynch-trained 5-year-old gelding, who was third in the Ben Ali (G3) at Keeneland in the spring, became eligible for the Claiming Crown while winning a $32,000 claiming race Nov. 2. The son of Bernardini came right back 12 days later to win an off-the-turf optional claiming allowance by three lengths.

Julian Leparoux has the mount aboard Third Day, who captured an overnight stakes during Gulfstream’s 2016-2017 Championship Meet.

Three Diamonds Farm’s Noble Thought also enters the Jewel off an off-the-turf optional claiming allowance at Churchill Downs. The Michael Maker-trained 6-year-old gelding, who is graded stakes-placed on turf and finished fifth in the Sword Dancer (G1) at Saratoga last summer, was claimed by his connections out of a victory in an off-the-turf $25,000 claiming race at Fair Grounds last March.

Jorge Vargas Jr. has been named to ride the son of Harlan’s Holiday for the first time.

OMG Stables LLC’s Aequor and Los Amigos Racing and Island Style Racing’s Create Again round out the field.

Dontblamerocket Looks to Fire in $125,000 Emerald

Record-Holder Maker Holds Strong Hand in $125,000 Tiara

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – AJ Suited Racing Stable’s Dontblamerocket, unbeaten in two starts since changing hands in late spring, makes his stakes debut seeking to extend his streak in Saturday’s $125,000 Claiming Crown Emerald at Gulfstream Park.

The Emerald for 3-year-olds and up and $125,000 Tiara for fillies and mares 3 and older, both at 1 1/16 miles on the turf for horses that have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less since Jan. 1, 2018, are among nine stakes that help comprise the $1.11 million Claiming Crown.

This marks the eighth straight year in South Florida and 21st 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 five years, topped by a record $13.612 million in 2018.

First race post time for Saturday’s 11-race program is 11:50 a.m.

Dontblamerocket is a gelded 5-year-old son of 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Blame who was claimed by trainer Norm Casse for $50,000 out of a third-place finish May 24 in Kentucky at the Emerald distance. He has never raced at Gulfstream, and has finished in the top three in 11 of 13 lifetime starts with six wins.

“He’s just one of those types of horses that we really like. He always shows up and he always run his race,” Casse said. “He’s always ultra-competitive. We’ve been really lucky because we’ve been able to find some really good spots for him and we’ve spaced his races out accordingly. He’s just rewarded us with the confidence that we’ve put into him.”

Casse gave Dontblamerocket time before bringing him back in a 1 1/8-mile starter Aug. 11 at Saratoga, where he prevailed by 2 ¾ lengths after an inside trip. In his most recent effort Sept. 8 at Kentucky Downs, he found himself well back in a tight pack and made a winning move on the outside to get up by a half-length. Favored in both races, he retains the services of Julien Leparoux off his most recent win.

“I think the thing that you can’t measure in a horse is their heart. He certainly shows great tenacity every time he runs,” Casse said. “The Kentucky Downs race was funny because it’s a very different turf course; it’s a very different circumstance altogether. I think he spent half the race trying to figure out what was going on. He just won because of his attitude and the way he always brings his A-game. I think he ran really well that day and we’re very excited to have an opportunity to win a Claiming Crown race.”

By design, Dontblamerocket has had plenty of time to acclimate to his surroundings, breezing twice over the turf at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, since Thanksgiving.

“We shipped him down early. He’s been there for probably about three weeks at our barn in Palm Meadows,” Casse said. “Basically after he won the prep race at Kentucky Downs we shut him down for a little bit with the idea that we’d bring him in to Gulfstream as a fresh horse.”

Another horse entering the Emerald on a roll is Noda Brothers’ Tusk, a winner of his last three starts. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. claimed the 6-year-old Tapit gelding out of his most recent race, a 1 ¼-length triumph Oct. 20 on the Belmont Park turf.

Tusk showed grit to match his talent in each of the two previous races, both at Delaware Park, going 7 ½ furlongs and about one mile, for previous trainer Jorge Navarro, winning by a half-length and a nose. Overall, he owns a record of 7-7-5 with $369,297 in purse earnings from 35 starts.

“He’s training well. He’s won three in a row,” Joseph said. “We claimed him at the right time. He’s in really good form and we’re excited to see him run.”

Driven by Thunder, winner of the 1 1/16-mile James Kyle Stakes Sept. 6 at Gulfstream and sixth in last year’s Emerald; 2017 Better Talk Now Stakes winner Heiroglyphics; 16-time career winner Spring Up; Mike Maker-trained stablemates Apreciado and Patriot Drive; and Max K.O., Fifth Title, And Won, King of Spades and Muggsamatic complete the field.

Record-Holder Maker Holds Strong Hand in $125,000 Tiara

Mike Maker, the Claiming Crown’s all-time leading trainer with 17 victories, entered the trio of Arabella Bella, Codrington and Pugilist in an attempt to extend his record in the $125,000 Tiara.

Maker won his first Claiming Crown races with a hat trick in 2007 and has won at least one race in nine of the 11 subsequent editions including a career-best four races in 2012, the event’s first year at Gulfstream.

Three of Maker’s wins have come in the Tiara – Star Silhouette in 2012, St. Borealis in 2014 and Peru last year. Three Diamonds Farm’s 4-year-old filly Arabella Bella, claimed for $40,000 in May, has won one of five starts for Maker – a one-mile, 70-yard starter race Sept. 8 at Kentucky Downs. In her last race, the daughter of Skipshot set the pace on the inside into the stretch but tired to sixth, beaten two lengths, in an optional claiming allowance going one mile Nov. 15 at Aqueduct.

Jordan Wycoff’s Codrington has run second in each of her three starts since joining Maker this summer. The 4-year-old filly rallied to edge favored Curluck by a head for the place Sept. 15 at Belmont Park, returning in four weeks to be a nose ahead of third-place finisher Summer Squeeze in a 1 1/16-mile starter allowance. Codrington rallied from far back to come up a neck short of winner Magic Fairy in a six-furlong turf sprint Nov. 17 at Aqueduct.

Paradise Farms Corp.’s Pugilist will be racing first time for Maker after being claimed for $25,000 out of a fifth-place finish as the favorite sprinting six furlongs on the Aqueduct turf Nov. 15. The 4-year-old filly was also favored when she ran third in a one-mile starter allowance over Laurel Park’s world-class turf course Oct. 12. This spring, Pugilist won back-to-back races before running sixth in the Big Dreyfus Stakes June 16 at Laurel.

Codrington and Pugilist are the first two also-eligibles in an overflow field of 16 entered for the Tiara. Arabella Bella will break from Post 1.

Black Chevron Racing Stable’s Raki is three-for-nine lifetime at Gulfstream, winning the 7 ½-furlong Miss Gracie Stakes in her most recent try over the turf course Sept. 14. She made a bid on the inside before flattening out to be fifth in the one-mile Cellars Shiraz Stakes Nov. 2 at Gulfstream Park West.

Robert Amendola’s Una Luna has finished second in her last four starts after notching back-to-back wins going a mile on the Gulfstream turf this spring and summer. The 4-year-old filly ran behind Tiara contender Lady Alida in the Sept. 7 In the Breeze Stakes and Picara in the Filly & Mare Turf Preview Nov. 9 at Gulfstream West.

Rounding out the field are Amazing Audrey; Bienville Street, placed in a pair of Gulfstream turf stakes this fall; Vip Nation, Bareeqa, Diamond Play, Drinks On Me, Passion Plus and Lucky Long. Britesideoftheroad and Trieste are the last two also-eligibles.

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, 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. The Stronach Group is also a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry. For more information contact David Joseph at david.joseph@gulfstreampark.com or call 954.457.6451.