Gulfport seeks smooth sailing in Saratoga’s hope

news7g09/03/2022

2 3 minutes read

Gulfport seeks smooth sailing in Saratoga's hope

It’s not easy to get into trouble in a four-horse school, but .’s connections Gulfport will attest to how it can happen.

That scene was the August 13 (G2) Saratoga Special Stock when William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Jackpot Ranch, Whisnking Oaks Ranch, and Ashford Stud’s son Uncle Mo is about 2-5 favorites in a field of only four 2-year-olds.

The start of the race didn’t go well, with Gulfport and jockey Joel Rosario finishing third.

Then, while moving in the first leg, he “squeezed” with the eventual winner, Damon’s Mound , while racing among the horses. Then, right after that, he checks sharp.

The end result was that Gulfport lost its fulcrum and momentum and found itself about 3 1/2 lengths behind Damon’s Mound in the middle of the race and had to come in second, 3 1/4 lengths behind the winner and seven lengths before the third horse.

Registration for BloodHorse Daily

Coach Steve Asmussen said: “I think he’s a bit overconfident and put in an unnecessary and insurmountable position. “It’s amazing to see so much trouble in a field of four horses.”

Out of that state of failure, Gulfport will have a second chance to Racecourse Saratoga The 2-year-old stake won when Flavien Prat will board the ship on September 5 on the $300,000 Shares of Hope (G1) seven percent, the last stake on the end-day card at Spa.

“He was an incredibly talented pony and we were disappointed that he was beaten in the Saratoga Special, but Hopeful gives him the right stage to prove who he is,” Asmussen said.

The uproar for Gulfport in the Saratoga Special is understandable as his 2v2 record was capped by 12 1/4 eye-opening length at 1-5 odds in the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs. The winner of his seven-legged debut, also at Churchill Downs, he wrapped six Bashford Manor outerwear in a blistering 1:09.25 after leading throughout.

“He’s very talented and whenever you get to run a horse that fast, it’s exciting,” said Asmussen, who is looking for a fourth straight win in round 1.

Bred by Diamond Creek Ranch from Song of Unbridled mare Fame and Fortune, Gulfport was purchased by Pick View for $275,000 from an Eaton Sales shipment at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale.

Nasser Bin Omairah’s Mo Strike also generated a considerable amount of excitement in his two starts. After winning his first match at Churchill Downs on June 19, he moved to Saratoga and progressed to a 3 1/2 victory at the Sanford Stakes (G3) on July 16 for coach Brad Cox.

In that first victory, Uncle Mo’s son defeated Disarming who came back after finishing in third place to crown her 6th victory 1/4 girl length on August 6 at Spa.

The Mo Strike was bred by Blue Heaven Farm and Ashford Stud and sold for $325,000 from Gene Recio consignment at Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring 2 year olds in training.

Rodeo Creek Racing’s Blazing Sevens also put on a dazzling performance at Spa, helping top coach Chad Brown make his July 24 debut after 6 1/4 lengths. The son of Good magic he crashed on a break in his lone start and raced across the field but still managed to win while hanging loose under the rope.

The sport’s living legend, Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, 87, makes up two of the six participants with BC Stables’ Bourbon Bash and Western Ghent (American pharoah ), a winner of the maiden race in the fourth startup owned by Bob and Ann Ghent and Lukas and his wife, Laurie.

Bourbon Bash, son of City of light was passing a long score of eight in an August 13 first race at the meeting, but had been second by the Blazing Sevens before then.

Lukas, who turns 87 on September 2, said: “I’m still excited for a promising 2-year-old boy. It’s an important race I think for him. He’s arrived. around and has since trained very strongly. It will be interesting to see if he can step up in Hopeful.”

Lukas, Hall of Famer and the sport’s mark of all-time earnings, has won the Hopeful record eight times. His most recent trip to the 1st grade winners’ circle came in 2017 with Robert Baker and William Mack’s Sports opportunities .

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Forte fourth in Sanford after scoring his debut win 7 3/4 length at Belmont Park.

“The track was probably a little too deep for his liking (in Sanford). The pace didn’t come back much,” coach Todd Pletcher said of his son. Violence . “I think he should appreciate the added gap.”