Bozzo tops own record at 97

Every time Jerry Bozzo sends out a winner, he sets a new standard.

Bozzo, who will turn 98 on Oct. 25, won the fifth race Saturday at Gulfstream Park in south Florida with Gusty Wind, once again delighting his many admirers.

In June 2017, Bozzo broke what was believed to be the North American record for oldest winning trainer, held by the late Noble Three witt, when he won a maiden-claiming race with a filly named Cotton Tooyah. Before that, Bozzo had become the oldest trainer to win a stakes when Flutterby registered three such triumphs in 2015.

Bozzo was unable to be on hand Saturday and told Gulfstream publicity by phone after watching the race at home: “It’s very gratifying. I wish I could have been there in the winner’s circle. That would have pumped me up even more.”

Bozzo is a World War II veteran and a graduate of what is now known as Carnegie Mellon University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He made a fortune when selling his bottle manufacturing company in Pennsylvania in 1969 and has bred and raced horses in Florida since the early 1970s. He now has just three horses in training, all at Gulfstream Park West.

Three witt, born in 1911, was 95 when he sent out his last winner, which came at Hollywood Park in June 2006.

Gusty Wind, a 6-1 shot, was rated well off the early pace by jockey Luca Panici en route to winning the $10,000 maiden claiming race.

Bozzo “is a man with an amazing history, a World War II veteran,” Panici said. “I always enjoy riding for him.”

Apprentice gets first win

Kevin Carmona, who just a few months ago was the regular exercise rider for Grade 1 winner Audible, notched his first career victory when Art Major pulled a 30-1 upset in the Saturday opener.

Carmona, 19, was greeted afterward by his fellow riders with the traditional shower of water, powder, and other debris. The breakthrough win came in his 24th mount and was followed Sunday by a second victory, aboard Pretty Shea D.

Carmona, who will be competing with a 10-pound allowance until his fifth win, attended jockeys’ school in his native Puerto Rico before coming to the United States to work as an exercise rider, most recently for Todd Pletcher. Audible won the March 31 Florida Derby at Gulfstream before finishing third in the Kentucky Derby.

Deland gets it together

It took a while for Deland to start matching his achievements in Puerto Rico, but the Florida-bred is back to peak form after earning a 94 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the $75,000 Coast Is Clear on Sunday at Gulfstream.

Deland won 10 of 15 starts in Puerto Rico, most notably the Group 1 Barbosa in July 2016, but after being shipped to Florida last winter, he struggled. A minor hoof injury precluded a start in the Dec. 9 Clasico del Caribe at Gulfstream, and Deland threw his jockey shortly after the start of his U.S. debut in a Feb. 10 allowance at Tampa Bay Downs.

After being defeated in his next three races, Deland really put it all together Sunday, rallying to a two-length triumph under Emisael Jaramillo.

“Today, he was very, very good,” said Victor Barboza Jr., who trains Deland for owner Ricardo Vallejo.

Rainbow 6 pool $450,000

While the nominal feature of a 10-race Thursday card at Gulfstream is the opener, a $48,000 allowance for turf sprinters, the primary focus of horseplayers as usual will be on the Rainbow 6, which offers a carryover jackpot of $449,228. First post Thursday is 2 p.m. Eastern, with the 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence starting with the fifth race at 4:01.

The Rainbow 6 has gone unswept by a solo winning ticket since a mandatory payout was held June 30 with the close of the spring meet, a span of 14 programs.