Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Gunnevera leaves Zayas with good impression in latest work
MIAMI – Aside from trainer Antonio Sano, nobody knows the Breeders’ Cup Classicbound Gunnevera any better than jockey Edgard Zayas.
Zayas has been Gunnevera’s regular workout rider throughout much of his career. He’s also been aboard him five times in the afternoon, winning twice while also guiding the son of Dialed In to second-place finishes in two of the sport’s most prestigious events, the Travers in 2017 and the Woodward earlier this summer at Saratoga.
Zayas was in his regular seat Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park West where Gunnevera turned in his second of four scheduled works prior to the Classic, five furlongs in company with regular workmate Cometin in 1:01.03. The move had the usually reserved Zayas quietly excited about the manner in which Gunnevera is coming into the biggest race of the year.
“I think he’s as good as, if not better, now coming into this race than he was going into the Woodward or the Breeders’ Cup last year,” said Zayas, who rode five winners over the weekend and sits atop the standings during the early stages of the Gulfstream Park West meeting. “I mean, he’s never a horse who’s going to wow you or work lights out. But he was definitely much better today in company than he was by himself last week.”
Zayas said he thinks the relatively light schedule Gunnevera has kept since his eighth-place finish in the Dubai World Cup on March 31 is a big plus coming into the Classic.
“He just feels good, he is in great condition right now,” said Zayas. “Coming into the stretch, he just took off once he switched leads. I felt like he was really there when I asked him. And his gallop-out, like always, was amazing. Galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 over this track, it doesn’t get much better than that. I think the fact they gave him all that time off after Dubai and again after his last race is probably responsible for that.”
Cookie Dough to Tempted
Cookie Dough, runaway winner of the final two legs of the filly division of the Florida Sire Stakes, was back on the work tab on Saturday, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.65 in company with stablemate Perspire at Gulfstream Park. The work was the first for Cookie Dough since her victory in the My Dear Girl Stakes on Sept. 29. She won by 7 1/4 lengths despite being hung wide throughout after breaking from post 12, a distinct disadvantage in races run at 1 1/16 miles over the main track at Gulfstream Park.
Although the performance put her in the picture for a possible trip to the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, her ownerbreeder Arindel Farm has opted to take the more conservative route and point Cookie Dough toward the Grade 3 Tempted Stakes the same day at Aqueduct Racetrack.
“I’m disappointed we’re not going to the Breeders’ Cup because I think she would be competitive off her last race, but I understand the owners’ reasoning and it’s their call,” said trainer Stanley Gold. “I realize her final time in the My Dear Girl was much slower than the boys that day and she got a low Beyer. But she lost ground all the way around, was never hit by the stick, drew off and won in a hand ride. I’m just not a big believer in numbers. I believe more in what I see and what I feel about a horse.”
Gold said Cookie Dough came out of the My Dear Girl in good shape, as evidenced by her work over the weekend.
“She could have left the other filly any time,” said Gold, who added Cookie Dough would breeze once more, on Saturday, before shipping to New York. “The game plan was just to keep her in company and give her a solid work.”
Dubb buys A Bit of Both
A majority interest in A Bit of Both, an 11 3/4-length winner at Gulfstream Park of her only start, has been purchased by owner Michael Dubb, the filly’s former trainer Kathleen O’Connell reported on Sunday.
A Bit of Both, a 2-year-old daughter of Paynter, raced under a $50,000 claiming tag in her Sept. 28 debut and earned an 83 Beyer Speed Figure.
O’Connell said A Bit of Both would be sent to trainer Jason Servis at Palm Meadows later this week and that Darsan Inc. – the filly’s original owner who bred her in partnership with WinStar Farm – has retained a 25 percent interest in the filly.
◗ It was just a bottom-level maiden claimer to most, but for Natalie Fawkes, Sunday’s finale at Gulfstream Park West will always be memorable. Bonnie Scot’s wire-to-wire victory gave her the first win of her training career. Fawkes, the daughter of trainer David Fawkes, took out her trainer’s license this summer and needed 11 starters to achieve her milestone on Sunday. Bonnie Scot, by Graydar, is owned by Hot Scot Racing Stables and was ridden by Paco Lopez.