GULFSTREAM Admiral Lynch goes for new barn

A competitive allowance race for older horses and the season’s first turf race for 2-year-olds will highlight Thursday’s 10-race program at Gulfstream Park, which also features a guaranteed jackpot of $900,000 in the Rainbow 6.

Admiral Lynch, runner-up in the Grade 3 World of Trouble Sprint on Feb. 22 at Gulfstream in his last start, tops a field of eight older horses going 6 1/2 furlongs in Thursday’s main event. Admiral Lynch has shuffled around through several different barns over the past eight months. He joined Mike Maker’s stable during the spring and has kept a steady work tab ever since, including bullet drills May 8 and May 15.

Admiral Lynch’s work on May 8 came for the track veterinarian and fulfilled a requirement for horses who had been trained by Jason Servis. Servis saddled Admiral Lynch in the World of Trouble Sprint. Servis and Jorge Navarro were indicted earlier this year for administering illegal medication to horses, and their runners were dispersed to other trainers.

Among Admiral Lynch’s chief rivals are the restricted stakes winner Extrordinary Jerry and the graded stakes-tested Wentz, both of whom also have undergone trainer changes since their most recent start.

Extrordinary Jerry has been away since rallying to a 10 1/4-length triumph in the Wildcat Heir Stakes for Florida-breds at Gulfstream last

September. Extrordinary Jerry was trained by Todd Pletcher at the time but was recently transferred to Dermot Magner, who sent the 5–year-old son of Overdriven out to work a bullet five-eighths in 1:00 on May 16 at Palm Meadows.

Wentz, idle since finishing a tiring fifth after forcing the pace in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on March 7 at Aqueduct, has moved from trainer John Tyler Servis to his father, John Servis. He, too, has been training forwardly for his return, with a couple of bullet works at Palm Meadows over the past three weeks.

Mi Tres Por Ciento, a Chilean import, won his only U.S. start in impressive fashion here five weeks ago, rallying to an easy three-length victory against a strong field of highlevel optional-claiming foes. He also figures to be a key player in Thursday’s main event. So is the Grade 1-placed Mucho, who would benefit from what figures to be a contentious pace scenario.

◗ Trainer Wesley Ward has three of the nine juvenile fillies in Thursday’s second race, to be decided at five furlongs on the turf, including Lime, who was entered for the main track only. Ward will be represented by Royal Approval and Flying Aletha, both daughters of Tiznow, if the race goes as scheduled on the grass. Royal Approval is a Three Chimneys Farm homebred, and Flying Aletha fetched a price of $175,000 as a yearling in July 2019.