Gunnevera in Travers tune-up

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gunnevera may wonder where all the people went when he steps onto the Gulfstream Park racing surface shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

Attendance will be a fraction of what has turned out over the last six months to see Gunnevera race. The stretch-running colt ran on three of the biggest Saturdays of the Gulfstream championship meet, including his signature win in the March 4 Fountain of Youth, prior to finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby and fifth in the Preakness before huge throngs.

Gunnevera will be a heavy favorite Sunday in the $100,000 Tangelo Stakes, a race that trainer Antonio Sano is hoping will propel the colt to another start before a big crowd in the Aug. 26 Travers at Saratoga. Sano said Gunnevera has

thrived at his Gulfstream Park West base since returning to south Florida from the Preakness.

“His conditioning is very good,” Sano said. “I am very happy with him.”

Gunnevera has been sent through seven works at Gulfstream West since mid-June, nearly all of them bullets, with the latest a five-furlong drill last weekend in 1:01.20.

Five other 3-year-olds will oppose Gunnevera in the Tangelo, which will be run around two turns at a 1 1/16mile distance that uses what is otherwise the sixteenth pole as the finish line. None of those rivals owns anything close to the credentials of Gunnevera, a three-time graded stakes winner who has earned more than $1.2 million in 11 career starts.

Edgard Zayas, who has never ridden Gunnevera in a race but has been aboard the colt for many of his works over the last year, finally will get his chance when it counts when breaking from post 6.

Since the Preakness, according to Sano, owner Salomon del Valle has bought out his two partners in the now-defunct Peacock Racing Stables and holds a 100 percent interest in Gunnevera, who will race Sunday for Sano Racing Stables.

As for how the Tangelo will unfold, Front Loaded and Arrecife figure to make the front, with Unbridled Holiday, Manolete, and Prince Tito joining Gunnevera in waiting to make their move. At some point, Gunnevera’s superiority should become apparent, with Zayas trying to ensure the effort becomes what is needed heading toward the Travers.

One other stakes also is carded for Sunday: the $75,000 Eight Miles East, which drew a far more balanced lineup. Ten Florida-breds, including one entrant for the main track only, are entered in the one-mile turf race, with horses in the first three posts – Galleon Mast, Two Step Time, and Keep the dream alive–the likely favorites.

First post for the 12-race card is 12:45 p.m., with the Tangelo going as race 4 (2:17 post) and the Eight Miles East as race 11 (6:04). The Eight Miles East is an acknowledgment of sister track Gulfstream West, which is located eight miles east of Gulfstream.

After Sunday, Gulfstream goes dark for three days until another four-day race week resumes Thursday. The Silks simulcast area is open on Mondays and Wednesdays while Saratoga and Del Mar are running.