Gunnevera returns to Gulfstream with win

HALLANDALE BEACH — A little bit of home cooking is seemingly just what Gunnevera needed.

In his first start since finishing fifth in the Preakness, Gunnevera easily coasted to a five-length victory in the $100,000 Tangelo Stakes, Sunday at Gulfstream Park. The win was the 3-year-old colt’s first since his Fountain of Youth victory at Gulfstream inMarch.

The clear 1-9 favorite in a five-horse field, Gunnevera broke outside of his rivals and ran widest of all through the first turn. Under Edgard Zayas for the first time, Gunnevera dropped to his customary position at the back of the pack down the backstretch.

Following instructions from trainer Antonio Sano, Zayas asked Gunnevera to go at the pole and the horse responded convincingly. He easily circled the field and coasted home to take the 1 mile race in 1:44.30, followed by second choice Front Loaded, then Manolete.

Gunnevera’s connections targeted the race as his tune up for the Travers Stakes on Aug. 26 at Saratoga, another track where the son of Dialed In has enjoyed success. Almost a year ago, Gunnevera captured the Saratoga Special in his only race to date at the Spa.

Alex Sano, son of Antonio Sano, said that when Gunnevera bled for the first time in his career after the Preakness, the decisionwas made to rest him at his home base of Gulfstream Park West and train up to the Travers.

“We wanted to get the horse ready and keep it simple,” he said. “We didn’t want to push him too much for the Travers since we know it is a very tough race for three year olds. We wanted to get him a local race here in South Florida so the horse can gain confidence again just like when he won the Fountain of Youth.”

There was one other stakes on the 12-race Sunday card. Galleon Mast and My Point Exactly dueled to the wire in the $75,000 Eight Miles East Stakes, with Galleon Mast winning by a head. His winning time in the mile turf race was 1:33.66. Keepthedreamalive finished third.