XY Jet highlights Summit of Speed
Gelding vying for sixth straight Gulfstream win
The well-traveled X Y Jet lands today at Gulfstream Park, the place the 6-year-old has enjoyed the most success of his career.
The son of Kantharos is the heavy 4-5 early favorite in the $250,000 Grade 3 Smile Sprint Stakes, one of the co-feature races on Saturday’s Summit of Speed card. He will face seven rivals in the 6-furlong event.
The race is the first for X Y Jet since finishing second in the prestigious Dubai Golden Shaheen in March. It marked the second time the gelding finished second in that race at Meydan Racecourse as part of the DubaiWorld Cup.
There is a held belief among horsemen and horseplayers that American horses that make the 7,800-mile flight to Dubai don’t return on good form. XYJet debunked that notion, but it took him a year, a surgery, and a return to Gulfstream to get back to his winningways.
After his first jaunt to Dubai in 2016, X Y Jet raced twice with his best finish a third in the De Francis Dash at Laurel Park before undergoing the third knee surgery of his career. He returned to the track triumphantly this past December, capturing the Mr. Prospector Stakes at Gulfstream. That winwas followed up by a 5 ½-length win in the Sunshine Millions Sprint.
X Y Jet will seek his sixth-consecutive Gulfstream stakes win in the Smile. His
main competitor looks to be Classic Rock, who also seems to favor Gulfstream. He has won his last three outings, all at Gulfstream, with the most impressive a three-length win in the Gulfstream Park Sprint in March. Classic Rock is listed at 5-2 in the morning line.
The Smile is one of two races today that earns its victor a guaranteed start ina corresponding Breeders’ Cup race. The other, the $250,000 GII Princess Rooney Stakes, will see Curlin’s Approval try to again claim the coveted entry.
In last year’s Princess Rooney, Curlin’s Approval romped to a 4 ½-length win. However, in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, she stumbled out of the gate and never recovered, finishing 13th.
The 5-year-old mare, who is the 6-5morning line favorite, may have a more difficult path this year if vindication is the goal. Ms Locust Point looks to be the most formidable invader, having won three sprint stakes in a rowthis winter at Laurel. Her early odds are 5-1.
My Miss Tapit, a lightlyraced 4-year-old, is coming off of a 6 ¾-length win in her last start at Gulfstream where she dialed back to the Princess Rooney distance of seven furlongs. She is the second choice at 4-1.
Three other stakes races are on Saturday’s Summit of Speed docket. AlterMoon, a 14 ½-length winner in her last start, is the clear 8-5 favorite in the field of six sophomore fillies in the 7-furlong $75,000 Azalea Stakes.
War Giant, a winner of his last two, also carries 8-5 favoritism into the counterpart open race, the $75,000 Carry Back Stakes, which has drawnina field of seven.
The lone turf sprint, the $75,000 Bob Umphrey, has PayAny Price beginning the day at a very short price of 3-5. He will face seven rivals in the 7-furlong affair.
Today marks the conclusion of Gulfstream’s spring meet, meaning there will be a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 pool which will have an estimated carryover in excess of $1million.