HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Ferocious, currently the fifth-ranked 2-year-old in Daily Racing Form’s divisional ratings released earlier this week, has returned to his winter base at Gulfstream Park to begin preparations for his 3-year-old campaign that is expected to begin in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes here Feb. 1.
Ferocious, who is trained by Gustavo Delgado, was given a freshening on a farm in Ocala following his troubled fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. In the Juvenile he got caught up in traffic and shuffled back to last turning into the stretch before re-rallying to pass half the field in the final furlong. That outing followed seconds in the Grade 1 Hopeful and Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity for the son of Flatter, who had earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure for his explosive 6 1/2-length maiden win in his career debut at Saratoga.
Gustavo Delgado Jr., who serves as assistant to his father, said Ferocious is back jogging, will resume galloping next week, and will train up to the Holy Bull rather than have a prep race earlier in the meet. He also advised that Ferocious will likely be equipped with a set of blinkers for his 3-year-old debut.
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“If you watch the [Juvenile] closely, at one point he seems like he’s not even going to hit the board; he was last entering the stretch, and then he started running again,” the younger Delgado said. “We had discussed adding blinkers before the Breeders’ Cup, Javier [Castellano] had suggested it and even Irad [Ortiz Jr.] said maybe this horse might need them along the way. But now we are more inclined to try it.”
Maragh back to winner’s circle
Rajiv Maragh won his first race since returning to the saddle following a 2 1/2-year hiatus, guiding Dundie to victory in Thursday’s fifth race. Dundie, who is trained by Maragh’s father, Collin, was his eighth mount on the comeback trail and the first winner for the 39-year-old Maragh since Raise the Rent here on Dec. 23, 2022.
“I really liked the horse today,” Maragh said. “I got to know him better last time. He was in a bit of a hard-pressed position between horses, and he just kept on trying. He showed a lot of resilience and grit to come back and win. It’s pretty surreal when you think about it, the journey here. Three years ago, I stopped riding and tried to step away for a while and get some other things going. I never thought I’d be back riding. Everything just fell into line.”
Thursday also was a good one for veteran riders Tyler Gaffalione and Javier Castellano, who won with the first mounts they accepted at the Championship meet. Gaffalione had an easy victory aboard the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained, 3-5 favorite La Cantera in the second race. Castellano got his meet started about an hour later, guiding the 6-5 Premiado to a hard-fought but popular decision for trainer Antonio Sano in the fourth race.
For Gaffalione, who finished sixth with 51 victories during the 2023-24 Championship meet, the win was the 2,494th of his career. Gaffalione, a native of nearby Davie, returned home this week after yet another successful year on the Kentucky circuit, where he won or shared riding titles at both the spring and fall meets at Churchill Downs as well as the fall session at Keeneland.
Castellano, 46, led Gulfstream’s winter standings an unprecedented five consecutive seasons from 2011-12 to 2015-16. He won 34 races, finishing in a dead heat for eighth in the standings during last year’s Championship meet. His 5,822 career wins ranks him sixth among all active riders with his $404 million in earnings putting him second in that category behind only fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez.
Gaffalione will be aboard one of the key contenders, Runnin’ Rocket, in Sunday’s main event, a $62,000 allowance to be decided at five furlongs over the Tapeta course.
Runnin’ Rocket returns locally for the first time since finishing a game second, beaten just a half-length, in the Texas Glitter on March 24. Trained by Brian Lynch, Runnin’ Rocket captured his only other start over the Tapeta course when he won his maiden here in November 2023.
Other key contenders in the wide-open main event include If Not for Luck, a versatile sort who has won three of his four starts dating back to a victory in a statebred allowance race here a year earlier; the Joe Orseno-trained duo of Portofino and Horsepower; and the hard-knocking Seaver, who earned a career-best 94 Beyer defeating high-priced starter-allowance opposition over this course in March.
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