HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Bentornato has come a long way in a short time this season. And his 3-year-old campaign might not be over just yet.
Trainer Jose D’Angelo is contemplating his options for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up, and the list of possible stakes includes the Grade 1 Malibu on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. Bentornato is ranked fourth among all sprinters in Daily Racing Form’s divisional ratings released earlier this week, and a victory in a prestigious event like the Malibu could have him in the thick of the conversation when Eclipse Award ballots are tallied at the end of the year.
Bentornato contested all the pace before succumbing grudgingly to Straight No Chaser in the final furlong of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure, one point higher than what he received for capturing the Grade 2 Gallant Bob six weeks earlier at Parx Racing.
Bentornato returned to the work tab for the first time since the Breeders’ Cup last Monday at the Palm Meadows training center, where he breezed an easy three furlongs in 37.80 seconds.
“He’s doing well, we’re planning on working him again Monday, see how that goes, then make a decision on where to go next,” D’Angelo said. “We have plenty of options. We will nominate him for the Malibu. That would be my first choice because it would give him one last chance to run against 3-year-olds and also help his chances with the Eclipse voters. But I’ll have to discuss it with the owner first.
“Our main goals right now are the big sprint races in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, so we are looking to find a spot in between those two and the Breeders’ Cup that fits perfectly for that trip.”
Bentornato has already made one trip to the Middle East, finishing third behind a pair of formidable rivals, Forever Young and Book’em Danno, in the Grade 3 Saudi Derby in February.
“He keeps getting better and better with every start, and it’s exciting looking ahead to next season because being a 3-year-old, I think he has every reason to improve some more,” D’Angelo said. “I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.”
Bentornato is one of two horses D’Angelo ran in the Breeders’ Cup along with Howard Wolowitz, who finished ninth while beaten only three lengths despite a bit of an eventful trip in the Turf Sprint. In his previous start, Howard Wolowitz captured the Grade 1 Franklin Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs.
Howard Wolowitz “worked an easy three-eighths last Saturday, he’ll work again tomorrow [Saturday] and if all continues to go well we’re going to send him to Turfway Park for the stakes over the Tapeta track on the 14th,” the $250,000 Holiday Cheer, D’Angelo said. “That race is six furlongs, which I think is better for him than the five furlongs in the Breeders’ Cup. After that, we’ll bring him back home to race at Gulfstream during the winter.”
D’Angelo also advised that Gabaldon, who has not started since finishing second, beaten just a length, in the Windsor Castle Stakes on June 19 at Royal Ascot, will go back into training in Ocala on Dec. 1 and return to his barn at Palm Meadows at the end of the month.
“I was so confident of his chances at the end of this year in the Breeders’ Cup,” D’Angelo said. “But he had some bone bruising, so we did what was in the best interests of the horse, give him plenty of time to recuperate. Now we can start looking forward to having him at his best for next year.”
Full gate of turf sprinters
The opening week of the 2024-25 Championship meeting, which began on Thanksgiving Day, will end Sunday with an 11-race program topped by the finale, a $61,000 allowance and optional-claiming race to be decided at five furlongs on turf. The race lured a full field of 12 with the rail-drawn Test Factor and speedy Jefe de Obra, who will break from the extreme outside, arguably the two leading contenders among a very competitive lineup.
Test Factor comes into the race having finished third, beaten just a neck, under similar conditions over the local turf course Nov. 16. He figures to race forwardly from the inside behind the likely pace of Jefe de Obra, who was hard-used contesting lively fractions before succumbing from the effort and finishing fourth of a dozen in an entry-level allowance dash going 5 1/2 furlongs last month at Churchill Downs.
Others expected to draw plenty of attention are the Steve Klesaris-trained duo of Scuttlebuzz and Maxwell Esquire, both of whom have shipped down out of stronger races at Aqueduct during the fall, and Kentucky invader King Julien for trainer Brian Lynch.
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