HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Grade 1 winner Nakatomi is the class of the field, logical favorite, and strictly the one to beat in Saturday’s $140,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint. The question is: Will he run?
Nakatomi, who became a Grade 1 winner for the first time when capturing the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap last summer at Saratoga, has been invited back to Dubai for the Group 1 Golden Shaheen, a race he finished third in a year ago. Trainer Wesley Ward said he and the ownership group of Qatar Racing LLC and Mrs Fitriani Hay were still weighing whether to let Nakatomi prep for the Golden Shaheen in the six-furlong Gulfstream Park Sprint or just train up to the race.
“The Hays bought into the horse with the idea he would go back to Dubai and got an added bonus when he won the Grade 1,” Ward said. “It all worked out last year over there, albeit for the fact he had a troubled trip.”
Nakatomi broke awkwardly, got hung wide, and was impeded during the running of the 2024 Golden Shaheen. He still managed to finish third, beaten 7 1/4 lengths by runaway winner Tuz. He prepped for that outing by finishing third seven weeks earlier in the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
Nakatomi did not compete again until his huge effort in the Vanderbilt, when he upset odds-on favorite Skelly while matching a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure. A son of Firing Line, Nakatomi closed out his 2024 campaign by finishing second over a speed-favoring strip in the Grade 2 Phoenix before running a disappointing sixth while making his second straight appearance in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
“Unfortunately, he just didn’t fire in the Breeders’ Cup, but he’s doing great, and I can train him up to Dubai if that’s the way we finally decide to go,” said Ward.
Nakatomi has had five works prepping for the Gulfstream Park Sprint, including a trio of bullet drills at Payson Park.
If he runs, Nakatomi’s competition will include Super Chow and Gordian Knot, along with the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained quartet of Comedy Town, Concrete Glory, Okiro, and Swirvin. Joseph said Wednesday that he planned to start them all.
Comedy Town has dropped his only two starts since capturing both the Smile Sprint and Benny the Bull within a seven-week span here last summer.
“He’s been ultra-consistent since we claimed him but is coming off a tough beat last time,” Joseph said of Comedy Town’s second-place finish in the Sunshine Sprint. “He didn’t finish too far behind Nakatomi at Keeneland [in the Phoenix], so I think we should have a good chance running against him again.”
Concrete Glory has been a win machine for Joseph, with seven victories in his last 10 starts, including an allowance dash going seven furlongs here to kick off the new year.
“He always runs fast on figures,” said Joseph. “He had a class test last time, ran very well, and I think he’s every bit as good as six furlongs as he is at seven.”
Super Chow was also entered Saturday in the five-furlong Turf Dash at Tampa Bay Downs, but trainer Jorge Delgado indicated he would likely stay home and keep the speedster on dirt in the Gulfstream Park Sprint.
Super Chow was a three-time Grade 3 winner during the opening half of his 2024 season, but he dropped his last four starts of the year, concluding the campaign finishing a tiring sixth after setting the early pace in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector here on Dec. 28. The second- and third-place finishers in that race, White Abarrio and Little Vic, returned to win the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup and Grade 3 Fred Hooper, respectively.
“He’s doing well,” Delgado said of Super Chow. “He’s been running in tough races all along in his career. Last time, he was a little bit out of his game going seven furlongs. He’s more of a six-furlong horse.”
Gordian Knot, a multiple stakes winner who was Grade 2-placed in the 2023 Gallant Bob at Parx, will be making his first start since joining trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn late last year. He has been training forwardly at the Palm Beach Downs training center in preparation for Saturday’s race.
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