SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Gabaldon, who came up a length short from pulling off a major upset last month at Royal Ascot in the Windsor Castle Stakes for trainer Jose D’Angelo, began preparations for the second half of his 2-year-old campaign, breezing an easy three furlongs in 38.95 seconds over the main track here Thursday.
Gabaldon, a 2-year-old son of Gone Astray owned by Soldi Stables, earned himself an expense-paid trip to Ascot for the Windsor Castle by virtue of winning his only previous start, the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes, in gate-to-wire fashion by 1 1/4 lengths five weeks earlier at Gulfstream Park.
D’Angelo has had Gabaldon on the grounds at Saratoga for the past three weeks. He said his first goal here this summer for the speedy Florida-bred will be the $150,000 Skidmore Stakes going 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf on Aug. 16.
“Today was his first work after the trip home from Ascot and I thought he went very well, just stretching his legs, going very easily,” said D’Angelo. “He will have two more works before the Skidmore. Both will be on the dirt. It’s the same way we trained him for the race at Ascot. That plan worked out well, so we’ll probably just repeat the same schedule for his next start.”
D’Angelo, who came to the U.S. from his native Venezuela in 2019, said his experience at Royal Ascot was “amazing."
“It was a great experience, I learned a lot training the horse over there,” said D’Angelo. “It’s different than training on an American track. He broke sharp, I thought he got there. He ran well and we had a lot of fun.”
D’Angelo said his ultimate goal for Gabaldon during the second half of the season is the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
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