Aztec Sense pulls up after winning Fred W. Hooper

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Aztec Sense gave his all for trainer Jorge Navarro on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. He gutted out a victory in the Grade 3, $150,000 Fred W. Hooper for older horses, but pulled up off in his left front after the race and was taken away in a horse ambulance.

Aztec Sense was to have X-rays taken back at Navarro’s barn, the trainer said. So the winner’s circle ceremony lacked the winning horse, a bittersweet moment for a victory that was the 1,000th for Navarro.

“The horse comes first,” Navarro said about the muted celebration, saying the significance of 1,000 “will hit me later.”

Aztec Sense has been the latest runner for Navarro who has shown significant improvement since being claimed. He was taken for $12,500 in August 2017 at Parx Racing and has won 10 times in 11 starts since, with the Hooper being the ninth straight.

“What a horse,” Navarro said.

Aztec Sense ($7), under Emisael Jaramillo, fought off a host of rivals through the lane to win the one-turn mile by 1 3/4 lengths over Breaking Lucky, who finished a neck in front of longshot Fellowship, with Unbridled Juan another head back in fourth.

According to Navarro, Jaramillo told him “he took a bad step and was ouchy. It’s his left ankle.”

Copper Town, the 3-2 favorite, acted up badly in the gate before the start and even dislodged jockey Javier Castellano. He never was backed out of the gate before the race started. He prompted the early pace, but then backed up and beat just one horse in the field of eight. Coal Front and Eye of a Jedi were scratched earlier in the day.

Aztec Sense completed the one-turn mile on the sloppy, sealed track in 1:36.22.

Aztec Sense, owned by Joseph Besecker, has now won 13 times in 37 starts. He was 3 for 26 before Navarro took him. Whether he gets to improve on that record will depend on the extent of his injuries. Aztec Sense, 6, is a gelding by Street Sense.

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