Belle Tapisserie makes belated return off the re-claim

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Many trainers avoid re-claiming a horse they once had, resolving instead to let bygones be bygones.

Mike Tomlinson is one who generally adheres to that policy, although he does make the occasional exception to prove the rule. On behalf of Kyle McGinty of Blackout Racing Stables, Tomlinson claimed his former trainee Belle Tapisserie out of a win last fall at Keeneland.

“Most of the time, I don’t go back in on horses,” he said. “But with this one, we had kind of figured out his issue, and besides, he’s a horse that can run. You’re always looking for fast horses.”

Belle Tapisserie will make his first start since returning to the Tomlinson fold as one of the favorites in a field of six in the Thursday feature at Gulfstream Park, a $52,000 second-level allowance with multiple conditions. Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard the 5-year-old gelding when they break from post 4 in the 6 1/2-furlong race, carded as the ninth of 10 on a program that starts at 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

“After we claimed him back, we had another issue with him,” said Tomlinson, now in his 10th year at Gulfstream after years of wintering at Turfway Park and Oaklawn Park. “He’s a little challenging. I’ve had to space out his works, and I’d prefer to have maybe gotten one more in him before we started him back, but I do believe he’s probably fit enough for this race.”

Belle Tapisserie and Benefactor (post 1, Javier Castellano) are the two likely favorites and are entered for a $62,500 claiming option. So, too, are Get Hammered and Colour Guard, while only Frosted Grace and Royal Urn are not being risked for a price.

Belle Tapisserie raced 13 times for his original trainer, Jaime Mejia, before being claimed, in order, last year by Eddie Kenneally, Mike Maker, and Tomlinson, who then lost him to Robertino Diodoro out of a winning September race at Churchill Downs. In his next start, a gate-to-wire victory Oct. 12 at Keeneland, Tomlinson re-claimed the son of Tapizar for $50,000. Five works have followed, the latest a five-furlong bullet on Jan. 12 at Gulfstream.

Benefactor, trained by Jorge Navarro, will be making his third start of the 2019-20 championship meet, having finished fourth in the Dec. 7 Claiming Crown Rapid Transit and second in a Dec. 27 race with these identical conditions.

The feature is part of the Rainbow 6, which was expected to have a $4 million pool guarantee when racing resumed here Thursday following a two-day break. The 20-cent Rainbow 6 spans races 5-10.