Canadian victory propels Venezuelan Hug into Old Forester Turf Classic

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Danny Gargan was very confident Venezuelan Hug would handle the jump from Florida-bred company into a graded race. Now he’s hoping the gray colt will be equally successful going from a Grade 3 into one of the most visible Grade 1 turf races in America.

Gargan said the Grade 1, $1 million Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs is the next stop for Venezuelan Hug, whose victory in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf was one of numerous interesting developments on the Fountain of Youth card Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Ridden by Junior Alvarado, Venezuelan Hug paid $11 and earned a career-high 96 Beyer Speed Figure in capturing the 1 1/16-mile Canadian Turf by a neck over Olympic Runner.

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“He trained great into it, and I really liked him,” said Gargan, a Louisville, Ky., native. “If he comes out of this race as well as he was doing before, we’ll take him to Churchill.”

The 1 1/8-mile Old Forester will garner a lot of attention as the race that directly precedes the Kentucky Derby on May 1.

Venezuelan Hug, by Constitution, now has won six of eight starts since Gargan claimed him for $40,000 nearly a year ago for Spedale Family Racing and Randy Hill. The colt was coming off back-to-back wins in Florida-bred races before the Canadian, ending with the Jan. 16 Sunshine Turf at Gulfstream.

These are heady times for Gargan, who is winning at a 38 percent clip since early December. His stable is split between Gulfstream, where he entered the week with an 18-for-47 record at the championship meet, and New York, where he is 5 for 14 at the Aqueduct winter meet.

Gargan scratched his stable star Tax from the Grade 2 Gulfstream Mile on Saturday with the original intention of running him this Saturday in the $100,000 Challenger at Tampa Bay Downs, but he said Monday he is more likely to send Tax to Oaklawn Park for the $500,000 Essex on March 13 instead. Gargan claimed Tax for $50,000 from a maiden race in October 2018, and the gelding has now earned $982,060.