Candy Man Rocket looks to add to Mott's strong meet in Gulfstream Sprint
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Bill Mott could pick up and go north right now, and he could still say his winter in Florida had been a great one.
The Hall of Fame trainer already has won the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup with Art Collector and the Grade 3 Holy Bull with Rocket Can at a Gulfstream Park Championship meet that began Dec. 26 and runs through April 2. He began this week with 11 wins at the meet, including one other graded stakes – and yet there’s still plenty to accomplish.
Mott will send out Candy Man Rocket as the horse to beat when the weekend highlight, the $125,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint, is run Saturday as the ninth of 12 races. Junior Alvarado, Mott’s go-to jockey of recent times, will be aboard when the 5-year-old horse breaks from the outside post in a field of seven older horses in the six-furlong fixture.
Candy Man Rocket is owned by Frank Fletcher, whose Arkansas-based racing operations are at an all-time high. Fletcher also is the owner of Rocket Can and Frank’s Rockette, winner of the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl here on New Year’s Eve.
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Candy Man Rocket made his first start at 2 in November 2020, but since his sixth race in May 2021 – a victory in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs in February 2021 represents the apex of that span – he has raced just twice, both times in allowance company at Gulfstream. He won off a nine-month layoff in February 2022, then was away nearly a year before earning a career-high 94 Beyer Speed Figure in a 2 1/4-length triumph Jan. 21 to suggest he’s still as good as ever. Three subsequent works at Mott’s winter base at Payson Park, including a bullet half-mile on Feb. 13, figure to have him primed for another top effort Saturday, hopes accentuated by his overall 3-for-3 record at Gulfstream, all in main-track sprints.
Alvarado, with benefit of the outer post, could have Candy Man Rocket eyeballing some speedier rivals from a clear stalking spot. Those likely front-runners include the trio of Super Ocho, Uncle Ernie, and Lightening Larry.
Super Ocho (post 2, Emisael Jaramillo) is the most intriguing of the bunch. The Chilean-bred 5-year-old was squarely in the mix in midstretch of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, a Nov. 5 race that Mott won with the eventual sprint champion, Elite Power. Super Ocho faded to sixth that day, beaten just four lengths, and has since run twice in five-furlong dashes at Delta Downs, earning a 92 Beyer Speed Figure when second in the Sam’s Town and a 96 in easily winning a Jan. 27 allowance.
“If he wins or runs a big one, we are exploring a possible trip to Dubai” for the $2 million Golden Shaheen on March 25, trainer Amador Sanchez said.
Uncle Ernie (post 5, Javier Castellano), trained by John Servis of Smarty Jones fame, was fourth as a lukewarm favorite in the Mr. Prospector on Dec. 31 in his Gulfstream debut. Before that, the Pennysylvania-bred gelding won back-to-back allowances at Parx Racing with Beyers of 96 and 98.
Lightening Larry (post 6, Jose Morelos) is a graded winner who most recently dominated fellow Florida-breds in the Sunshine Sprint on Jan. 14 for trainer Jorge Delgado. His high Beyer is 91.
With all the speed signed on, something’s got to give, and the race flow might well play to the style of Candy Man Rocket or Scaramouche (post 1, Paco Lopez), whose off-the-pace upset last fall of the Grade 2 Gallant Bob at Parx Racing graded out to a 94 Beyer. Doc Amster and Cajun’s Magic round out the lineup.
This is the 42nd running of the Gulfstream Sprint, which has been won by such standouts as Deputy Minister (1983), Dancing Spree (1990), Cherokee Run (1995), and Commentator (2008). Lopez won the 2022 running for Eddie Plesa Jr. with Miles Ahead.
Sunshine and highs in the mid-80s are in the South Florida forecast for Saturday, meaning the five turf races on tap most likely will be run as scheduled. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern, with the Gulfstream Sprint going at 4:08. Three open allowances (races 8, 10, 11) surround the feature, with a Florida-bred allowance going earlier as race 3.
The Gulfstream Sprint is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 that spans races 7-12. Track officials are planning a forceout of the jackpot wager for next Sunday (March 5), the day after the big Fountain of Youth card. The Rainbow 6 carryover into Thursday stood at $713,415.
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