Carotari, Miss J McKay go for Janus and Abundantia repeat wins
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainers Brian Lynch and Christophe Clement hope it will be déjà vu all over again when they send Carotari and Miss J McKay back to South Florida to defend their titles in the $100,000 Janus and $100,000 Abundantia stakes on Saturday’s nine-race Christmas Eve program at Gulfstream Park.
The Janus is for 3-year-olds and up and the Abundantia is for fillies and mares. Both will be run at five furlongs on turf. The card marks the end of the Sunshine meeting with the 2022-23 Championship session to begin on Monday.
Carotari used his abundant speed to control the 2021 Janus from start to finish for Lynch, registering a 1 1/4-length decision over the old war horse Extravagant Kid. The victory was the fourth in five starts over the Gulfstream Park turf for Carotari, whose lone local defeat came during the winter of 2020 when beaten a head by Texas Wedge in the World of Trouble Stakes.
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Carotari has made just four starts this season, winning both the Turf Sprint and Laurel Dash at Pimlico, sandwiching those performances around disappointing efforts in the Select Stakes at Monmouth Park and Grade 3 Troy at Saratoga.
“He loves it down here so we gave him a freshening looking to set him up for a winter campaign,” said Lynch. “There’s a series of stakes he’s banged out [at Gulfstream Park] over the years. He’s doing really well and I’m looking forward to Saturday.
“He’s one of those horses that each year gets better and better. He had a quarter crack and missed the better part of the season down here after the Janus. This year he’s healthy and doing well.”
Carotari’s biggest asset is his speed, and he may find it a little more difficult to reach the lead on Saturday than he did winning the race a year ago. He goes up against a lineup that includes fleet-footed rivals such as Warrior’s Pride, Dubai Key, Classicstateofmind, Chess Master, and Agent Peter Graves.
A lively pace scenario could play in favor of late-running types like Cloudy, who rallied to defeat a strong field of allowance rivals while posting a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 91 in his last start, or Belgrano, who came from off the pace to win the Select Stakes in June at Monmouth.
Matta, who has turned in a pair of impressive works over the Tapeta strip, also deserves a look at a price.
Miss J McKay used a completely opposite modus operandi than Carotari to capture the 2021 Abundantia for Clement, rallying from mid-pack to draw off by 1 1/2 lengths under Tyler Gaffalione, who again has the assignment on Saturday. Miss J McKay has won just once in seven subsequent starts, taking the six-furlong License Fee at Belmont Park in May.
Miss Auramet suffered through a most eventful trip following a slow start when sixth as the 7-5 favorite in last year’s Abundantia, and she can certainly turn the tables on old nemesis Miss J McKay with a cleaner beginning this time around. Miss Auramet has captured two of her six starts this year while finishing worse than second but once, and appears to be the controlling speed with Paco Lopez back aboard.
“I gave her a brief vacation, she’s back and training good,” said trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. “We’re just hoping she can run back to her past performances, and I think she can.”
Phantom Vision and Spun Glass, both of whom have been training forwardly since arriving locally during the fall, loom major players at their best.
Phantom Vision posted back-to-back wins over the Tapeta strip here last winter and also owns a victory over the local turf course. She figures forwardly placed from her inside post.
Spun Glass is coming off a neck setback to the stakes-placed Can’t Buy Love under allowance conditions at Laurel Park two months ago, and won two stakes on grass earlier this season, at Laurel and Colonia Downs. She is trained by Michael Trombetta.
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