HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s rare to see a multiple graded stakes winner get gelded, never mind one who is 8 years old. But when Filo Di Arianna runs Friday at Gulfstream Park, he will be doing so as a first-time gelding as he kicks off his 8-year-old campaign in a multi-conditioned allowance scheduled for five furlongs on turf. “The reason we geld horses is not just about they’re bad actors,” Mark Casse, the trainer of Filo Di Arianna, said. “It reduces mass. He got massive. I wanted him to slim down a bit. He’s still heavy, but he’s not as heavy as he was. He is a really nice horse, pure class.” Though Filo Di Arianna won a pair of Grade 2 stakes in Woodbine, that was in 2022. He went winless in three starts last year – though he was beaten only a neck by Emmanuel in the Grade 3 Poker Stakes at Belmont Park in June. He has not run since a sixth-place finish in the Grade 3 Kelso at Saratoga in July and is eligible for this race under the condition that states “for horses which have not won a race since June 29, 2023.” Filo Di Arianna won his stakes at seven furlongs and a mile. He was second in a 5 1/2-furlong allowance over Woodbine’s synthetic surface off a layoff in April 2023. Speaking of Friday’s five-furlong race, Casse said, “A little too short for him, but with these kinds of horses we have so few options where to run that you take what they give you. I’m just trying to get him back going. I still think by mid-summer he’s going to be a stakes horse.” :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Filo Di Arianna from post 2. Casse also sends out Bring Theband Home, a 4-year-old gelding who made a successful turf debt here on Jan. 28 when he won a first-level allowance going five furlongs. Prior to that, he had gone 2 for 5 on dirt. Casse said Bring Theband Home hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations his owners, Live Oak Plantation, had for him, but perhaps he’s found a niche as a turf sprinter. Bring Theband Home is a speedy sort and there appears to be other speed signed on for this race. Mamba On Three is one of those speed types. He beat Extendo – also in this race – by a nose in a Feb. 1 race over the Tapeta track. On Feb. 23, Mamba On Three was beaten a half-length by the classy Axthelm in this condition going five furlongs on turf. “He’s going to be going out of there. I hope the turf is still going to be playing fast,” trainer Fernando Abreu said. Extendo, after getting beat by Mamba On Three, went to Tampa and finished second, beaten a neck in the Turf Dash. Trainer Joe Orseno felt Extendo, rallying along the inside, hesitated a little bit at the point where the temporary rail ends in the stretch of the turf course. “That one hesitation for one second cost him the race,” Orseno said. “They all do that step like, ‘Where’s the rail?’ It slowed him down for a stride.” Xy Speed and Full Disclosure have run well in this condition. Whenigettoheaven and Phantom Smoke complete the competitive field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.