Clasico del Caribe tops card packed with international talent

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – History will be made Saturday, when Gulfstream Park becomes the first track outside of Latin America and the Caribbean to host the Clasico Internacional del Caribe in the 51-year history of the prestigious event.

This year’s Clasico Internacional brings together equine stars from six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in five stakes worth $600,000 in total, highlighted by the $300,000 Clasico del Caribe for 3-year-olds.

First post for Saturday’s 11-race program, which begins with six consecutive 2-year-old stakes, is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

A field of 12 representing Panama, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic will contest the 1 1/8-mile Clasico del Caribe. The lineup is led by Justiciero, the reigning Puerto Rican Triple Crown champion; Immenso, a five-time Group 1 winner from the Dominican Republic; multiple Group 1-placed El Cubita from Venezuela; Mexican Group 1 winners Jala Jala, Joyme, and Inspirato; and Group 2 winner Fray Angelico from Panama.

Jala Jala and Joyme are two of the three fillies entered in the Clasico, along with Venezuelan representative La De Horacio.

Justiciero is one of two horses trainer Raymond Morales will saddle in the Clasico, along with the speedy Platino, who is expected to set the pace from the rail. Justiciero was an easy winner of all three legs of the Triple Crown but has started just once, in an exhibition race Oct. 29, in more than three months with racing in Puerto Rico shut down since Hurricane Maria devastated the island in early September.

Justiciero has shown an affinity for a wet racetrack, which could serve him well with rain in the forecast for Friday evening and Saturday.

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El Cubita has finished second in each of his last three starts, all Group 1 races, after graduating at first asking last spring in his native Venezuela. El Cubita looked sharp working locally last Saturday and will race with Lasix for the first time. He also has run well over wet tracks.

El Cubita will be ridden by Emisael Jaramillo, a native of Venezuela who has won the Clasico del Caribe a record five times.

“The race is very important to our country, and everyone from our country will be watching,” said Jaramillo, the leading rider at the recently concluded Gulfstream Park West meet. “It’s something that’s unexplainable. The feeling is unbelievable.”

Fray Angelico, a Group 2 winner in his most recent start, is trained by Alberto Paz-Rodriguez, who is no stranger to the United States, having attended the University of Alabama and raced a stable at the old Calder Race Course in 1988 and again in 2004.

“Winning the Clasico del Caribe for us is like winning the Kentucky Derby for U.S. horsemen,” said Paz-Rodriguez, who has won more than 6,300 races since beginning his training career in 1971.

Fray Angelico will have to overcome the far-outside post, with a short run to the first turn in 1 1/8-mile races here.

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Lady Caribbean Cup

The Clasico Internacional will kick off with the $124,000 Lady Caribbean Cup at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-old fillies. The field of nine is led by Lady Valery, who swept Panama’s Triple Crown for fillies this season. Lady Valery had her seven-race winning streak snapped last out when facing males and finishing third behind Fray Angelico in a Group 2 event Oct. 15.

“She is doing well since arriving here,” trainer Aurelio Rojas said. “She ran against males, three of whom are running in the Clasico del Caribe. She beat one of those horses and was only beaten a few lengths by the winner.”

Lady Valery’s top competition could come from a pair of Puerto Rican-based fillies, Sanjuanera and Esplendorosa.

Sanjuanera qualified for the Clasico del Caribe, but trainer Morales opted for the easier path and entered the Group 1-placed filly against her own kind in the Lady Caribbean Cup. Sanjuanera defeated Esplendorosa twice within a four-week span last spring before dropping a three-quarter-length decision when the arch rivals met again in a Group 1 stakes July 25 at Camarero Racetrack.

Invitational Cup

Mishigas likely will be the shortest-priced favorite in the five Clasico Internacional stakes when he goes in the $91,200 Invitational Cup. Claimed for $40,000 out of a winning effort May 25 at Belmont Park, the son of Include returned quick dividends by winning the Group 1 Barbosa Stakes at Camarero nine weeks later.

Mishigas shipped back to the United States to prepare for the 1 1/4-mile Invitational Cup ahead of most of the others and got a race under his belt in south Florida when finishing a late-running second against a tough group of $35,000 starter-allowance horses at Gulfstream Park West on Nov. 5.

◗ The $100,000 Confraternity Caribbean Cup will bring together the last two winners of the event, Don Carlos R. and Arquitecto, along with the two most recent winners of the Clasico del Caribe, Calinico and reigning champion El Tigre Mono. Mexico’s Igor, who brings a three-race win streak into the race, is the tepid 3-1 morning-line favorite in the 10-furlong test for older horses.