Eamonn must time his run in Gulfstream Turf Sprint

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After sending out Hades to upset last week’s Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, what can trainer Joe Orseno do for an encore? How about coming back seven days later and doing it again with Eamonn, who figures to be one of the choices in Saturday’s $125,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, the main event on a 12-race program that kicks off at 12:10 p.m.

Eamonn, who Orseno converted from a two-turn turf and synthetic-track specialist into a one-turn sprinter last spring, enters the Turf Sprint off a third-place finish behind Panther Island in the Janus Stakes on Dec. 31. Orseno was of two minds when assessing his chances of posting another stakes win this weekend, relishing all the speed in the lineup for the late-running Eamonn while acknowledging that getting up at five furlongs might prove a difficult task over what has been a speed-favoring turf course here of late.

“What made me sprint him is that he was entrapped and we did throat surgery on him last year. And after that, he’s just been a different horse sprinting,” Orseno explained. “He came back and won [an overnight handicap] here and the [Select Stakes] at Monmouth. And ideally, 5 1/2 [furlongs] would be perfect. But there is a lot of speed in there, more than the last one, and Paco [Lopez] swears he can win going five-eighths or I wasn’t going to do it again. I was going to take him to Tampa, where he probably has more of a chance of winning from off the pace, but he’s doing so well, it’s only a seven-horse field, and hopefully he can lay a little closer and put in that big run.”

Eamonn is one of three members of the Turf Sprint field exiting the Janus, including Panther Island, whose stablemate Yes I Am Free won this race a year ago. Panther Island has never been better, having won each of his last two starts for trainer Laura Cazares while posting a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure earning his first career stakes victory in the Janus.

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Panther Island benefited from a perfect trip under regular rider Leonel Reyes in the Janus, rating just off a contested early pace before splitting horses and running down Extendo in the closing strides with Eamonn rallying belatedly outside the top pair to be third.

Carotari, who fell a half-length short of catching Yes I Am Free when second best in this race a year ago, should again figure prominently breaking from the outside.He remains winless since lasting for a nose decision over Comedy Town to register a popular victory in the Laurel Dash at Pimlico in September 2022. Carotari figures to have plenty of company to his inside in the run down the backstretch with Heaven Street, Coppola, That’s Right, and Hope in Him all likely to have a say in the early pace.

Heaven Street could prove a bit of a sleeper breaking from the rail and returning to his preferred surface for the first time since winning a 5 1/2-furlong allowance dash over the Keeneland turf on Oct. 15 for trainer Mike Maker.

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◗ Hoist the Gold, who set the pace before finishing a tiring fourth, 11 lengths behind National Treasure, in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 27, remained local after the race and was back on the work tab here Thursday morning, breezing an easy four furlongs in 48.47 seconds with trainer Dallas Stewart on hand to supervise the work.

Hoist the Gold, winner of the Grade 2 Cigar Mile in his 2023 finale, is scheduled to depart from Miami on the same flight with Pegasus World Cup runner-up Senor Buscador to compete in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 24.

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