Extendo happy to be home facing easier company
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Extendo, far from disgraced finishing sixth on soft turf in the Grade 1 Jaipur last time out, could quickly return to his winning ways at Gulfstream Park on Sunday. The 5-year-old sprinter, trained by Joe Orseno, will switch back to synthetic as a strong contender in the $70,000 Successful Native Handicap at Gulfstream Park.
When the Jaipur was pushed back a day due to rain at Saratoga, Orseno seriously considered scratching Extendo, a Florida-bred with limited experience on softer turf. He’s still lukewarm about his decision to carry on that day, but he was encouraged by his horse’s performance under the circumstances.
“When it rained the day before and they canceled, we thought that we should just scratch him and leave,” Orseno said. “But we decided that we’re already here, so let’s run him. He actually ran fantastic, I thought, to run in a Grade 1 against that caliber and get beat 5 1/2 lengths and keep trying. He ran a huge race.”
Orseno was rightfully eager to step his horse up in class last time out. In his two winning races at Gulfstream before the trip north, the horse was forwardly placed and finished impressively in allowance company. On the synthetic in March, he overwhelmed a conditioned allowance field, leading from gate to wire to win by 4 1/2 lengths.
In a stakes-quality field on the turf in May, he took down a pair of Mark Casse geldings, dueling Souper Quest early on and then holding off Bring Theband Home to win by a neck. Bring Theband Home was scheduled to have run in the $150,000 Harvey Pack at Saratoga on July 4.
Coming out of those deep waters in New York, Extendo is back in his comfort zone at Gulfstream. His recent stints on synthetic have yielded many of his best results. In 10 starts on the Tapeta at Gulfstream, he has six victories and has only finished out of the money once. Four of those wins came at this 5 1/2-furlong distance.
Most of the runners in the Successful Native field of nine have grown familiar with one another in allowance company at Gulfstream, but 4-year-old gelding Rouki stands out as a new face from Tampa Bay Downs.
Trained by Gerald Bennett, the Florida-bred has run on dirt in eight of his 11 career starts, but he has never lost on turf or synthetic. In February, he switched back to the grass at Tampa and won the $125,000 Turf Dash at 20-1, taking down graded stakes winner Our Shot and Breeders’ Cup runner Isivunguvungu. He has not run since finishing fifth in a statebred stakes on dirt in March.
“He was going into [the Turf Dash] in good shape and he drew the perfect post position outside,” Bennett said. “He’s got lots of speed to break and then he will sit and make that last run. He loves the outside.”
It’s hard to imagine a soft pace on Sunday, but the Successful Native is also surprisingly short on natural front-runners. Extendo and Rouki are the only two who seem to have a chance at comfortably vying for the early lead, but Bennett said that Rouki will likely stalk from the 7 post after so much time off.
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