Facing tough rivals, Loco Abarrio will be a better price than usual

Loco Abarrio might offer a little more value than usual on Friday when he faces Florida Derby alum Nautical Star and stakes winner Lightning Tones in the seventh race at Gulfstream Park.

“I think the race came up kind of tough,” Ronnie Spatz, the trainer of Loco Abarrio, said Monday. “I thought going into the race he’d be the favorite. After just glancing at it – I haven’t studied it closely yet – I don’t think we will be.”

Loco Abarrio has been the favorite in each of his last five starts and comes off a runner-up finish at this first-level allowance condition for 3-year-olds.

Nautical Star will get good support on the cutback to one turn after finishing ninth in the Florida Derby, a race that has produced four next-out winners led by Kentucky Derby winner Mage.

Lightning Tones also will take money after winning the $100,000 Carry Back in June at Gulfstream, and the consistent Big Martini comes in with the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, an 85.

Loco Abarrio has put together a string of Beyers in the 80s, which will garner support. He’s also shortening up in distance from a mile to seven furlongs, which is the distance of his last two wins at Gulfstream.

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“I think six and a half, seven-eighths is his best distance,” Spatz said.

Loco Abarrio last raced July 23 and had one horse beat in the early stages. He bid three wide around the turn and into the stretch and finished three lengths behind winner Big Data, who is under consideration for stakes races. Loco Abarrio earned a Beyer of 81.

“I think my horse ran his race,” Spatz said. “I thought he sat back a little farther than normal. The winner had a rail trip. When he came through on the inside, we couldn’t match strides. I had a good trip. He had a good trip. Either way, he was the better horse that day.”

Spatz likes the potential setup Loco Abarrio could get Friday.

“There’s a good bit of pace in the race,” he said. “He’s learned to how to sit a little bit.”

Loco Abarrio will break from the rail under regular rider Edwin Gonzalez. Spatz said the post is not ideal in the seven-horse field.

Loco Abarrio is by Valiant Minister, the same sire as the unbeaten Bentornato, who won the Proud Man for 2-year-olds on Saturday at Gulfstream with a Beyer of 88. Loco Abarrio is from the female family of Grade 2 winner Sharp Susan, who was honored with a race named for her Sunday at Gulfstream. Loco Abarrio is owned by Mad Dog Racing Stable and Joseph Parker.

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The seventh race is part of the Rainbow 6 jackpot, which will have a minimum guaranteed pool of $425,000 on Friday. The 20-cent bet runs on races 3-8.

Outside of the sequence, in the second race, stakes winner Beth’s Dream will return to both the surface and distance of her most significant win. She goes in a second-level allowance for fillies and mares at a mile on the main track – the same one-turn dirt trip over which she captured the $100,000 Heavenly Cause at Laurel Park.

Beth’s Dream is a winner at a mile at Gulfstream. The field includes Vita Da Mamma, a multiple Group 1 winner in her native Chile.

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