First Growth will try to play role of giant-killer in Mr. Prospector

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It will be David against Goliath when the former $5,000 claimer First Growth takes on world-class sprinter X Y Jet in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

First Growth was claimed for $5,000 out of a fourth-place finish at Mahoning Valley by trainer Odin Londono Jr. in the interest of owner Michelle Winters on Jan. 16. The 5-year-old son of Candy Ride has won 8 of his 10 starts since joining Londono’s stable, at one point reeling off seven straight victories before putting a punctuation mark on his success story here earlier this month with a 3 1/2-length victory in the Claiming Crown Express.

“The owner did her homework,” said Londono, son of former rider Odin Londono Sr., when asked how he came about claiming First Growth. “The horse is well bred, we liked what we saw when we looked at him, and he’s just gotten better with every start since we took him. We’ve tried to move him up slowly along the way. I thought his last race was his best yet. He came out of it great, and he’s been feeling so good we felt rather than keep him in the stall, trying him in this race was the right thing to do.”

Londono will be the first to admit taking on X Y Jet, runner-up in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen in March of 2016, is a formidable task.

“Obviously we’re stepping him up going to a Grade 3, but after looking over the field, it seems to me the race is even except for the one horse, who is kind of a notch above the rest,” said Londono, referring to X Y Jet. “But he hasn’t run in a year, which kind of changes things a little bit, and if our horse gets the same ride and trip he got the last time, I think he’ll be tough.”

Londono, who is based primarily in Ohio, said that as a youngster he had hoped to follow in his father’s footsteps and pursue a riding career. But that all ended while he was still in his teens.

“I went to the jockey school in Panama when I was 13, but in my last year there I went through puberty, got too big, and that dream was crushed,” said Londono, 36, who not only gallops but also shoes his own horses. “But racing is in my blood. I started coming around the track as a little kid when my father was riding at Calder. I’ve had my trainer’s license since I was 16, and I’ve still got a couple of uncles and cousins riding in Panama.”

First Growth and X Y Jet are two of 10 horses entered in the six-furlong Mr. Prospector, along with Fast Friar, Fire Mission, K Wave, Quijote, Quinientos, Sonic Mule, Sweetontheladies, and Yourdreamsormine.

Trainer Jorge Navarro, who trains both X Y Jet and Fire Mission, said Wednesday that he still has no definite plans regarding Sharp Azteca’s status for the $16 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 27.

“There are deals and offers on the table, but nothing is definite yet,” said Navarro. “I’m just the trainer. I let the owner handle all that. All I know is that at the moment we’re not stressed about making the race, and that his next start could be in the Pegasus or in Dubai. Right now I’m like a guy on third base, just waiting for the signal to come home."

Navarro said he plans “to do something” with Sharp Azteca over the weekend at Gulfstream Park, probably an easy half-mile breeze.