Florida-bred stakes winners may join local BC contingent

MIAMI – The number of Breeders’ Cup-bound horses stabled in South Florida likely doubled within one hour’s time Saturday at Gulfstream Park following one-sided victories by Well Defined and Cookie Dough in the $400,000 In Reality and My Dear Girl stakes, respectively.

Well Defined was easily the more impressive of the two juveniles, completing 1 1/16 miles better than 2.5 seconds faster than his filly counterpart while earning a 91 Beyer Speed Figure en route to a 7 1/2 length triumph in the In Reality. Well Defined avenged his narrow loss to Garter and Tie four weeks earlier in the seven-furlong Affirmed.

Trainer Kathleen O’Connell said Well Defined came out of the In Reality in good order, but that no definite decision will be made on his Breeders’ Cup status until he returns to the track later in the week.

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“I think he was less tired than me the morning after the race,” joked O’Connell, who trains Well Defined for her principal client, Gil Campbell’s Stonehedge LLC. “We’ll let him go back to the track first before talking about the Breeders’ Cup. He’s a gelding, so all we’re concerned about is his racing future. I wouldn’t have traded him for anybody, even after he finished second in the seven-eighths race, and always thought he’d be better the further he goes. I think the only 2-year-old colt whose gotten a better number than him around two turns to this point is [Game Winner] in the American Pharoah. So, he definitely deserves to go, but that decision will be left entirely up to Mr. Campbell.”

O’Connell and Campbell have teamed up to run in one previous Breeders’ Cup, with Scandalous Act, who was sixth in the 2013 Juvenile Fillies following a sweep of the filly division of the Florida Stallion Stakes series earlier that summer and fall at Calder. O’Connell also fell just a neck shy of winning the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with Lady Shipman.

Although Cookie Dough received just a 68 Beyer for her 7 1/2-length victory in the My Dear Girl, her performance was far more visually impressive than that number implies. She had to overcome a near-impossible post and wide trip before asserting her superiority for a second straight race over a dozen other juvenile fillies. In the process, Cookie Dough became only the third horse to win a race at 1 1/16 miles from post 12 since Gulfstream Park was reconfigured in 2005 – a select group that also includes Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown.

Cookie Dough is an Arindel Farm homebred by Brethren owned by Alan Cohen. Trainer Stanley Gold, who posted a record 20th victory in the Florida Sire Stakes series, said after the race that if his owner wants to go to the Breeders’ Cup, “then we’ll go.”

Gold and Jeffrey Sanchez – the regular rider of Cookie Dough – combined to win the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with Awesome Feather.

If Well Defined and Cookie Dough do head to Churchill Downs for the Breeders’ Cup, they’ll join the locally based pair of Gunnevera and Curlin’s Approval, who are pointing for the Classic and Filly and Mare Sprint, respectively.

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Speaking of Gunnevera, trainer Antonio Sano has laid out a workout plan to get the horse to the Nov. 3 Classic. The schedule includes four works, all over Gunnevera’s home base at Gulfstream Park West, and is to begin Sunday with a five-furlong move.

Sano opted to train Gunnevera up to the Classic following his second-place finish in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga on Sept. 1. Gunnevera finished fifth, 6 1/4 lengths behind Gun Runner, in the 2017 Classic.

“He’s doing very well,” said Sano. “He’s had a series of two-minute gallops over the past couple of weeks, but we’ll let him get more serious starting Sunday.”

Sano said that Edgard Zayas, who rode Gunnevera to his runner-up finish in the Woodward and has been his regular work rider over the past two years, will be aboard for his four local works, although no firm decision has been made regarding his rider for the Breeders’ Cup.

◗ Victor Barboza Jr. and Armando De La Cerda finished in a dead heat for training honors at the recently concluded Gulfstream Park summer meet, with 23 wins apiece, while Emisael Jaramillo ran away with leading jockey honors (64 wins) and Arindel successfully defended its title in the owner standings with 13 wins and earnings of more than $1 million.