With Florida Derby and Dubai World Cup on the same day, jockeys face tough decisions

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –Being in two places at the same time is never easy, especially when the two places are Miami and Dubai.

Several members of the local jockey colony will be faced with making the decision of whether to be at Gulfstream Park or Meydan Racecourse on March 31, the day two of the most important races of the season, the Grade 1 Florida Derby and the $10 million Dubai World Cup, will be run several hours and approximately 7,800 miles apart.

Javier Castellano made his decision recently, opting to be in Dubai to ride likely favorite West Coast in the World Cup rather than potential favorite Audible in the $1 million Florida Derby. John Velazquez has picked up the mount on Audible for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will stay in Florida rather than riding Mind Your Biscuits in his attempt at a second straight win in the Dubai Golden Shaheen.

“It looks like we’re potentially going to ride one of the favorites in the Florida Derby, and have a lot of other business on the day, so it didn’t pay for Irad to go all the way to Dubai for the one horse,” said Ortiz’s agent, Steve Rushing.

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On Tuesday, Luis Saez and his agent also chose Gulfstream Park over Meydan, giving up the mount on Gunnevera in the Dubai World Cup to be aboard Strike Power in the Florida Derby. Strike Power suffered his first setback in three starts when second here last Saturday in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.

“It was a tough, tough decision,” said Saez’s agent, Richard Depass. “I spoke to the jockey after the Fountain of Youth, told him to take a few days and think it over, then we talked over all the pros and cons and made the choice to stick with the 3-year-old Strike Power over the older horse Gunnevera.”

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Depass said the decision came down to which horse he and Saez felt might have the biggest upside down the road.

“A lot of things come into play here, so we put it all on the table and felt Strike Power, being a 3-year-old, had the potential for a bigger future,” Depass explained. “It’s a lot of money over there, and Luis said Gunnevera worked terrific last weekend. But we tried looking not at the bridge in front of us, but what happens after we cross that bridge. I’d hate to give up a potential Kentucky Derby mount to ride in Dubai. And even if he’s not a Derby horse, I’d say up to a mile Strike Power is as good as any 3-year-old we’ve seen this year. And I don’t know if we get that mount back if we went to Dubai. We’d have also missed several days making the trip over there, and I have other business lined up on Florida Derby Day.”

Joel Rosario is the beneficiary of Saez staying home, as he has picked up the mount on Gunnevera in the Dubai World Cup. Rosario also inherited his old seat back on Mind Your Biscuits in the Golden Shaheen. He was already slated to ride Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Stormy Liberal the same night for trainer Peter Miller in the Al Quoz turf sprint.