Gabaldon ($35) wins Royal Palm Juvenile, Bullet grabs Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Bullet had to overcome a poor start, and Gabaldon dealt with a seemingly suicidal pace duel. Now both may be on their way to Royal Ascot after registering impressive debut victories in the $120,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies and $120,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes respectively Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The winners of both races earned automatic berths into one of the six juvenile stakes to be decided during the June 18-22 Royal Ascot meeting.

Both Bullet and Gabaldon were ridden to victory by jockey Emisael Jaramillo.

Bullet, an extremely well-bred daughter of War Front who fetched $425,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September sale, broke slow and found herself near the rear of the eight-horse Juvenile Fillies field in the run down the backstretch. Bullet began to gather momentum on the turn, swung out to the middle of the track to continue her bid into the stretch, then finished full of run out near the center of the course to readily overtake the tiring leaders, drawing off to a convincing 2 1/4-length triumph over the 44-1 You Need Me.

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You Need Me, another launching her career in the Royal Palm Juvenile, contested the early pace with the more-experienced Unchained Elaine, shook off Unchained Elaine in early stretch and, while no match for the winner, held on gamely to finish second, three parts of a length in front of Royal Emmy. Perfect Shances, the only winner in the field, flashed brief speed before faltering to finish seventh as the 8-5 favorite.

Owned by D J Stables LLC and trained by Mark Casse, Bullet completed five furlongs over the firm turf in 56.80 seconds and paid $9.80.

“You really can’t print what I was thinking after the start,” Casse said by phone after the race. “She’s been kind of on the ‘A’ team for us from the beginning. She’s not a real big filly, she’s just beautiful, and we sent her down there kind of thinking about this race. And for her to overcome such adversity in her first start speaks volumes for her.”

Casse, who won the Group 1 Queen Anne at Ascot in 2016 with Tepin, said he would talk to the owners before making a final decision on whether to return there again next month with Bullet.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to win at Royal Ascot and it’s really quite a thing,” Casse said. “We’ll discuss all the pros and cons about making the trip, but it would be great to go back again.”

Gabaldon, a Florida-bred by Gone Astray, brought a mere $9,000 at the 2023 OBS October sale. She completed a memorable day for her trainer Jose D’Angelo, who less than an hour earlier won the Mamzelle Stakes at Churchill Downs with another longshot, Twirling Queen.

Gabaldon was hustled along from the start by Jaramillo and found himself in an early battle for the lead with the George Weaver-trained Governor Sam. Weaver swept both the Royal Palm Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies a year ago and ultimately went on to win the Group 2 Queen Mary at Ascot with Crimson Advocate.

Gabaldon and Governor Sam contested a lightning-fast pace, 21.33 for the opening quarter split, racing even until settling into the stretch. At that point, Governor Sam called it quits, Gabaldon opening a comfortable advantage through midstretch before holding safe a late surge from the rail-running Reach for the Rose to register a 1 1/4-length victory. Bright Skittle, the tepid 7-2 favorite, and Garden of War finished in a dead heat for third.

Gabaldon covered five furlongs in 56.20 and paid $35.00.

“He always showed he was very professional from the first time,” D’Angelo said. “I was looking for a horse to try to go to Royal Ascot and he was the one that was ready. So I tried him on grass to see if he could handle it. Chester Bishop, one of the owners, said he checked his pedigree and told me he can handle it. And he was right.”

D’Angelo said he saw Gabaldon working before the sale last fall and recommended his owners, Soldi Stable LLC., buy him at the bargain price.

“He’s Florida-bred and Florida-sired and he looked so good to me," D’Angelo said. “And even though he was in a duel for the lead today, I wasn’t really worried because I knew he was very fit for this race.”

Like Casse, D’Angelo said he would discuss the options with his owners, but was fairly certain sending Gabaldon to Ascot would be the plan.

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