Gelner looks to continue hot streak in D.S. Shine Young Futurity
Trainer Jayde Gelner swept a pair of 2-year-old stakes last weekend and will attempt to keep rolling with the barn’s young prospects in Saturday night’s $70,000 colts and geldings division of the D.S. “Shine” Young Futurity at Evangeline Downs.
The 5 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-olds bred in Louisiana shares a card with the $100,000 Louisiana Stallion Stakes in which near-millionaire Free Like a Girl will face male rivals after the fillies and mares division did not fill for the one-mile race.
Gelner saddles Sounds Like Power and Cool Ride in the 12-horse Shine Young. Most in the field are maidens, including Gelner’s pair. Sounds Like Power will get good support for his runner-up finish in his career debut June 17 at Evangeline. He broke on top and dueled throughout in the maiden special weight for Louisiana-breds. Sounds Like Power was 4-5.
“I think he’ll give us a big effort,” Gelner said. “I think first time out he was just drawn down there on the fence. He was shipped along to stay in a position. He showed talent, in my opinion, to just barely get caught toward the end.”
Cool Ride was third at the same level in his last start, which came at Louisiana Downs. He was trained by Gelner’s father, Scott Gelner, who has since sent him to his son as he has a base at Evangeline.
Jayde Gelner last weekend won a pair of $150,000 divisions of the Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity at Lone Star Park, where he also has a stable. Divining Humor won the fillies division and Strong Performance accounted for the colts and geldings side. Both runners came off double-digit debut wins for Jayde Gelner, who is making a splash less than a year and a half into his training career. He had another 2-year-old winner at Lone Star on the closing-day card Tuesday.
“Right now, I think we have probably about 12 or 13 2-year-olds and kind of our main focus this time of the year is getting babies to the races,” Gelner said. “Most of them we buy at auction as yearlings or 2-year-olds.”
Gelner said plans are pending for both Divining Humor and Strong Promise.
“She’s very intelligent, very smart, does everything so easily,” he said of Divining Humor, a horse he owns. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do with her next.
“Strong Promise, kind of the same thing. We’re waiting. We have a few options. We might want to test the waters and see what his full talent level is.”
Gelner said he will be sending horses to Remington Park with the closure of Lone Star. He also plans to race some at Louisiana Downs. Later this year, he hopes to venture with a barn to Kentucky.
Gelner, 22, is a native of Lake Charles, La., who grew up in nearby Vinton, home of Delta Downs. He served as an assistant to his father before branching out on his own.
“It’s just something that interested me,” he said of training. “I felt like I had a connection to the horse. I think I can kind of read a horse very well, personality-wise, and know what their energy levels are, know what they might like for a training program.”
It’s working with the barn’s 2-year-olds, and older runners like Ghost Hero. The multiple stakes winner could be headed next to the West Virginia Derby. He’s part of a 30-horse stable for Gelner.
“I feel like it started growing fairly recently,” he said of his barn – just like the trainer’s reputation for developing young talent.
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