Giuseppe the Great gets class relief in allowance

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Nick Zito will be the first to admit that he’s not shy about taking on the underdog role in major 3-year-old races, as he did this past season with Giuseppe the Great, who finished third as a 47-1 outsider in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and second at 14-1 and 30-1 in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 2 Woody Stephens.

On Sunday, Zito will find himself on the other end of the spectrum with Giuseppe the Great, who will go postward as the odds-on favorite to defeat six seemingly overmatched rivals when trying allowance competition for the first time in his 3-year-old finale.

“You know me, I’m always willing to take a shot with a horse like Giuseppe, I love to be in the big races, and he’s given us an amazing season,” Zito said. “We start off here at the championship meet and run second to a horse who goes on to become a multiple graded stakes winner [Timeline], break our maiden at Keeneland, which is great, and then he really took us to the important races the way he kept performing.”

After finishing second behind American Anthem in the Woody Stephens and fourth to Practical Joke in the Grade 3 Dwyer, Giuseppe the Great took on a stellar field in the Jim Dandy and was second-best behind Good Samaritan.

“We beat the [Kentucky] Derby winner [Always Dreaming] and the Preakness winner [Cloud Computing], and a horse who never ran on dirt before beats us in the Dandy,” Zito said. “It was disappointing but satisfying at the same time.”

His performance in the Jim Dandy earned Giuseppe the Great a spot in the Travers, where he finished sixth behind West Coast.

“He beat half his field and ran extremely well in the Travers, then ran a wonderful race in the Pennsylvania Derby, finishing third despite getting in some trouble avoiding the horse who broke down,” Zito said. “And if you take West Coast out of the equation, he’s really right there with the others in both of those races.”

Giuseppe the Great will enter Sunday’s 1 1/16-mile main event with $441,500 in earnings, which nearly equals the combined bankrolls of his six rivals.

“Now we’re back where we started here at Gulfstream, and hopefully this race will serve as a confidence booster, which he can use as a springboard to a big 4-year-old season,” Zito said. “Years ago, I had Fast Falcon, who earned a lot of money and was similar to him. He was competitive in the major races but seemed to run the same with better horses as he did against, let’s just say, inferior competition. I think Giuseppe is a better horse. I just hope he doesn’t fool me.”