Gulfstream notes: South Florida good to Lanerie

Jockey Corey Lanerie continued his good success here this winter riding a pair of winners on Saturday including the very promising 3-year-old filly Taylor S in the Any Limit Stakes. The Kentucky-based Lanerie has made south Florida his winter home for the past three seasons and continues to build his win total each successive year. He is eighth in the standings at the current meet with 28 victories.

“I don’t expect to come down here and blow them up and win as many races as I do at Churchill Downs, where I have all that business,” said Lanerie. “But things have been getting better every year, I think people are getting familiar with me, and riding places like Gulfstream and Saratoga, as I did last summer, certainly helps my career. When I first came down here, I was probably a little wide-eyed and in awe of some of these great riders. But being able to compete against them every day has made me a better rider, boosted my confidence level, and now that I’ve settled in and become friends with them all, now they’re just jockeys.”

Lanerie won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 2014, given to the jockey who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. His biggest supporter locally has been Dale Romans, who trains Taylor S as well as Birdatthewire, whom Lanerie will ride in the upcoming Gulfstream Park Oaks.

“I think Corey is the most underrated rider in the country,” said Romans. “Day in and day out, you’re going to get a steady effort out of him. He does exactly what you ask him to do, and he rides as hard for third and fourth money as he does to win. I feel lucky to be able to get him as much as I do.”

Castellano swoops in for 3

Leading rider Javier Castellano shook off the effects of a 17-hour flight from Saudi Arabia, arriving at the track midway through the Sunday card, but in time to post three consecutive victories, the first of which, aboard Fashion Fund, was his 100th of the meet. Castellano also won the next two races with Pure of Spirit and Rock Fall.

Castellano, who secured his 4,000th career win here on Feb. 8, is seeking to eclipse his own personal Gulfstream Park record of 132 victories in a meet, which he set in 2013-14.

Saez bags four on Sunday

Luis Saez did Castellano one better on Sunday, winning four races on the card, capped by a stunner in the finale aboard Ascot Girl ($99.20), who circled the field following a very slow start to win her debut in eye-catching fashion on the turf. Saez’s other victories on Sunday came with Street Princess ($9.20), Party Crasher ($28.60), and Demander ($27.00).