Gulfstream Park to give La Prevoyante gang a second chance

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - P.J. Campo, recently appointed vice president of racing at Gulfstream Park, said he plans to put up a 1 1/2-mile open allowance race for fillies and mares on turf for Thursday. The conditions of the race will mirror those of the Grade 3 La Prevoyante, which was scheduled to be run at Calder last Saturday, but canceled due to lack of entries.

“My stakes coordinator, Kevin Meyocks, went over the nomination list for the La Prevoyante and called all the trainers with horses on that list seeing what kind of interest we could muster in running the race here this week,” said Campo. “So we’ll throw something up for those horses and see what happens.”

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Calder Racing Secretary Mike Anifantis said he, Calder management and officials from Churchill Downs Inc. held in discussions all afternoon before deciding shortly after 4 p.m. on Monday to cancel the La Prevoyante due to lack of entries. He confirmed there were eight horses entered including one for dirt only.

“Ultimately, one of our chief concerns was there wasn’t enough protection if we were forced to take the race off the turf due to weather conditions on Saturday,” said Antifantis.

Trainer Christophe Clement entered both Aigue Marine and Tabreed in the La Prevoyante and said he would start at least one back in the race Thursday at Gulfstream.

“Aigue Marine will definitely run, Tabreed I’m not quite sure yet,” said Clement. “I’m disappointed in Calder management for making a decision that showed a lack of respect for the owners. I got a phone call at 5:20 p.m. informing me the race was not going. At least if they had called me earlier, I’d have had the option of running one of them back against the boys in the McKnight, which I might have done. But by that time, the other race had been closed, so I never had that option.”

Clement said that after talking with several of his colleagues who had also entered horses in the La Prevoyante, he was hopeful the race would fill for Thursday. That group consisted of Bill Mott (Preferential), Todd Pletcher (Viva Rafaela), Tom Albertrani, Graham Motion and Arnaud Delacour.

◗ Jockey Jose Osorio Jr. posted the first victory of his riding career when he guided Magic Lily to victory in Thursday’s fourth race for trainer Manny Azpurua. Osorio came to the U.S. from Puerto Rico four months ago.