Gutierrez, St George Stable seek stakes double

The connections of champion Letruska will attempt to pull a double Sunday at Gulfstream Park, with Mounsieur Coco in the $65,000 Proud Man and Chocolate Bar in the $55,000 Miami Shores.

The horses will start as top contenders, with Mounsieur Coco the probable favorite in the Proud Man for 2-year-olds at 5 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta.

Chocolate Bar is the co-second highweight in the Miami Shores, an overnight handicap for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

Mounsieur Coco will face five others in the Proud Man, among them stablemate Mariachi Crush. But most of the focus will be on Mounsieur Coco for his 6 1/2-length win in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream.

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“He’s a very professional horse,” said Fausto Gutierrez, who trains Mounsieur Coco for St George Stable. “He’s a big horse, very intelligent. He’s like a 3-year-old. When you look at him, you don’t think he’s a 2-year-old.”

Mounsieur Coco earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 78 for his win, in which he covered five furlongs on Tapeta in a sharp 57.29 seconds. The score came in his second start, following a fourth-place finish as the favorite in a maiden special weight July 16 at Gulfstream.

“We had big expectations for him” first time out, Gutierrez said. “He worked very nice. He’s by Bolt d’Oro, one of the hot stallions. When they have their first start, sometimes it’s not an easy race. He didn’t run to the expectations that we had, and after the race the jockey told us he needs blinkers.”

The rider, Miguel Vasquez, made the equipment recommendation and was back aboard Mounsieur Coco for his maiden win Aug. 20.

“In my opinion, he ran a spectacular race last time,” Gutierrez said. “So, that’s the reason we decided to enter [back in] eight days. It’s a short time between races, but I think he’s okay.”

Vasquez has the mount from post 6 on Mounsieur Coco, who is a half-brother to sprint stakes winners Mojo Man, an earner of more than $550,000, and Fight To Glory.

Mariachi Crush will start from post 3 under Edgard Zayas. He enters off a 3 3/4-length maiden special weight win on Tapeta in his second start July 24 at Gulfstream.

Mariachi Crush is a son of Cross Traffic.

The Miami Shores drew a competitive field of 11, and Chocolate Bar owns its best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, a 92.

He’s looking for his third straight win. Chocolate Bar captured a Gulfstream allowance in his last start July 31, one race after being claimed for $50,000 out of a June 4 race he won at Churchill Downs. Gutierrez said there were a couple of reasons he was claimed by St George Stable.

“He’s a very consistent horse, and we knew he ran good over the track at Gulfstream,” he said. “Now we’re going into a bigger field with more quality. The horse is in good form. We’re going to try to have a good day in Florida.”