Il Miracolo outlasts Tumbarumba in Ghostzapper Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Il Miracolo won a game stretch-long duel with Tumbarumba and registered a well-deserved neck victory over the tepid 2-1 favorite in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Ghostzapper Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

It was three-quarters of a length farther back to third-place Steal Sunshine.

With John Velazquez aboard for the first time, Il Miracolo settled in perfect striking position in the run down the backstretch of the Ghostzapper, just behind a relatively soft pace set by longshot X Y Point and pressed from the outset by Tumbarumba. Velazquez found room between the two leaders to join for command leaving the half-mile marker. He fell nearly a length behind Tumbarumba turning into the stretch before reasserting himself along the rail to prove narrowly best.

Steal Sunshine, who got up in the final jump to beat Tumbarumba in the Gulfstream Park Mile, angled extremely wide while commencing his bid approaching the stretch, but could not menace the top two with a belated rally. Lure Him In, making his first start since being purchased privately and transferred to the barn of leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., never factored while finishing nearly another five lengths farther back in fourth. He was followed by a wide-running Donegal Forever, tiring X Y Point, Mbagnick and The Skipper Too.

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The victory was the first for Il Miracolo, a son of Gun Runner trained by Antonio Sano, since he captured the Grade 3 Smarty Jones last August at Parx Racing. Il Miracolo completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.79 seconds over a fast track and paid $10.60 while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 96.

“I tried the horse a mile in his last start because he was invited to Dubai for the Godolphin Mile,” said Sano, who trains Il Miracolo for Alex Andres LLC. “But that didn’t work out, so I prepared him for longer distances. And because of that, I was confident my horse could come back and win after the two leaders came into the stretch. Those were two very good horses dueling today. It was an excellent race.”

Sano said he would likely point Il Miracolo to the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs on May 3.

The disappointment trainer Brian Lynch felt following Tumbarumba’s runner-up finish in the Ghostzapper was all but forgotten about an hour later after his Oscar Eclipse registered a neck victory over Tampa Bay Downs invader Dreaming of Kona in the $125,000 Sir Shackleton Stakes. It was another three-quarters of a length farther back to third-place Implementation.

Oscar Eclipse came into the seven-furlong Sir Shackleton idle since finishing third going 1 1/16 miles in the Bourbon Trail Stakes at Churchill Downs on September 23. The win was the third in seven starts for the homebred son of Oscar Performance owned by Woodslane Farm.

Oscar Eclipse prompted the early pace of Legacy Isle before overtaking leaving the furlong grounds, edging clear, then withstanding a mild bid from Dreaming of Kona at the end. The latter, never far back, checked briefly behind the winner near midstretch, continued willingly, but was not good enough.

Oscar Eclipse covered the distance in 1:23.23 under jockey Jose Ortiz and paid $7.80 as the tepid favorite in a field of nine older sprinters.

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