Imprimis rebounds in Janus as Irad Ortiz Jr. sweeps trio of stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Imprimis, bouncing back nicely from his eventful trip in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, outfinished defending race winner Extravagant Kid to register a popular neck decision in Friday’s $75,000 Janus Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Janus ushered in the track’s new policy of not allowing any horses participating in stakes races to compete on Lasix here this season.

Imprimis was ridden to victory by Irad Ortiz Jr., who won five races on the card including all three stakes.

Breeze Easy LLC’s Imprimis lost all chance when forced to take up sharply near midstretch under Ortiz before easing home next to last in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. He also encountered some early trouble in the five-furlong Janus, taking up briefly when pinched between horses immediately after the start.

Imprimis settled near the rear of the seven-horse field after the eventful beginning about six lengths off a relatively sharp pace set by The Critical Way. Imprimis swung five wide into the stretch and then finished full of run when sharply roused by Ortiz down the center of the course, getting the best of Extravagant Kid in the closing strides.

Extravagant Kid – who finished a wide-running fourth, beaten just a length in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint – raced well placed while confidently handled by jockey Tyler Gaffalione from the outset. The versatile former claimer commenced his bid when finally set down near midstretch, narrowly overtaking the tiring leader but was unable to match strides with the 4-5 Imprimis at the end. The Critical Way turned in a huge effort in defeat, succumbing grudgingly to the top pair to finish another head further back in third.

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The Janus kept Imprimis’s record perfect in five starts over the local course. Racing without Lasix for just the second time in his career, Imprimis completed the distance in 54.82 seconds over the firm course and paid $3.60.

“From my angle, I didn’t realize he got bothered at the start, I just knew he wasn’t where he was supposed to be down the backstretch,” Orseno said after the race. “It’s impossible to make up ground here in these kind of races, so the horse did a phenomenal job. Of course now the jury is out, we’re going to scope him and see if he bled.”

Orseno said the victory helped erase some of the memories of Imprimis’s unlucky experience at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup.

“I said before the race I was feeling more pressure today than I did in the Breeders’ Cup because today he was supposed to win,” Orseno said. “When Extravagant Kid had the jump on him I thought I was in trouble. There’s nothing wrong with his credentials, he’s won nearly a million dollars. I was just very pleased to get a good trip. Irad rode him phenomenal, and hopefully it’s a stepping-stone for the rest of the year.”

Gulf Coast handles extra ground in Cash Run

Trainer Rodolphe Brisset said he’d been looking forward to stretching his lightly raced Gulf Coast out further, and the newly turned 3-year-old filly did so successfully, rallying from off the pace to a half-length victory over Honorifique in the $75,000 Cash Run Stakes giving Ortiz his second of three stakes tallies on the card.

Ortiz eased Gulf Coast outside horses during the early stages of the one-mile Cash Run, the pair advancing four wide to challenge for command into the stretch. Cash Run, who finished second four weeks earlier in the six-furlong Sandpiper at Tampa Bay Downs, edged clear at midstretch before withstanding a final surge from Honorique at the end.

Adios Trippi finished a tiring third after setting the pace into the stretch, with the previously undefeated Shea D Summer checking home a disappointing fourth as the 8-5 favorite.

Gulf Coast, a daughter of Union Rags, began her career winning a six-furlong maiden special weight race on Nov. 10 at Indiana Downs. Owned by WinStar Stablemates Inc., she completed the mile over a fast track in 1:37.16 and paid $6.40.

“Everything set up the way we were looking at it,” Brisset said. “Irad got out in the clear after the first quarter. That was a good move. She’s a pretty big filly, we were really looking forward to running her a little longer than we did the first two times. We ran her back in 26 days, which is really not what we do, but we were looking for some black type and now that we’ve got the win in a stakes out of the way I think two turns yes, but I think six weeks, yes, too.”

Hear My Prayer scores in Abundantia

Ortiz completed his memorable afternoon rallying the speedy Hear My Prayer from off the pace to a relatively easy victory in the $75,000 Abundantia for fillies and mares going five furlongs on turf. Victory Kingdom rallied to finish second while never menacing the winner.

Hear My Prayer, who had been in front at the first call in six of her seven previous starts, broke well to be with the early leaders before being eased back off the pace by Ortiz. A 4-year-old daughter of The Big Beast, Hear My Prayer angled wide turning for home and readily ran past the embattled pacesetters to win going away for owner Cara Oliver and trainer David Fisher.

Hear My Prayer covered the distance in 55.27 seconds and paid a relatively generous $21 even with the presence of the red-hot Ortiz in the saddle.

Trainer David Fisher “told me she will break out of there with speed, but I knew there was a lot of speed in there and I didn’t want to go fight head to head,” Ortiz said. “My plan was to let her break with her speed, hopefully two horses go and I could track them, and it worked out perfectly. She relaxed, put me in good position, and when I called on her turning for home she responded.”