Karibu Gardens back from layoff for Friday allowance
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Karibu Gardens jumped up and won his stakes debut last summer when capturing the Grade 2 Sky Classic on the Woodbine turf. Two defeats later, trainer Josie Carroll is looking to get the 5-year-old horse back in winning form for an even more productive 2015.
Bred and owned by Eugene Melnyk, Karibu Gardens is one of the contenders in the lone allowance Friday at Gulfstream Park, a $52,000, third-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Karibu Gardens finished sixth Nov. 22 in the Grade 3 Tropical Park Turf Handicap at Gulfstream Park West in his last start.
“He’s been a very nice, consistent horse,” Carroll said. “The turf was pretty soft in his last race, and I don’t think he liked it. After that, I gave him a little break and looked for an allowance to get him back in action.”
Karibu Gardens, one of eight older horses in the eighth of 10 races, was named for a site in Barbados, as are all Melnyk horses.
First post Friday is 1 p.m. Eastern. Post time Saturday and Sunday is 12:30 p.m. but moves back to 1 p.m. for the Presidents Day holiday card Monday.
Key contenders
Karibu Gardens (Last 3 Beyers: 92-73-96)
* Was good enough to win a Woodbine stakes before facing a couple of tough crews while remaining in graded company. He draws leading rider Javier Castellano when making his first start in nearly three months after a nice series of Palm Meadows works.
Sky Captain (Last 3 Beyers: 91-91-87)
* Turf and the six-month layoff are obvious questions surrounding part of an uncoupled John Oxley-Mark Casse duo (with Star Contender), but he does show a series of Palm Meadows bullets and clearly has the talent to fit in here.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Sky Captain. Trainer Mark Casse is 10-3-1-0 with a $3.82 ROI over the past five years with horses trying turf for the first time in routes following a layoff of 180 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
:: Learn more about Formulator | Buy Formulator PPs
:: Follow the @DRFFormulator Twitter feed and get free Formulator facts
Marine Patrol (Last 3 Beyers: 91-71-91)
* Has gone winless in six starts since being claimed last summer but tends to run respectably. He draws the favorable rail post and should be lurking in a decent position from just behind the earlier ones.
Sinatra (Last 3 Beyers: 80-85-91)
* Blum homebred stands to benefit from his latest outing at Tampa Bay Downs and is yet another logical contender after having cleared his second allowance condition some 10 months ago.
Calvados (Last 3 Beyers: 91-95-84)
* First-time gelding was a bang-up second in the Laurel Turf Cup two starts back and returns from a nearly three-month layoff with a strong series of Palm Meadows works under him.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Calvados. Has a record of 13-6-3-0 in routes on firm turf and a record of 11-0-0-2 in other races. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan