Kukulkan impressive in Clasico del Caribe drill

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After taking a week or so to get used to his new surroundings, Mexican sensation Kukulkan stretched his legs for the first time since arriving at Gulfstream Park and breezed four furlongs in 48.85 on Thanksgiving morning.

Kukulkan worked over a chewed-up racetrack during the “quarantine session” reserved for a small segment of the large Latin American contingent stabled at Gulfstream Park for the Clasico del Caribe Internacional program on Dec. 8. Breaking at the quarter pole, the 3-year-old went to the wire in a brisk 23.17, then continued out and around the clubhouse turn under just some light encouragement, finishing with good energy over the cuppy strip.

Kukulkan, a winner of all 13 career starts, is the marquee name on the Clasico card and will be heavily favored to extend his streak in the main event, the $300,000 Clasico del Caribe. Fausto Gutierrez, who sent out the filly Jala Jala to upset the boys in last year’s Clasico, trains Kukulkan and was on hand for the work.

“He did it very easily, I was very happy with the way he worked,” Gutierrez said. “It was his first work since arriving last week and he seems to have adapted nicely since he’s been here, which is very important for all these horses we’ve sent from Mexico for these races. He is not a spectacular or very fast work horse. This is how he usually goes.”

Kukulkan easily swept the Mexican Triple Crown for 3-year-olds, and Gutierrez acknowledged he is a very special horse.

“I’ve been training almost 30 years and have won more than 200 stakes in my country and all five of the races in the Clasico del Caribe series at one time or another, and he’s absolutely the best horse I’ve ever had,” Gutierrez said. “He’s already broken the track record for a mile and one eighth in Mexico three different times.”

Gutierrez said Thursday’s breeze might be the only official workout Kukulkan will have before the Clasico.

“All these horses came in very fit,” he said. “He could have another work like this, or I might just send him a mile at a two-minute lick next week. I am very excited to have the opportunity to bring him here for this race and to come back to Gulfstream Park to run in these races again this year.”

Kukulkan was one of three horses Gutierrez worked on Thanksgiving morning along with Kandinsky, who will also compete in the Clasico del Caribe, and the speedy Tati. Kandinsky breezed three furlongs, also from the quarter pole, in 37.40, while Tati, who is being pointed to the Caribbean Speed Cup, did likewise in a swift 35.65. Gutierrez said that Jala Jala, a nine-length winner of the 2017 Caribe, is scheduled to breeze Friday in preparation for the Confraternity Caribbean Cup.

Literario, another member of the prospective lineup for the Clasico del Caribe, also worked here Thursday, going four furlongs from the three-eighths pole in 48.03.