Navarro sends two in Mr. Prospector, but no X Y Jet

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jorge Navarro has himself a pretty strong hand coming into Sunday’s $100,000 Mr. Prospector, with Delta Bluesman and Shaft of Light likely to vie for favoritism in the Grade 3 sprint at Gulfstream Park. But that hand won’t be as strong as he originally intended, with the multiple graded stakes winner X Y Jet conspicuous by his absence when entries were drawn for the race on Thursday.

X Y Jet won the 2015 Mr. Prospector by 9 1/4 lengths and was among the five horses in the entry box when the race was postponed last weekend. But Navarro said he just wasn’t happy with the way X Y Jet was traveling when he went to the track for a gallop just hours before the race was re-drawn on Thursday.

“He was training great, but I just didn’t like the way he looked the other day,” said Navarro. “It doesn’t appear to be anything serious, but I called the owners and we decided to skip the race and send him to the clinic to check things out.”

Delta Bluesman is looking to bounce back from a sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He was compromised when he collided at the break with the ultimate winner, Drefong. Delta Bluesman, who earned an all-expenses paid trip to the Breeders’ Cup by virtue of his victory in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint here this past summer, sustained a cut on his ankle from the incident that required stitches to repair.

“He’s fine now and training great,” said Navarro. “The one thing that concerns me most is that he can be a little chicken and might have flashbacks to what happened in the Breeders’ Cup. Fortunately, we drew the outside post, which should keep him clear and away from traffic at the start.”

Six were entered in the Mr. Prospector, a six-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and up.

Navarro expects his other starter, Shaft of Light, to be part of the pace, along with the rail-drawn El Deal. Shaft of Light is coming off a career-best performance, a wire-to-wire 6 3/4-length victory in the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit. Both Shaft of Light and Delta Bluesman are owned by Monster Racing Stables.

“I discussed it with the owner and we decided to send Shaft of Light for the lead with the horse on the rail and let Delta Bluesman sit off the two of them on the outside,” said Navarro.

An honest pace scenario would play into the hands of Candip and Yourdreamsormine. Candip finished second behind X Y Jet in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint in February and comes off a come-from-behind neck triumph in Penn National’s Fabulous Strike Stakes.

Yourdreamsormine earned his way into the Mr. Prospector by virtue of his 1 3/4-length win in a second-level optional $62,500 claiming race at six furlongs on Dec. 4. He was able to position himself closer to the early leaders than usual under new rider Paco Lopez, who will be aboard Sunday.

El Deal’s hand figures to be forced breaking from the rail, and he will have John Velazquez aboard. El Deal, who is rarely headed during the early stages of his races, did not make the lead in his most recent start, finishing third in the five-furlong Gin Rummy Champ when trying turf for the first time.

Squadron A was a supplemental entry to the Mr. Prospector. He registered his only win of the year in his last start, a come-from-behind 1 3/4-length triumph against second-level optional $62,500 claimers six weeks ago at Churchill Downs.