Orseno gets Spinelli going with stakes on the horizon
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Spinelli will launch what could be an exciting summer campaign Sunday when she returns from a two-month freshening in the eighth race at Gulfstream Park.
She’s part of a field of 10 fillies and mares for a first-level allowance over 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta. The group includes a handful of promising 3-year-old fillies, like Spinelli and Ocala Gala, as well as some seasoned racemares like Mywifeknowsitall, Vuela Paloma, and Denver Alley.
“It’s competitive,” said Joe Orseno, who trains Spinelli. “It’s a good race for her. The 3-year-old race didn’t go, so I had to go 3-and-up and it’s the ‘and up’ horses, some of the older horses, that make it tough. She’s a pretty talented filly and she needs to run.”
Orseno hopes the race Sunday will be a springboard to summer stakes for Spinelli, a daughter of Upstart who races for D. J. Stable. She will be cutting back to one turn as she makes her first start since April 4.
“We tried her long and she stretched out and it looked like she was going to be a distance filly, but then when I ran her long again she didn’t take the next step,” Orseno said. “So, I spoke with the owners.
“She’s always been a filly who was a little high strung, so she was displacing. Since I wanted to freshen her up off that distance race, we went ahead and did a Llewellyn on her, which is minor little throat surgery. It’s common. You do it right in the stall on the racetrack. We did that to help her, and this is her first race off the Llewellyn and she’s training fantastic.”
The Llewellyn procedure is named for its founder, the renowned equine veterinarian Huw Llewellyn.
Spinelli will break from post 3 under Samy Camacho. She won her debut in a Tapeta sprint last June and also has run well on turf at Gulfstream and Monmouth Park.
“I have plans on bringing her to Colonial and running her in some stakes,” Orseno said. “This is like her first race back, to get her ready. She’s a nice filly.”
Orseno plans to have a 20-horse division at Colonial Downs for the summer. The meet opens June 25 and runs through Labor Day. Orseno will continue to be based at Gulfstream.
“I’ve got some nice horses going to Colonial and I’m hoping to have a nice summer there,” he said. “The pots are good and we’re all set with the help going and everybody’s looking forward to it.
“I’m still going to have 30 horses at Gulfstream all summer. I’ve got quite a few Florida-breds. It’s beneficial for them to stay here – one, for breeders’ awards, and two, if you’re a Florida-bred, compared to other places, the purses are pretty darn good here at Gulfstream. And they offer a lot of different classes and conditioned races that you can’t get in other places. It’s a good place to race in the summer time.”
Spinelli’s rival Ocala Gala was a maiden winner on Tapeta two starts back at Gulfstream. She is a half-sister to Sweet Dani Girl, a multiple stakes winner of more than $500,000.
Heart Beats True is another interesting 3-year-old. She is making her North American debut after winning her maiden on an all-weather track in England.
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