Orseno still optimistic as Rezasrolex goes in Pay Any Price
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Even after coming up well short in the Grade 2 Shakertown in April, trainer Joe Orseno considers Rezasrolex to be a legitimate graded stakes contender on turf. He is taking it from the top with the 5-year-old gelding and hopes to move along in the $70,000 Pay Any Price overnight handicap on Sunday at Gulfstream Park.
“I’m pretty confident that we get past this hurdle here, this next race,” Orseno said. “If we do, I think we’re going to look for another stakes somewhere.”
Between June 2024 and January 2026, Rezasrolex turned heads when he won nine consecutive starts on turf and synthetic in Florida. He then notched two runner-up finishes in $100,000 stakes before shipping to Keeneland for the Shakertown. He faded to 10th that day, but after a 4 1/2-length allowance victory on synthetic last month, he proved he’s far from done.
“His only disappointing start in two years was the Shakertown, but the track came up very soft that day and he only got beat about four lengths,” Orseno said. “He hung in there as long as he could, so off that, I freshened him up a little bit, and last time, he exploded.”
If Rezasrolex continues moving forward in the field of seven on Sunday, Orseno said he plans to target the $250,000 Tri-State Turf Sprint on Aug. 2 at Ellis Park, which functions as a local prep for the Grade 2, $1.75 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint on Sept. 5.
Orseno also entered the front-running 6-year-old Extendo, who ran one of the best races of his career and came up a nose short in the $70,000 Thirsty Fish overnight handicap in May. Despite a dull effort later that month, the trainer said he would not be surprised if he never looked back in the five-furlong turf sprint on Sunday.
Proud Man
Spicy Taco overcame a great deal of trouble to win his juvenile debut for trainer Luis Ramirez on June 20, settling back and steadying before firing late in a statebred maiden special weight. He will take a big step up in the $100,000 Proud Man Stakes on Sunday.
“He surprised me that day,” Ramirez said. “He had everything to lose that day, checked two or three times. And at 4 1/2 [furlongs], he still closed.”
Closing juveniles like Spicy Taco often have serious issues getting the job done in debuts at Gulfstream, where the 4 1/2-furlong distance on dirt simply asks too much of them. This only flatters the Uncle Chuck colt’s first performance and is encouraging Ramirez to take a chance at 5 1/2 furlongs in stakes company.
Trainer Jorge Delgado said Regent’s Park, the likely favorite, was to scratch in favor of the Grade 3 Sanford on Saturday at Saratoga, leaving Ramirez with one of the two winners in the shortened field of seven 2-year-olds. Etruscan Warrior, one of the five maidens, finished fourth behind Spicy Taco last month.
Without an appropriate maiden spot, Patrick Biancone will take an even bigger chance with first-time starter Gaelic Legacy. The trainer said he liked what he saw from the colt in three published workouts ahead of this lofty debut, most notably a three-furlong breeze in 35 seconds on June 27.
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