Pelican Stakes perfect prep for X Y Jet

Jorge Navarro considered the various ways to get X Y Jet back to Dubai in the best shape possible before deciding to send the standout sprinter to Tampa Bay Downs.

“The question was, after having three knee surgeries, do I want to have to work him six times before I take him to Dubai?” Navarro said this week while across the Florida peninsula at Gulfstream Park. “I don’t want to do that. So I decided to run in Tampa as a prep.”

And so the stage is set for X Y Jet to use the Pelican Stakes on Saturday at Tampa as a springboard for the $2 million Golden Shaheen, a March 31 race at Meydan in Dubai. In 2016, X Y Jet was second by a neck in the Golden Shaheen in what remains one of his trainer’s career highlights.

“It was a great experience for me and my family, and we are looking forward to going back,” Navarro said.

X Y Jet, with Emisael Jaramillo to ride, will break from post 4 in the six-furlong Pelican, one of two sprint stakes on an 11-race Saturday card at Tampa in Oldsmar, Fla. If the race holds together, at least a couple of his eight opponents are capable of giving X Y Jet a run.

The stakes-proven Recruiting Ready (post 7, Daniel Centeno) stands to benefit greatly from a recent race at Gulfstream, while First Growth (post 5, Jesus Castanon) finished just a half-length behind X Y Jet as the runner-up in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector on Dec. 23 at Gulfstream.

“Nothing’s easy, but the timing is good for us, and it should be a perfect prep to put him right for Dubai,” Navarro said. “He came out of his last race excellent.”

X Y Jet, true to his familiar style, led all the way in dominating his last race, the Jan. 20 Sunshine Millions Sprint at Gulfstream, marking a second straight stakes victory since the gray gelding returned from a 13-month layoff precipitated by his third knee operation. Owned by Gelfenstein Farm, the 6-year-old son of Kantharos has won 8 of 19 starts and $920,813.

The purse for the 34th Pelican is listed as $100,000, but that includes $25,000 in bonuses for Florida-breds. X Y Jet and two longshots, Union Grace and Sweetontheladies, are eligible for the additional payoffs.

First post Saturday is 12:44 p.m. Eastern, with the Pelican carded as race 8 at 4:20.

Minaret: No clear favorite

The $50,000 Minaret Stakes, the sister race to the Pelican, follows a little more than an hour later Saturday as race 10 (5:30). Eleven fillies and mares are entered in the six-furlong fixture, and with no clear-cut favorite on the par of X Y Jet, the Minaret looks like one of the best races of the day.

Stormy Embrace (post 3, Ronnie Allen Jr.), first or second in 9 of 15 career starts, could close a slight wagering choice after winning a Jan. 21 allowance prep by 9 1/4 lengths for leading trainer Kathleen O’Connell. Through Wednesday, O’Connell is 24 for 91 (26 percent) with a whopping $2.58 ROI per $2 win wager.

Allen replaces regular rider Wilmer Garcia, who is sidelined from injuries suffered in a Feb. 3 spill.

Other major players in the 37th Minaret include R Angel Katelyn (post 8, Antonio Gallardo), a three-time winner from five tries over the local surface, including triumphs in the 2016 Sandpiper and 2017 Gasparilla; and True Romance (post 6, Carlos Montalvo), third in the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America last fall at Keeneland for trainer Timmy Hills.

– additional reporting by Mike Welsch