Record 346 nominees for Claiming Crown races

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A record 346 horses have been nominated to the nine Claiming Crown races set for opening day of the 2018-19 Gulfstream Park championship meet on Dec. 1, including World of Trouble, who narrowly lost the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint this month.

Trainer Jason Servis nominated World of Trouble to both the $110,000 Canberbury (five furlongs on turf) and the main event, the $200,000 Jewel (at 1 1/8 miles on dirt).

World of Trouble received a 118 Beyer Speed Figure after finishing a neck back of defending champion Stormy Liberal in the Turf Sprint. He is eligible for the Claiming Crown because he launched his career with a 14-length victory while racing under a $25,000 claiming tag going 5 1/2 furlongs on the main track at Gulfstream in August 2017.

World of Trouble, a two-time stakes winner on grass, won the Pasco Stakes by 13 1/2 lengths and finished third as the favorite in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at 1 1/16 miles on dirt last winter.

The Jewel attracted 39 nominations, with 2017 winner Flowers for Lisa and Grade 3 winner Control Group among them.

Delta Bluesman gets win

Grade 2 winner Delta Bluesman got back on the winning track Thursday at Gulfstream Park West after slipping up the rail under jockey Emisael Jaramillo to win a $25,000 optional claimer for trainer Jorge Navarro.

Delta Bluesman competed with a $25,000 price on his head and was not claimed. The victory was the 14th in 60 lifetime starts for the 8-year-old, whose most notable triumph came here during the summer of 2015 in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint. He also finished fifth later that season in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Delta Bluesman was one of two winners on the day for Jaramillo, who also teamed with red-hot trainer Dane Kobiskie to capture the second race with the odds-on Delinquent. Jaramillo and Kobiskie had combined to win three races the previous day, with all four victories coming for the PTK LLC stable.

◗ Ten fillies and mares were entered for Sunday’s $47,000 main event, to be run under first-level allowance and optional-claiming conditions at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The well-matched field includes trainer Christophe Clement’s Group 1-tested Chiara Luna, making her local debut, recent winners Sapphire Jubilee and Tropicality, and the speedy One Direction Song.

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