In rematch with X Y Jet, Imperial Hint may have the edge

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The last time Imperial Hint and X Y Jet met, they traveled halfway around the world to go six furlongs in the $2.5 million Dubai Golden Shaheen. On Saturday, the two world-class sprinters will face off once again, this time at a distance of seven furlongs, for a mere $100,000 purse in Gulfstream Park’s Grade 3 Mr. Prospector.

X Y Jet has not started since he won the Golden Shaheen on March 30 at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. Imperial Hint, third in the Golden Shaheen, beaten two lengths by X Y Jet, bounced back to win a pair of Grade 1 races in New York, the A.G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga and Vosburgh Invitational at Belmont Park. It is he who will likely be favored when the two horses meet again to close out their 2019 campaigns against four rivals in the Mr. Prospector.

Both Imperial Hint and X Y Jet will have questions to answer on Saturday, first and foremost the distance, since both have historically been at their best going six furlongs, not seven. Both also are coming off layoffs due to physical infirmities. Imperial Hint was scratched the morning of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint due to a minor foot issue, while X Y Jet will have to shake off the rust of yet another in a series of long layoffs that have plagued him throughout his career.

“Naturally I was disappointed about what happened at the Breeders’ Cup, but I have turned the page,” said trainer Luis Carvajal Jr., who has done an outstanding job managing the career of Imperial Hint for owner Raymond Mamone. “He’s been working great. Like he always works. I’m taking the horse over happy. After that, we’ll just leave it up to the racing gods. And Javier Castellano.”

Castellano will take his regular seat aboard Imperial Hint once again in the Mr. Prospector.

As for the distance, Imperial Hint has won three of five starts going seven furlongs, including the 2017 General George at Laurel. But it’s at six furlongs that Imperial Hint has excelled over the years, to the point of setting a track record this summer at Saratoga after posting a final clocking of 1:07.92 en route to his easy victory in the Vanderbilt.

“He’s definitely a six-furlong specialist,” said Carvajal. “He’s won at seven-eighths before, but against a different kind of competition. The distance is in the back of my mind on Saturday, but the way he’s training, I think he’ll handle it.”

X Y Jet won the the 2015 and 2017 renewals of the Mr. Prospector, the race decided at six furlongs in both of those years. It was extended to seven-eighths in 2018, a fact that does have trainer Jorge Navarro somewhat concerned. X Y Jet has two runner-up finishes in three previous starts at seven furlongs.

“We’re running out of time if we’re going to get him back to Dubai [for the Golden Shaheen],” said Navarro. “This is the first time he’s come out of everything perfect. He’s training great. It’s a shame it’s seven-eighths. I don’t know why they made it seven furlongs after all these years. But the other horse [Imperial Hint] has to go seven-eighths, too.”

Emisael Jaramillo will again ride the 7-year-old X Y Jet, who has earned more than $3 million in his career.

The multiple Grade 1-placed Diamond Oops and red-hot Lasting Legacy are also key contenders in a field that includes Zenden and last-minute entry Home Base.

Diamond Oops returns locally for the first time since upsetting the Grade 3 Smile Sprint on June 29 and is a horse for the course having won four of his five starts at Gulfstream Park. A distant runner-up in Imperial Hint’s track record-setting performance in the Vanderbilt, Diamond Oops showed his versatility by switching to turf to finish a close second in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile. He enters his 2019 finale off a disappointing performance when a well-beaten eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

Lasting Legacy is perfect in three starts since returning to trainer Jason Servis’s barn for the 2019 campapign and coincidentally has already won the Mr. Prospector – the six-furlong Monmouth Park version – in his most recent appearance nearly three months ago.

Zenden won the Buffalo Man and finished second in the Grade 3 Swale at seven furlongs here this past winter for trainer Victor Barboza Jr. He was subsequently transferred to Todd Pletcher, who sent him out to a wire-to-wire allowance/optional claiming win last month at Gulfstream Park West.

“I thought that was a good effort against a stronger-than-usual allowance field at Gulfstream West and he’s trained sharply since then,” said Pletcher. “He’s filled out nicely, had a race under his belt, and hopefully moves forward, but it’s obviously a tall order for everyone with Imperial Hint and X Y Jet in there.”