Sano, fresh off Saratoga Special victory, starts three runners Thursday
Flush with the biggest victory of his training career in the United States, Antonio Sano will be back at his home track Thursday to saddle the top contender in the $43,000 feature at Gulfstream Park.
Sano was in New York on Sunday to win the Grade 2 Saratoga Special with Gunnevera, his fourth graded stakes win since he began training in the U.S. in 2010. He has three starters on the Thursday card at Gulfstream, led by Lirica, the likely favorite in a first-level allowance for 2-year-old fillies.
Sano, 53, is a third-generation horseman who began training in 1988 in his homeland of Venezuela, where he won more than 3,000 races. He made a quick splash on the south Florida circuit by becoming the leading trainer at two meets at Calder (now Gulfstream Park West) in 2011. His stable earnings in the U.S. now total more than $10.1 million.
Before his breakout triumph Sunday, Sano had won one Grade 3 race apiece with Devilish Lady, City of Weston, and Grand Tito.
Lirica, a Florida-bred filly by Kantharos, most recently was second July 2 in the Cassidy Stakes at Gulfstream behind Cajun Delta Dawn, who wheeled back earlier this month to win the Desert Vixen Stakes to remain unbeaten in three career starts. Lirica will be ridden by Edgard Zayas in the eighth of 10 Thursday races.
Sano also will start India Mantuana in the nominal feature and has Papa Pig in a lower-level claiming race earlier on the card.
First post Thursday is 1 p.m. Eastern as another four-day week begins. The carryover in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 5-10) is $41,023.
◗ One of the more impressive performances last week at Gulfstream came from Mr. Baker, a 7-year-old horse who easily won a six-furlong allowance Friday following a layoff of nearly two years.
Mr. Baker earned an 85 Beyer Speed Figure in prevailing by 2 1/2 lengths in his first start since a sixth-place finish behind Work All Week in the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland in October 2014. Ralph Ziadie trains the gray Florida-bred for Acclaimed Racing Stable.
“It was a long wait,” Mike Berry of Acclaimed told Gulfstream publicity. “He had a bunch of different problems. Look how big he is. If you were that big, you’d have problems, too. He ran fantastic.”
◗ Perhaps one of the bigger upsets last week at Gulfstream was this: Dunkin Bend was not claimed out of a runner-up finish in the third race Saturday. It was the first time in eight races that the 5-year-old horse was not claimed. He had been claimed seven straight times, all for $6,250, in a remarkable streak dating to March 19. He went back home to the Daniel Gazader barn Saturday.
◗ Veteran jockey Eduardo Nunez recently returned to action after being sidelined six weeks with a shoulder injury suffered in a morning training accident June 23. Nunez has a live mount on the Thursday card in Looks Good, trained by Kathleen O’Connell.