Sole Volante rallies to win allowance; Belmont may be next

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Sole Volante may have punched his ticket into the Belmont Stakes after rallying to a three-quarter-length victory over longshot Jesus’ Team in Wednesday’s $55,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. Shivaree, who contested a torrid early pace with Ete Indien, succumbed grudgingly, finishing another three parts of a length farther back in third.

Sole Volante, making his first start since a second-place finish behind King Guillermo in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, settled at the rear of the six-horse field for the opening five furlongs as Ete Indien and Shivaree battled head to head for the early lead. Sole Volante began to advance under jockey Luca Panici approaching the stretch, did not switch leads until nearing the eighth pole, but finished strongly down the center of the course to register his fourth win in six career starts.

Jesus’ Team, an easy winner of his last two starts against claiming opposition, also lagged off the fast early pace, finished willingly between horses through the stretch, but could not match strides with the winner at the end. Shivaree, idle since his second-place finish behind Tiz the Law in the Florida Derby, ran gamely in defeat, disposing of Ete Indien nearing midstretch before ultimately succumbing from the early pressure.

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Ete Indien, surpisingly bet down to be the 3-5 favorite despite not having started since his third-place finish in the Florida Derby, was aggressive right from the outset while racing with blinkers for the first time. He ultimately struggled while also drifting through the final furlong to finish a tiring fourth.

With the Trakus tele-timer malfunctioning, Daily Racing Form hand-timed the race in 1:35.02, with internal splits of 24.05 seconds, 46.59, and 1:09.50 for the opening six furlongs.

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing owns Sole Volante in partnership with Andie Biancone. He is trained by Andie Biancone’s father, Patrick Biancone, who also sent out Ete Indien in the main event. Sole Volante paid $6.40.

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“He’s a nice horse, he’s improving, I think the break did him good,” Patrick Biancone said of Sole Volante. “Fortunately, he’s a lighter horse than Ete Indien, so he probably needed the race a little less. This was a training race. I just wanted them both to come out good.”

Biancone said he is still considering wheeling Sole Volante back in 10 days in the Belmont Stakes.

“I don’t think I’m going to change my mind with either horse,” Biancone said when asked about his options for both his horses immediately after the race. “In five weeks, we’re going to run in the Haskell with Ete Indien. Concerning Sole Volante, my owner is very keen to run in the Belmont, but we have to let the horse decide. See how he is in the next few days. If he’s really come up, we may go. If not, we’ll wait for the Blue Grass.

“I’m just happy both have a race. Ete Indien is a much thicker horse, so I guess he may need the race more than the other one, and it may have been a mistake putting the blinkers on because the other horse shadowed him the whole way.”

Trainer Ralph Nicks said he was proud of Shivaree’s effort in defeat.

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“They did all the work, the two of them up front, and I thought he ran well,” Nicks said. “It will be a good springboard. The Blue Grass is I’m sure where we’ll be headed.”