In Summation fits winning profile

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The last two winners of Gulfstream Park's Aventura Stakes spent their 2-year-old campaigns based at nearby Calder Race Course. That trend will likely continue Saturday with In Summation.

The one-mile, $125,000 Aventura, which drew 14 3-year-olds, is now the traditional opening leg of Gulfstream's Florida Derby series, which culminates with the $1 million Florida Derby on April 1. It is also the highlight of Saturday's 10-race program, which includes the Grade 3 Hal's Hope and Mr. Prospector handicaps for older horses.

Kaufy Mate, the 2004 Aventura winner, began his career at Calder then spent the early part of his 3-year-old campaign at Tampa Bay Downs before returning to south Florida to dominate the Aventura, which at that time was run during the final month of the meet at 1 1/16 miles. The Aventura was shortened to a mile and moved to the opening weekend of the meet for the first time last winter and proved the perfect starting point for odds-on favorite High Fly, who vanned over from Calder to register an easy eight-length victory.

High Fly went on to capture Gulfstream's two most prestigious events for 3-year-olds, the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Florida Derby.

was last year's 2-year-old phenom at Calder. A son of Put It Back, In Summation won his first five starts, including the opening two legs of the Florida Stallion Stakes, by margins ranging from 1 1/4 to 10 3/4 lengths before dropping a tough nose decision to Blazing Rate after contesting all the pace in the 1 1/16-mile In Reality Stakes Oct. 15.

Trained by Frank Gomez for the Waterford Farm, In Summation was given a breather following his grueling effort in the In Reality before returning to serious training in late November. The key question coming into his 3-year-old campaign is how far the speedy In Summation will eventually stay.

"I doubt he will go much beyond a mile and a sixteenth. That might be his limit, but sometimes speed horses will fool you," said Gomez who has developed such outstanding young horses as Smile, Princess Rooney, and Cherokee Run. "But a one-turn mile is a pretty good place to start off the year."

Jerry Bailey will ride In Summation for the first time.

In Summation's chief competition could come from trainer Todd Pletcher's undefeated My Golden Song or the Allen Jerkens-trained Saint Daimon.

won his maiden by a widening 3 1/2 lengths at Belmont Park on Oct. 28 and followed three weeks later with a 1 1/4-length entry-level allowance victory at Aqueduct. Both wins came at seven furlongs.

was an easy winner of his last two starts at 2, including the six-furlong Huntington Stakes in which he rallied to a 3 3/4-length victory over Urban Guy.

also has won his last two starts, both victories coming after trainer Nick Zito added blinkers and stretched him out to 1 1/16 miles during the fall in Kentucky.