Wind of Change, Mister Luigi both return from layoff

Layoffs are the most compelling variables in the Sunday feature at Gulfstream Park, where Wind of Change and Mister Luigi will clash when each makes his first start of 2022 in the only allowance of an 11-race card.

Wind of Change, a stakes-winning 7-year-old, has gone unraced in more than seven months but shows a steady pattern of sharp works at the Palm Meadows training center for Saffie Joseph Jr., the runaway leading trainer at the ongoing spring-summer meet.

Mister Luigi was given time off by trainer Antonio Sano following a third-place finish (disqualified to seventh) in the Steel Valley Sprint at Mahoning Valley in Ohio in November. The Ghostzapper colt also has been working with vigor at Gulfstream toward his 4-year-old debut.

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Wind of Change and Mister Luigi will load alongside each other in posts 7 and 8, with six others to their inside in a six-furlong race governed by hybrid conditions. The purse is $52,000, although Wind of Change, as a Brazilian-bred, is among four starters ineligible for $7,000 in bonus payouts earmarked for registered Florida-breds.

Wind of Change was a gate-to-wire winner of the Mr. Prospector at Monmouth Park in May 2021 with a 98 Beyer Speed Figure before his form tailed off as the year unfolded.

Mister Luigi was in peak form last summer and fall when he posted five straight Beyers ranging from 81 to 85. He figures to be stalking the speedy Wind of Change from the opening strides.

If neither comebacker is quite ready, this race could fall to any of a trio with more recency – Thinkaboutit, Real Talk, or Gatsby. Completing the field are Jeopardy James, Golden Juan, and No Que No.

First post Sunday is 12:25 p.m. Eastern, with the nominal feature going as race 10 (5:16). It’s part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 (races 6-11), which can be expected to offer a pool guarantee of about $250,000, assuming the jackpot isn’t swept Friday or Saturday.

Perez continues his ascent

The shuttering of Arlington Park may have been a blessing in disguise for Edgar Perez, who had ridden regularly at the suburban Chicago track since 2012. Perez began the three-day race week Friday at Gulfstream in fourth place in the local rider standings with 48 winners at the meet, which began April 7.

Perez, with Rene Douglas as his agent, rode sparingly at Tampa Bay Downs during the winter before moving to Gulfstream.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity,” said Perez, a native of Venezuela. “I like it here. I like the Tapeta, everything.”

Perez won five races on the June 24 Gulfstream card, including three on the all-weather Tapeta. Arlington, which ran its last race in September, used Polytrack as its main racing surface since 2007.