X Y Jet seeking rebound in Mr. Prospector Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Of all the top-caliber stakes horses Jorge Navarro has trained over the past several years, none has meant more to him than the speedy but fragile X Y Jet, who launches his latest comeback against nine rivals in Saturday’s $100,000 Mr. Prospector, the final graded stakes of the 2017 season at Gulfstream Park.

X Y Jet won the 2015 Mr. Prospector by 9 1/4 lengths, the third victory in a five-race win streak and a performance that helped earn him and Navarro a trip to Dubai for the Group 1 Golden Shaheen. X Y Jet turned in a game effort in Dubai, finishing second, a neck behind Muarrab, after which he went to the sidelines for more than six months due to knee issues.

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X Y Jet finally returned to the races in fall 2016 but ran only twice, finishing fifth and third as the favorite in the Grade 1 Vosburgh and Grade 3 De Francis Memorial. He has not started since. Navarro was forced to stop on him again for his third knee surgery.

“This horse means so much to me because he’s the one who took me all the way around the world,” Navarro said. “He’s definitely one of my favorite horses ever. I’ve been waiting patiently for him to come back. This time I believe we’ve given him the right time to heal from his last surgery and, at the moment, I think he’s training as good as or better than ever before. This is the best I’ve ever seen X Y Jet train.”

X Y Jet on Saturday capped off a long and steady series of works at Gulfstream Park West, going five furlongs in 1:01 from the gate under Horacio Karamanos.

“Karamanos worked him for me last time, and he said he almost took him out of the saddle he was so fast,” Navarro said. “But he hasn’t run in a year, so you always have the worry he might not be the same horse he was two years ago.”

X Y Jet is one of two horses Navarro will start in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector, along with the red-hot Fire Mission, who has won four straight, all against optional-claiming competition. The 7-year-old Fire Mission was claimed by Navarro for $30,000 here last winter.

“He has no conditions left, nowhere to go, and I figured the way he’s feeling right now why not let’s take a chance,” Navarro said of Fire Mission. “I told the owners to compete with X Y Jet he’s going to have to come with his ‘A’ game, but the one thing they don’t have to worry about is going head to head with Jet. Their running styles complement each other perfectly.”

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X Y Jet and Fire Mission will break alongside each other from post positions 6 and 7 in a field that also includes, from the rail out, First Growth, Sonic Mule, Yourdreamsormine, Sweetonetheladies, K Wave, Quijote, Fast Friar, and Quinientos.

Sonic Mule will be taking on older horses for the first time in his 3-year-old finale. Sonic Mule opened the season winning the one-mile Mucho Macho Man here in January, but is without a victory in six subsequent starts, including an improving third-place finish last month in the City of Laurel Stakes.

First Growth has been almost unbeatable since being claimed by trainer Odin Londono Jr. for $5,000 in January, and exits arguably his best effort yet, an impressive 3 1/2-length victory in the Claiming Crown Express here on Dec. 2.

◗ There will be live racing at Gulfstream Park on Sunday and Tuesday. The track will be dark on Christmas Day and Wednesday.

Post time on Christmas Eve will be noon.