Zayas wins with first mount back after three-month injury layoff

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Edgard Zayas made a triumphant return to the saddle after being sidelined more than three months due to injury when guiding first-time starter Buddy’s Run to an easy 10 3/4-length victory in the second race on Thursday’s opening day program of the spring-summer meet at Gulfstream.

Zayas suffered a broken femur in his right leg when his mount Killer Kitten fell during the running of the fifth race here Dec. 30. Zayas, who won 200 races in 2018, had gotten off to a good start during the opening month of the 2018-19 Championship Meet and was just one victory shy of third place in the standings at the time of his mishap.

“It feels good to be back, especially to come back with a winner,” said a beaming Zayas immediately after the race. “I healed up faster than I thought. It was very hard to sit out the winter meet like that, especially since we started out so well. Big things could have happened. But I have a lot of years ahead of me and something like this just makes you work harder.”

Zayas was named on horses in five of the eight races on Thursday’s card and will be similarly busy throughout the remainder of the weekend.

“Business is good to start out, and thankfully all the trainers and owners have supported me so far,” said Zayas. “Hopefully we can get rolling and get back to where we left off. The one nice thing about being out this winter was that I got to spend a lot of quality time with my family. Now it’s time to get back to work.”

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Zayas was joined in the winner’s circle after his victory by his wife, Ashley, and daughter Lilly, who turns 2 in May.

Buddy’s Run, who gave Zayas his first win of the new meet, is a 3-year-old homebred son of Street Sense owned by David Garner and trained by Ralph Nicks.

◗ Perspire slipped up the rail and ran down Zee Drop to upset Thursday’s co-featured fourth race at odds of 11-1. Jeffrey Sanchez orchestrated the perfect ground-saving ride aboard Perspire, an Arindel homebred trained by Stanley Gold.

Optional-claiming co-features

Zayas has mounts in the two optional-claiming races that highlight Saturday’s program, Blue Lute for trainer Mike Maker in the 10th event and Moon Eyes for Gustavo Delgado in race 11. Post time for the 12-race card is 12:45 p.m. Eastern.

Blue Lute will be among the favorites in the optional claimer, carded at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf. He exits a head decision in a similarly conditioned statebred race on Feb. 24. Saturday’s race drew a full field of 12 and includes key contenders Bantu, Driven By Thunder, and Caloric.

Moon Eyes is part of a well-matched field of eight 3-year-old fillies set to go six furlongs under entry-level optional-claiming conditions. The daughter of Kantharos comes off a 6 1/2-length maiden special weight win against Florida-breds on March 22, showing marked improvement with the addition of blinkers.

Moon Eyes should have plenty of speed to run at, with Nacho Mama, Cory Gal, and Katieleigh all signed on.

Nacho Mama has been idle since an impressive maiden win going 4 1/2 furlongs in her debut last August.

Miss Marcela, who rallied to dead heat for first with Brunette Princess in the Any Limit Stakes on March 23, figures to go postward the favorite in a field that also includes recent Florida-bred allowance winner Starship Nala, Descente, and Calinas Song.