Zulu wins comeback, keeps Pletcher hot

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The only thing hotter than the weather here of late has been trainer Todd Pletcher, who completed a spectacular eight-day span that included seven stakes wins when Zulu cruised to an impressive victory in Sunday’s Tamarac Stakes.

Pletcher, in search of an unprecedented 14th consecutive Gulfstream Park training title, won both the Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday with Stanford and the Grade 3 Rampart with Eskenformoney on Saturday after having dominated Juvenile Showcase Day with four stakes victories one week earlier.

“It’s been a good start,” Pletcher said Sunday. “We closed down Monmouth Park right after Labor Day and [assistant trainer] Anthony Sciametta and the team came down here and they’ve done a great job gearing up horses for races like this one today with Zulu and yesterday for Stanford, races we’ve been pointing at for a while. We picked a lot of horses out who we knew weren’t going to run again in New York, got them down early to acclimate, and it’s really paid off.”

Pletcher was particularly pleased with Zulu, who was returning from an eight-month layoff in the Tamarac. Zulu, second in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth here last winter before going to the sidelines following a poor performance in the Blue Grass at Keeneland, rallied wide from off the pace to a 2 3/4-length victory over Yellow Chips in the seven-furlong Tamarac. His final time of 1:22.12 earned him a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

“I thought it was a very good effort,” Pletcher said. “When they haven’t run in eight months, you always wonder if they’re tight and fit enough, and he had to overcome a bit of a wide trip. I thought the final time was pretty solid, especially since they were running into a pretty good headwind down the stretch.”

Zulu seemed a lot calmer Sunday then he had in previous appearances here last winter.

“We shipped him over early in the week, paddock- and gate-schooled him,” Pletcher said. “You have to keep those things in mind with him, because he’s a horse who gets excited about doing his job. We have lots of options for him. Off the top of my head, the Hal’s Hope seems like a good fit at a mile, but its back in four weeks, so we’ll wait and see how he bounces out of this one first.”

Zulu’s victory gave jockey Javier Castellano his 300th win of the season, a feat he’s accomplished five times in his career.

“I’m very excited to do it with this horse,” said Castellano, who is seeking his sixth consecutive Gulfstream riding title. “He was impressive, and I’m glad to see him come back this way.”

Castellano is second in the standings with 10 victories, six behind Paco Lopez, who is off to a terrific start with 16 wins through the first 12 days of the meet.

◗ Alberto Delgado, who rode California Chrome in five of his first six starts, including his first stakes victory, finally got his first win of the year here Sunday, scoring aboard the 15-1 Adversary in the sixth race. Delgado, who rides primarily on the Maryland circuit, has won more than 2,900 races in his career.