HALLANDALE BEACH - Prior to Race 3 on Saturday’s program at Gulfstream Park, all eyes were on Prudencio, the debuting half-brother to Letruska. Gelfenstein Farm’s X Y Point quickly grabbed the attention away from the 2021 older female champion’s little brother, however, with an eye-catching 6 ½-length romp in the 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds.

     The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained son of Dialed In, who was also making his career debut, took an early lead along the backstretch, chased by Prudencio in third. X Y Point ($5.80) set fractions of 22.51 and 45.45 seconds for the first half-mile to lead by open lengths into the stretch, where he drew away under Edgard Zayas.

     “He’s awesome. Every he’s been doing in the mornings has been amazing. He’s been my favorite baby,” Zayas said. “I told Saffie the first day I got on him, this horse has a lot, a lot of class.”

            X Y Point is a half-brother to Malagacy, who launched his career at Gulfstream with back-to-back victories for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher before capturing the 2017 Rebel (G2) at Oaklawn.

    Prudencio, the 5-1 third being choice ridden by Edgar Perez, chased the winner to advance to a never-threatening second in the stretch but had to settle for third, 1 ¼ lengths behind Companuevo, the even-money favorite who finished well under Miguel Vasquez.

    X Y Point ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:04.26 while dominating his six opponents and giving Joseph his first of five winners on Saturday’s card..

    “It was a short field but it looked like there was a lot of quality,” Zayas said. “I said, ‘If someone is going to beat him, they’re going to have to run really, really fast. He’s proven to be a nice one.”

    Zayas, who had been sidelined six months after undergoing shoulder surgery before returning to action, and his fellow jockeys at Gulfstream, participated in Saturday’s fundraiser for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

    “I think it’s really important to support those jockeys who have gotten into bad accidents. The bills keep coming and they can’t work,” said Zayas, who rode three winners Saturday. “I think it’s important that everyone helps out the permanently disabled jockeys.

    In Saturday’s Race 8, a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight event for fillies and mares, Joseph-trained Three Witches debuted with a very impressive off-the-pace victory under Leonel Reyes. e Five Racing Thoroughbreds’ 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief ($17), who ran the 6 ½ furlongs in 1:17.50, is a half-brother to multiple graded-stakes winner Kid Cruz who brought a $350,000 winning bid at the 2020 Keeneland September sale.

    Joseph, who was at Saratoga to saddle Ny Traffic for a start in the Vanderbilt, notched a four-win day at Gulfstream.




comments powered by Disqus