HALLANDALE BEACH - Raymond Mamone’s Imperial Hint continues to please trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. with his preparation for a return to action in Saturday’s $100,000, Gr. III Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park.

    The 6-year-old millionaire son of Imperialism breezed five furlongs in 59 seconds Sunday morning at Tampa Bay Downs under assistant trainer Alejandro Contreras.

     “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad or so-so work. Usually, he puts effort in the work, even though he’s settling and doing everything himself,” Carvajal said. “That was a good work this morning.” The move was the third bullet workout in a row since the ‘Little Rocket’ was scratched on the morning of his scheduled run in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Nov. 2.

    “He’s been very sound. He had a small issue with his foot, but it’s not a concern,” Carvajal said. “It was a mild thing.”

    Imperial Hint will seek his third straight graded stakes victory in the Mr. Prospector, a seven-furlong test for 3-year-olds and up. The Carvajal trainee, who captured the 2017 Smile Sprint in his only start at Gulfstream, won the Sept. 28 Vosburgh at Belmont Park after shattering a Saratoga track record in the July 27 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, in which he ran six furlongs in 1:07.92.

    Imperial Hint is on course for a clash with X Y Jet in the Mr. Prospector. Prior to his back-to-back Gr. 1 victories, Imperial Hint finished third behind X Y Jet in the $2.5 million Golden Shaheen on the March 30 Dubai World Cup undercard at Meydan. X Y Jet, who hasn’t raced since his Golden Shaheen win, is scheduled to breeze at Palm Meadows Training Center for a final tune-up. “These workouts now are just to keep him happy,” trainer Jorge Navarro said.

    Owned by Rockingham Ranch and Gelfenstein Farm, X Y Jet has breezed five times at Palm Meadows in preparation for his highly-anticipated return. comments powered by Disqus