Gear Jockey winning the 2021 Turf Sprint. (Coady Media)
By Jennie Rees
FRANKLIN, Ky. – Saturday’s $2 million Ainsworth Turf Sprint isn’t an ideal situation for Calumet Farm’s Gear Jockey, given that it will be the 7-year-old’s first start in 10 months. And he’s taking on a horse like Cogburn, arguably the best turf sprinter in the country. And Nobals, last year’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) winner. Not to mention Khaadem, a two-time Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot.
But Gear Jockey does have this going for him: He’s 2 for 2 at Kentucky Downs, winning the 2021 and 2023 Turf Sprint. In fact, they account for the 7-year-old horse’s last two wins in a career total of five. Gear Jockey is a good enough horse to have made $420,371 at other tracks. But Kentucky Downs does account for $1,166,290 of his $1,586,651 career earnings.
“I wish I had a race under him, but I didn’t get one,” Arnold said Sunday at Kentucky Downs. “We’re running against a horse like Cogburn. We beat him here last year, but that was a year ago. He’s run (twice) since, and we’ve run once – and that was in November. It’s going to be a tough task. But, hey, he’s won it twice. We’ll give it the best we can. If I didn’t know he liked the course, and if it wasn’t $2 million, I’d have found someplace else to go.”
Gear Jockey prevailed in a five-horse dash to the wire, besting One Timer by a head bob at 23-1 odds. One Timer also was entered in the overflow field of 13. Cogburn finished fifth in last year’s race, beaten a total of three-quarters of a length. It remains his only defeat in five turf starts.
Arnold believes a contributing factor to Gear Jockey’s Kentucky Downs success is the race distance of six furlongs.
“We get so few chances to run three-quarters,” the Keeneland-based trainer said. “He gets comfortable. For whatever reason, down here he’s always up around the lead. I run him everywhere else, where it’s five, 5 1/2 around that turn. I know the ‘5s’ are one turn, but you break right into the turn running. Here you get a little run to it down that hill.
“One other thing: And I don’t know if this is a theory to believe in or not: But do you know how many Twirling Candys win down here? (Saturday) those fillies won back-to-back. He’s a Twirling Candy. Morticia won the big one here, and she’s a Twirling Candy. I’m sure there’s more of them. There’s something about this racetrack. Don’t know what it is, but they sure like it. I mean, he’s a great sire, but those numbers have to be huge.”
Twirling Candy, a stallion at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky., sired last Saturday’s $1.5 million Exacta Systems Ladies Turf Sprint (G2) winner Ag Bullet and $1.5 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3) winner Walkabout. The Arnold-trained Morticia won the 2019 Ladies Sprint. According to Equibase, the official industry data-keeper, a total of 13 sons and daughters of Twirling Candy have won races at Kentucky Downs. Gear Jockey is the only two-time winner at the track.
