Rolando gamely wins the Hutcheson by a neck (G Sonny Hughes)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – St. George Stable LLC’s Rolando showed himself to be a sprinter with a future Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the son of Vekoma produced a thoroughly professional victory in the $115,000 Hutcheson.
Trained by Fausto Gutierrez, Rolando remained undefeated in three starts at six furlongs in the Hutcheson, a stakes for 3-year-olds that co-headlined Saturday’s 12-race program with the $115,000 Captiva Island, a five-furlong turf stakes for fillies and mares.
“He’s a horse with natural explosive speed,” Gutierrez said. “You always want a horse that goes long, but in this case, we have a horse for one-turn, and I’m happy.”
Rolando, who had won his prior start by 4 ½ lengths at the six-furlong distance two weeks earlier, broke alertly to press Guns Loaded on the backstretch past a first quarter of a mile in 22.27 seconds before taking over the lead and completing a half mile in 45.17. The 6-5 favorite opened a clear lead under Tyler Gaffalione at the top of the stretch but would soon meet an outside challenge by Multiverse and jockey Drayden Van Dyke. The two well-regarded colts hooked up for a heated stretch duel, but Rolando would gamely hold on to win by a neck.
“He’s a naturally quick horse. I just kind of put my hands down and let him get into a rhythm. Going into the turn, he kind of grabbed me and he’s one of those horses where you’re better off just trying to get along with him. He was carrying me, so I let him keep doing his thing,” Gaffalione said. “At the top the lane I asked him to go on and he finished up well. As soon as he felt that pressure coming on the outside, he found another gear.”
Rolando, who broke his maiden at six furlongs before falling short at seven furlongs and a one-turn mile before returning to his obvious preferred distance for his last two races, ran the distance in 1:10.57.
“It was a big effort especially on the short rest. He just ran here two weeks ago and put in a huge run that day. He’s really taken that next step forward that we were looking for him to do. Fausto and his team did a great job.”
Multiverse, who was coming off an impressive maiden score, finished four lengths clear of third-place finisher Joey Muscles.
