HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Patricia Generazio’s Salute the Colonel will seek to take charge in Saturday’s $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens at Gulfstream Park, where the vastly improved 5-year-old gelding will face nine rivals in his quest for his fourth victory in his last five starts.
The H. Allen Jerkens, a two-mile turf stakes that honors the memory of the late legendary Hall of Fame trainer who had a strong presence on the Gulfstream backstretch for five decades, will be the headliner of six stakes on Saturday’s 11-race program.
The longer the better for Salute the Colonel, the 2-1 morning-line favorite who has found his niche as a distance specialist this year, winning three consecutive starts at 1 ½ miles.
In his most recent start Dec. 1, the son of Colonel John finished a close second while cutting back to 1 1/16 miles in an optional claiming allowance, a race that was scratched down to four horses. He was forwardly placed before taking a brief lead in the stretch, only to be caught by Scraps nearing the wire.
“He hadn’t run in two months and I wanted to get a good prep into him, but I also wanted him to win. I wish it had stayed a 10-horse field, because he needs to be covered up,” trainer Joe Orseno said. “He was a little too keen because he was clear and had nothing to run at. He was alone. He was too on the muscle, but he still ran a winning race.”
Salute the Colonel finished off-the-board in his first start at 1 ½-miles, beaten five lengths in last season’s Pan American (G2), before scoring three straight stakes victories at the distance.
Salute the Colonel has played a significant role in the success Orseno has enjoyed with Patricia and Frank Generazio’s homebreds at Gulfstream the past few years.
“Three years ago we hooked up when I went year-round in Florida, and it’s been great. They’ve been real good to me and we’ve done well together,” Orseno said. “This was another pretty good year, and, hopefully, next year will be even better.”
Luis Saez has the mount aboard Salute the Colonel.
Calumet Farm and John Anthony’s American Tattoo enters the H. Allen Jerkens off a respectable third-place finish in the Marathon (G2) at Santa Anita Nov. 1. The Todd Pletcher-trained 4-year-old Argentinian bred colt, who was always forwardly placed in the 1 ¾-mile Marathon, has won two optional claiming allowance races from five starts since arriving in the U.S. Jose Ortiz has the return call aboard the son of Not for Sale.
Paradise Farms Corp. and Mad Dog Racing’s Carom will seek his second straight victory at Gulfstream Park after being claimed for $50,000 at Belmont Park. Trained by Michael Maker, the son of Data Link closed from fourth to win going away in a Dec. 1 optional claiming allowance at 1 1/8 miles. Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride the 4-year-old gelding for the first time Saturday.
Baciagaloop Stables’ Basha and J & G Stables LLC and Nicholas Vaccarezza’s Shazier, who finished second and third, respectively, behind Carom last time out, are scheduled to return in the H. Allen Jerkens.
Smell of Roses, Cheyenne’s Colonel, Cause for Pardon, Heza Kitten and Proquestor round out the field.
Via Gulfstream Park Press Release
