Xy Speed victorious in an allowance Nov. 8 at Gulfstream Park (Coglianese)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Growing up on Long Island, Michael Lerman used to see older horses running “routinely” at New York tracks. Later, while attending the University of Miami in the 1980s, Lerman recalls going to Calder Race Course and watching stakes winners Gun Deck and Reuben’s Grand competing at the age of nine and 10.
So, it makes Lerman proud that Clear Stars Stable’s Xy Speed is “hitting his stride” at the end of his 8-year-old season as he prepares for Saturday’s $140,000 Janus Stakes, a five-furlong turf sprint and one of five stakes totaling $750,000 on Pegasus Preview Day at Gulfstream Park.
First race post is 12:20 ET for the 11-race program which includes the Harlan’s Holiday (G3), a prep for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), and the $215,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2), a prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Turf (G1), both on Saturday, Jan. 25. The Janus will also begin Saturday’s Tropical Turf Pick 3.
Claimed by Clear Stars Stable for $32,000 in August of 2022, Xy Speed has aged well. Under Lerman’s care, the son of First Samurai has become a multiple stakes winner and will be one of the top choices in the 12-horse field.
“It’s solid race,” Lerman said. “Most of the live sprinters are in there. He is doing extremely well. He’s at the top of his game at the end of his 8-year-old year, and that’s really quite nice to see. It’s a tribute to him that he’s hit his best stride. It shows if you have patience, and if you take care of them, you have a chance to bring out their ability.”
Xy Speed won three consecutive turf sprints in the spring at Gulfstream before heading north, where he finished fourth, beaten only a neck, in the Select Stakes at Monmouth, and then seventh in the Woodford (G2) at Keeneland. He returned to Gulfstream and promptly picked up where he left off before leaving, winning Nov. 8 in an allowance optional claimer.
Lerman said Xy Speed had excuses in both out-of-town races. “At Monmouth, an hour and a half before the race, it was a monsoon,” he said. “He likes it rock hard. It’s a tribute to him he was only beaten a length. At Keeneland he had significant trouble.”
Xy Speed, who will be ridden by Emisael Jaramillo, has a couple of advantages working for him going into the Janus. In 14 starts at Gulfstream he has seven wins and has failed to finish third or better only twice. He’s also a horse who has learned to race off the pace.
“I really liked that he’s settled,” Lerman said. “Earlier in his career he seemed like he wanted to be on the pace. But we got him to settle and relax and he had a couple nice wins in the late spring, and as he’s gotten sharper and healthier and more confident in himself, he kind of wants to revert to laying closer. There’s a ton of speed in [the Janus]. I think he really does his best when he’s running at them. He’s got the ability to run a sub-11 eighth, which is a pretty handy turn of foot.”
The Janus is a wide-open event with eight of the dozen entered being 12-1 or under on the morning line. The favorite is Sonata Stable’s Arzak, third in the Woodford before finishing sixth, beaten less than two lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1). Irad Ortiz Jr. is named to ride.
D J Stables LLC’s Masseto breaks from the rail for trainer Mark Casse and jockey Javier Castellano. The gelded son of Territories is undefeated in three starts at the distance and has four wins on the turf in nine starts. Trainer Brad Cox has entered two in Yes I Am Free and That’s Right. Yes I Am Free goes out for the Cox barn for the first time. The speedy Uncaptured gelding is 9-for-22 on Gulfstream’s course and has 10 wins from 27 turf races. Junior Alvarado will ride. That’s Right, blinkers off, was second in the Parx Dash and Wolf Hill over the summer.
David Fawkes has entered Reef Runner, a winner of the Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint on the all-weather Tapeta here in September, while leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. sends out Axthelm, third in the Turf Sprint (G3) at Kentucky Downs in September, and Okiro.
