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Il Miracolo Fights Back to Score in G3 Ghostzapper
3/30/2024
Oscar Eclipse Comes Back Running in Sir Shackleton
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Alex Andres LLC’s Il Miracolo ($10.60) slipped through along the rail to narrowly prevail in Saturday’s $150,000 Ghostzapper (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
The Ghostzapper, a 1 1/16-mile stakes for older horses widely billed as a rubber match between archrivals Tumbarumba and Steal Sunshine, was among 10 stakes, five graded, worth $2.425 million on a 14-race program headlined by the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa.
Il Miracolo, a graded-stakes winning 4-year-old son of Gun Runner, was forwardly placed from the start, closely attending the pace set by X Y Point around the first turn and along the backstretch past mediocre fractions of 24.78 and 49.20 seconds. Tumbarumba, who was seeking to avenge a loss to Steal Sunshine in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) after beating that rival in the Fred Hooper (G3), made a three-wide move to the lead entering the far turn under Jose Ortiz and was quickly joined by Il Miracolo to his inside. As X Y Point dropped back, Tumbarumba held the lead at the top of the stretch, but Il Miracolo did not back off under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, fighting back to prevail by neck.
“We had a good trip. We wanted to be close. They slowed it down pretty good, so I tried to make a move on the backstretch. I kind of got head-and-head with the two horses in front, but Jose’s horse kind of put his head in front and it took a little bit to get my horse going again,” Velazquez said. “He had a nice fight down the lane, so I was proud he came back again.”
Antonio Sano-trained Il Miracolo, who finished third behind Steal Sunshine and Tumbarumba in the one-turn Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) March 2, ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.79. Tumbarumba, the 2-1 favorite, held second, three-quarters of a length ahead of late rallying Steal Sunshine.
“I tried the horse one mile last time, and he ran good. When he came back, we prepared him to run a long distance, and I was confident in my horse,” Sano said. “Both horses are good horses. It was an excellent race. We’ll keep him around two turns now.”
Il Miracolo is graded stakes-placed in five of his last six starts, including a victory in the Smarty Jones (G3) and a third-place finish in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) at Parx.
Oscar Eclipse Comes Back Running in Sir Shackleton
Woodslane Farm’s Oscar Eclipse ($7.80) returned off a six-month layoff to capture Saturday’s $125,000 Sir Shackleton, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses on the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) undercard, at Gulfstream Park.
The 4-year-old son of Oscar Performance, who hadn’t raced since finishing third in the 1 3/16 Bourbon at Churchill Downs Sept. 23, chased pacesetter Legacy Isle before taking over on the turn into the homestretch and holding off a late-surging Dreaming of Kona by a neck.
Brian Lynch-trained Oscar Eclipse, who has three victories in five starts on dirt since finishing off the board in two turf starts, ran seven furlongs in 1:23.23 under Jose Ortiz.
“It’s nice to see the horse run the way he did. I think he has a lot of potential ahead of him,” Lynch Said. “I like to see him run like that off the layoff. He’s such a big horse, you always worry if you have them fit enough.”
Dreaming of Kona finished three-quarters of a length ahead of favored Implementation.