Gunnevera faces ten in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on Saturday and the winner will punch his ticket to the Big Dance at Churchill Downs. There is 100 points on the line for the Florida Derby hero and that will guarantee a spot in the Kentucky Derby. The nine-furlong event offers a purse of a million-dollars.
The Florida Derby has been a solid gauge of talent over the decades. A total of fifteen Florida Derby winners went on to win the Belmont Stakes. Nyquist won the Florida Derby last year and he was the 23rd runner that ran in this race and went out to win the Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has won this race two of the last three years and is looking for his fourth Florida Derby success. He has two bullets set for this edition of the center piece of the Gulfstream meeting.
Always Dreaming has never run a poor race. He has won his last two races including a four-length win over this surface. Battalion Runner was troubled in his first start at Belmont Park but is now two for two at Gulfstream. He rated at the lead last time and if he is to win the Florida Derby for Pletcher, he’ll be forwardly placed from the sound of the bell.
State of Honor has some things to prove. He has never won on the dirt and his lone win came on the synthetic surface at Woodbine.
Talk Logistics has tried the best around of late but he also has some things to iron out. His lone victory came in Philly going five furlongs with a 69 Beyer Speed Figure.
Charlie the Greek really does not belong in this race. He will be making his stakes debut and his only win vs. winners came in a $20,000 claimer.
Quinientos took seven races to finally break his maiden and he did it sprinting at 11-1.
Coleman Rocky has been freshened since catching a sloppy surface in the end of January. He was dull in his first two sprints and he graduated on the grass for the only victory. He will likely have to come from pretty far off the pace.
Unbridled Holiday’s lone success came against just five runners. He was given about a seven-week rest after that win and then was hung wide and ran fourth against Always Dreaming.
Trainer Dale Romans is stretching out Impressive Edge. This runner has won two of his three start at Gulfstream and the loss came in the Swale Stakes when outrun by Three Rules. That runner holds a win edge on the field. Three Rules won his first five races, all at Gulfstream. He was shipped to Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and was only a brief factor before running out of the money. Rested from November until the February 4 Swale Stakes, Three Rules ran second as the beaten chalk. In his last race he was a pop and stop third in the Fountain of Youth.
The obstacle for Gunnevera in the Florida Derby will be his post position. He drew the extreme outside post and his rider, Javier Castellano, will have to do his best to get a good trip. Gunnevera had his coming out party winning the Grade 2 Saratoga Special last summer. He closed the year taking the opulent Delta Jackpot. In his last race, Gunnevera was visually impressive. He settled thirteen lengths off the pace, made the lead at the top of the lane and drew off to win the Fountain of Youth by nearly six lengths with a 97 Beyer.
Pace always has and always will make the race. This is how the pace sets up for the Florida Derby. State of Honor has valid speed. Since he is on the rail, he will be gunning at the sound of the bell trying to take advantage of the quick run to the first turn. Always Dreaming has more speed than he just flashed and Impressive Edge could be more keen to run since he is stretching out to a route.
Battalion Runner is the speed component of the Pletcher pair and he figures to be in the first flight while Three Rules pretty much needs the lead.
With all that speed in the cast, things could work out just fine for Gunnevera. Castellano has been the best rider in the country for years now and he has a great sense of pace. This runner flashed more energy in his workout last Saturday on March 25 and he should be able to run them all down in the last furlong.
