Photo: MEC
On the strength of an authoritative victory over
Indiano three weeks
ago, Action Andy was the 7-5 choice of the bettors to win Saturday’s
$100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
Had Marty Wolfson been inclined to take their action, Indiano’s
trainer could have made a tidy sum above the $60,000 winner’s purse.
"I wasn’t worried about Action Andy today,” Wolfson said. “I just
thought my horse would win and he got a pretty good trip, too.”
Indiano, who finished more than two lengths behind Action Andy in
the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs last time out, rewarded his
trainer’s confidence in him Saturday with a professional victory by
three-quarters of a length under a textbook ride by Luis Saez.
“It was different this time just having a race in him,” said
Wolfson, whose steady-running stakes performer had come off a four-month
layoff for the Pelican. “He’s a better horse than Action Andy. I knew
that last time, but that horse was fresh and had been training at Tampa.
My horse just got up there that day.”
Indiano was rated in fourth along the backstretch behind a solid
pace set by Dreaming of Neno and closely attended by Off the Jack and
Action Andy. When Dreaming of Neno weakened on the far turn, Off the
Jack and Action Andy were left to battle it out into the stretch as
Indiano began to roll. Off the Jack, a 17-1 outsider ridden by Jose
Alvarez, held off Action Andy and jockey John Velazquez through the
stretch run but was no match for Indiano nearing the finish line of the
six-furlong sprint.
“My horse is very good and I put him in a good spot,” Saez said.
“John Velazquez tried to push us out a little, but I knew we would win
this race.”
Indiano ran six-furlongs in 1:10.26 to collect his 10th victory in
17 starts for Stud El Aguila. Off the Jack finished another three
quarters of a length ahead of Action Andy.
In last season’s Mr. Prospector, Indiano broke slowly before
finishing fast to check in third, just a half-length behind victorious
Apriority.
“He should have won last year. He broke terrible,” Wolfson said.
Wolfson said the son of Indian Charlie will likely run next at Gulfstream later in the meeting.
“I’ve got to space his races now,” said Wolfson, whose colt’s only
off-the-board finish came in a fifth-place finish in the Derby Trial
(G3) last year. “He’s kind of delicate.”