Gutierrez Goes for Third Straight Clasico del Caribe

With three horses entered, trainer Fausto Gutierrez hopes for some strength in numbers as he goes for a third consecutive victory in the $300,000 Clasico del Caribe Dec. 8 at Gulfstream Park.

Gutierrez won the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds with Kukulkan last year and Jala Jala in 2017. Both runners were bred in Mexico for owner/breeder Rancho San Jorge. The Clasico tops the five-race Clasico Internacional del Caribe that will award $686,500 in purses, with four races for horses bred in the Caribbean or Latin America and one race for imports to those jurisdictions.

This year, Gutierrez will send out another runner for Rancho San Jorge in Lopecitos, as well as Rancho El Sabino's Thibaut and El Santo, who is campaigned by Cuadra J. R. R. All three colts were bred in Mexico.

Thibaut, a son of Famous Again, enters in the best form off a pair of local stakes victories in the Oct. 26 Clasico Kremlin and Sept. 28 Clasico Criadores Mexicanos, both at Hipodromo de las Americas in Mexico City. (Mexico is a Part III country in the International Cataloguing Standards Book.) In the Clasico Kremlin, Thibaut was followed by stablemates El Santo in second and Lopecitos in third.

"This year, I have three horses in the race, so I think we have a very good chance," Gutierrez said. "I think the competition is at the same level with the other countries. There's good horses from Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Panama. The Mexican horses this year are good ones, and I have plenty of confidence we can win this race again."

Irad Ortiz Jr., who has ridden the winners of six Clasico Internacional del Caribe races the past two years, has the mount aboard Thibaut. Ortiz rode Jala Jala and Kukulkan for their Clasico del Caribe victories. Hall of Famer John Velazquez has the mount aboard El Santo, and Jose Ortiz has the call on Lopecitos.

Gran Omero has won nine of his 10 starts in Venezuela—including three straight local group 1 races. (Venezuela is a Part II country in the International Cataloguing Standards Book.)

"He's 9-for-10 at this moment. His only loss he was third but was very close to the winner. He has won all the top races for 3-year-olds in Venezuela. He's a champion. I think he's going to run a very good race," trainer Reynaldo Yanez said. "I'm feeling very good about it. This is a spectacular opportunity to have a very good horse like this for this race, and I think he has a great chance to win the race."

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano has the mount aboard Gran Omero.

One of the highlights in the other four races is the return of Kulkulkan, who this year will contest the $100,000 Copa Confraternidad del Caribe Stakes for 3-year-olds and older going 1 1/4 miles. Kulkulkan continued to race in the United States after last year's 10 1/4-length score in the Clasico, earning a second-place finish in the West Virginia Governor's Cup (G3) and an allowance win at Churchill Downs. 

"I think he's a nice horse at a good level in the United States, which was the big question after he ran the Pegasus," Gutierrez said. "After he won at Churchill, he was second in a group 3. Now, he is back again to win back-to-back in the Clasico del Caribe and the Copa Confraternidad like Jala Jala for the same stable."

Last year, Jala Jala won the Copa Confraternidad del Caribe one year after taking the Clasico.

In the $86,500 Copa Dama del Caribe Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles, Venezuelan-bred Go Sexy Go has won stakes in two of her past three starts in her native country, most recently drawing off to a 6 1/2-length victory in the Clasico Hipica Nacional.

In the $115,000 Copa Velocidad del Caribe Stakes for 3-year-olds sprinting six furlongs, Quintus enters off three straight clear victories in his native Panama. Luis Saez will ride.

In the $85,000 Copa Invitacional del Caribe Stakes at 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-olds and older who have been imported to one of the participating countries, Celandine will try to return to his winning form. A Kentucky-bred 3-year-old son of Street Sense , Sonata Stable's Celandine won his first five starts at Camarero in Puerto Rico by a combined 46 lengths. In his most recent start, Oct. 20 at Camarero, he stumbled and was eased.

Regular rider Juan Diaz has made the trip from Puerto Rico to ride.

Entries: Copa Invitacional del Caribe S.

Gulfstream Park, Sunday, December 08, 2019, Race 9

• STK
• 1 1/4m
• Dirt
• $85,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 3:38 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Kublaigo (KY)	Cristian A. Torres	122	Fausto Gutierrez	12/1
2	2Bravo Ignacio (ARG)	Jose L. Ortiz	122	Roberto Arango	6/1
3	3Lagartijo (KY)	Luis Contreras	118	Ricardo Contreras	20/1
4	4Secret Passage (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	122	Jose D. Velez	6/1
5	5Pow (KY)	John R. Velazquez	118	B. Mafla-Herrera	15/1
6	6Little Paul (KY)	Erik Ramirez	122	Jose D. Velez	10/1
7	7Celandine (KY)	Juan C. Diaz	118	Edwin Diaz, Jr.	8/1
8	8Trincheto (ARG)	Javier Castellano	122	Guillermo Martucci	20/1
9	9California Music (KY)	Luis Saez	122	Alberto Paz-Rodriguez	9/2
10	10Letruska (KY)	Emisael Jaramillo	110	Fausto Gutierrez	9/5