Gufo Prevails Late to Defend Sword Dancer Title

When Otter Bend Stables' Gufo  is in a race, a 1-2-3 finish is likely to follow. The remarkably consistent son of Declaration of War  has been out of the money only twice in 19 career starts, and following the successful defense of his title in the $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T) Aug. 27 at Saratoga Race Course, Gufo has now captured grade 1s as a 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old.

“He loves this turf here,” said a breathless jockey Joel Rosario after the Sword Dancer.

Gufo, with his mammoth-sized stature and massive stride, is like an old-fashioned freight train; it takes time to get him going, but once he’s moving, he’s nearly impossible to stop. Rosario admitted he had to scrub fairly hard on the chestnut three furlongs out, but once the engine was ignited, Gufo roared past his rivals.

“He’s been a very good horse these past three years. Unfortunately, in his last race, sometimes he has a tendency to drop too far out of it," trainer Christophe Clement said. "I took the blinkers off because he trained so forwardly earlier on in the year. As the year went on, he became lazier and lazier. Today, he had a great trip. He was never that far back, and he was traveling well. When Joel (Rosario) asked him, he exploded in the stretch. I’m delighted."

Stepping into the gate for the Sword Dancer, a race that a year Gufo claimed by a tenacious neck over European invader Japan , the 5-year-old was coming off an uncharacteristic fifth-place finish in the July 23 United Nations Stakes (G1T) at Monmouth Park. Although he didn’t hit the board, he still ran respectably in defeat, beaten 2 1/4 lengths and two heads at the wire.

Under Rosario, the regular pilot of Gufo in his last 11 starts, Gufo settled into seventh through most of Saturday's 1 1/2-mile journey. The steadfast frontrunner Tribhuvan  carved out splits of :24.39, :48.98, and 1:13.99 on an uncontested lead, and it wasn’t until the top of the stretch when the two-time grade 1 winner was finally challenged and overtaken by Mira Mission .

The hard-luck Mira Mission, running a performance adjacent to his runner-up finish to Santin  in the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (G1T) on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs, was nailed in the final seventy yards by the hard-charging Gufo.

"We really thought it was his day today," said jockey Julien Leparoux of Mira Mission. "He ran a good race and tried hard. He ran a winning race, and I'm very happy with the trip we had. No excuse.”

Gufo, a half-length better than Mira Mission at the wire,was timed in 2:28.92 on a turf course rated as good.

In a blanket of closing finishes, Mira Mission held place honors over Gufo's stablemate Soldier Rising,  with favored Broome  back in fourth.

2020 champion turf male Channel Maker  finished last in the field of 10 after racing in second through the first mile.

Gufo paid $10.80 to win.

Bred in Kentucky by John Little and Stephen Cainelli, Gufo is a half brother to the durable Hogy , a crack sprinter/miler. A multiple graded stakes winner and contestant in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), Hogy went on to earn over $1.3 million, a number that Gufo has since surpassed as he touts a personal bankroll of $1,983,030. Gufo and Hogy’s dam, the Petitionville mare Floy , has produced three winners from five foals to race. Her youngest offspring is a yearling filly by Preservationist  , and she was covered to Oscar Performance   this past breeding season.

Earning a return to the $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) with his Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” victory in the Sword Dancer, Gufo will be seeking to redeem himself this fall at Keeneland for his career-worse performance in last year’s ace.

“Looking forward, we’re going to enjoy this one," Clement said. "We might have a glass of wine tonight. We’ll worry about the next race tomorrow morning."