Well-Bred Laver Looks to Ace Mucho Macho Man
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Photo: Coady Photography
Laver breaks his maiden on dirt at Churchill Downs
G. Watts Humphrey Jr.'s homebred Laver will look to ace the $150,000 Mucho Macho Man Stakes Jan. 1 at Gulfstream Park, where his dam, Centre Court , was a multiple graded stakes winner over the turf course.
The one-turn mile Mucho Macho Man, the first local 2023 prep leading toward the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) for newly turned 3-year-olds, will be featured on the New Year's Day program. The Mucho Macho Man is not a Road to the Kentucky Derby points race.
"Centre Court was just about a millionaire, a grade 1 winner at Keeneland, a graded stakes winner at Saratoga. She was a lot of fun," said trainer Rusty Arnold, who also saddled Centre Court for back-to-back Honey Fox Stakes (G2T) victories in 2013 and 2014 at Gulfstream, "She's off to a very good start as a broodmare. She's the dam of Navratilova , who's a graded stakes winner on turf.
"Hopefully, he'll come along and fill those shoes. We really like him. He's off to a good start, and we're excited about him."
Although Laver seemed destined for a racing career on turf, the colt made the transition to dirt after a pair of promising turf starts due to fewer opportunities on turf during the fall in Kentucky.
"Centre Court was all turf. Everything she did was on turf, and Navratilova, his sibling, was all turf. We thought that was what he was. His first two starts were on turf," Arnold said. "Turf racing was kind of sketchy in Kentucky this fall, so it was hard to run on the turf unless you shipped out of town because of the condition of the turf at Churchill—they had problems with it—and Keeneland wasn't using theirs (as much) because they were protecting it for the Breeders' Cup."
Laver, who finished second in his debut at Ellis Park and ran an even fifth in the 497,500 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile Stakes at Kentucky Downs, made a four-wide move into the stretch to take the lead in his dirt debut at Keeneland before settling for second. The son of Bernardini came back to graduate in a one-turn mile maiden race at Churchill Downs, where he raced forwardly and held gamely to prevail while being equipped with blinkers for the first time upon the recommendation of jockey Luis Saez.
"That was Luis' idea. He thought he got a little lazy on him and thought that he could have won (his dirt debut). I don't know if that's true or not. Luis said to add the blinkers, and we did," Arnold said. "It got him a little more into the race, and he ran well, so we'll keep them on him. We ran him on the dirt, and he ran well both starts. If you can keep them on the dirt, that's what you want to do. Until he changes my mind, we'll probably stick with that."
Laver looks the part.
"He's probably a better-looking horse (than Centre Court). He's a little bigger, a little bit stronger. He's a colt version of her. He's more correct. He's a gorgeous horse, actually," Arnold said. "He probably looks more like his second dam, which is Let , an A. P. Indy. Funny thing, she was all dirt. She never ran on turf at all and produced Centre Court, who was all turf. We're hoping he takes after the second dam."
Tyler Gaffalione is scheduled to ride Laver for the first time in the Mucho Macho Man, which drew a full field of 12 sophomores, including the Arnold-trained Fliparino .
Calumet Farm's Fliparino graduated at first asking in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race at Churchill Downs Sept. 22. The son of Honor Code finished a distant third in the 1 1/16-mile Street Sense Stakes (G3) following a stumbling start Oct. 30.
Vegso Racing Stable's Lord Miles is scheduled to make his stakes debut in the Mucho Macho Man while making only his second start. The son of Curlin is coming off a 5 3/4-length victory in a six-furlong maiden race Nov. 19 at Gulfstream.
"It wasn't a fast-run race by the numbers, but it was impressive to me," trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. "He's trained forwardly since. That's one of the reasons he's going from a maiden straight to the stake. He's given us the confidence to do that."
Lord Miles is out of Lady Esme , a half sister to three stakes winners, among them graded winners Officiating and Caledonia Road . The latter was voted champion 2-year-old filly of 2017 after capturing the 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Edgard Zayas has the mount aboard Lord Miles.
Courtlandt Farms' General Jim returns to dirt in the Mucho Macho Man following a trio of solid performances on turf. He debuted for Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey with a third-place finish in a six-furlong maiden race on dirt at Saratoga Race Course and graduated in his second start on turf at Saratoga. He came right back to win allowance over the Keeneland turf Oct. 29. Most recently, the son of Into Mischief finished third following an extremely wide start in the Nov. 26 Central Park Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Luis Saez has the return call aboard General Jim.
Legacy Isle , Baby Billy , Eyes On the King , and Mr Bob are other prominent entrants in the Mucho Macho Man.
Gulfstream Park, Sunday, January 01, 2023, Race 9Entries: Mucho Macho Man S.
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Legacy Isle (KY)
Emisael Jaramillo
120
Rohan Crichton
9/2
2
2Il Miracolo (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
118
Antonio Sano
6/1
3
3Baby Billy (KY)
Joel Rosario
118
Jack Sisterson
20/1
4
4Dreaming of Kona (KY)
Scott Spieth
118
Aldana Spieth
15/1
5
5General Jim (KY)
Luis Saez
120
Claude R. McGaughey III
4/1
6
6Wine Empire (KY)
Jose E. Morelos
118
Mohamed Jehaludi
30/1
7
7Fliparino (KY)
Martin Garcia
118
George R. Arnold, II
8/1
8
8Mr Bob (KY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
118
Robert N. Falcone, Jr.
5/1
9
9Live Is Life (KY)
Chantal Sutherland
118
Jorge Delgado
15/1
10
10Lord Miles (KY)
Edgard J. Zayas
118
Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
8/1
11
11Eyes On the King (KY)
Paco Lopez
120
Mark E. Casse
12/1
12
12Laver (KY)
Tyler Gaffalione
118
George R. Arnold, II
8/1
