Gunnevera Returns to Sano Barn at Gulfstream Park West
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Photo: Dubai Racing Club/Neville Hopwood
Gunnevera works ahead of the Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse
Salomon Del Valle's Gunnevera returned to trainer Antonio Sano's stable at Gulfstream Park West on June 1 to begin preparation for a return to racing after a break of more than a month.
The multiple graded stakes winner and multiple grade 1-placed runner sustained a hoof injury during an eighth-place finish in the March 31 Dubai World Cup Sponsored By Emirates Airline (G1), which led to his break from training.
"The foot has healed very good," Sano said. "We're not in a hurry with him."
The 4-year-old son of Dialed In , who has earned $2.9 million from 16 starts, won two graded events at 2—the Saratoga Special Stakes (G2) and $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (G3)—then was a player on the 2017 Triple Crown trail.
He impressively won the Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park, then finished third in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) to earn a spot in the gate for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), where he finished seventh. He came in fifth in the Preakness Stakes (G1), returned to top-level company in the Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) to finish second, and capped his 3-year-old season with a fifth-place run in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
Gunnevera kicked off his 2018 season with a third-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) before he injured his foot in Dubai.