Gunnevera Fires Bullet in Preparation for Return
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Photo: Jon Kral
Trainer Antonio Sano with multiple graded stakes winner Gunnevera
Salomon Del Valle's multiple graded stakes winner Gunnevera breezed five furlongs in a bullet 1:00 flat Aug. 4 at Gulfstream Park West, preparing for an expected return in a 1 1/16-mile allowance/optional claimer Aug. 10 at Gulfstream Park.
"I'm very happy with his work," trainer Antonio Sano said. "He galloped out very good."
Fastest of 26 moves at the distance, the work was the seventh in a series preparing the 4-year-old colt for a return from a four-month layoff.
The Kentucky-bred son of Dialed In hasn't raced since March 31, when he exited an eighth-place finish in the $10 million Dubai World Cup Presented by Emirates Airline (G1) with a nasty hoof injury. He was freshened in Ocala, Fla., for two months to give the hoof time to heal before he returned to Sano's string at Gulfstream Park West.
"After Friday's race, we are looking at the Woodward," said Sano, referring to the 1 1/8-mile grade 1 race at Saratoga Race Course Sept. 1. Gunnevera has demonstrated a fondness for the upstate New York oval, where he won the 2016 Saratoga Special Stakes (G2).
A year ago, the chestnut made a return from a layoff to capture the 1 1/16-mile Tangelo Stakes at Gulfstream in preparation for a start in the Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), in which he finished second behind eventual 3-year-old champion West Coast and ahead of Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Always Dreaming, Preakness Stakes (G1) victor Cloud Computing, and Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner Tapwrit.
Gunnevera, who capped his 3-year-old season with a fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar, finished third in the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream before he was sent to Dubai. His record stands at 5-3-2 from 16 starts, with earnings of $2,927,200.