De Francis Dash Wide Open With Omission of X Y Jet

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Photo: Adrianna Lynch
Always Sunshine wins the Hockessin Stakes at Delaware Park

One of the most intriguing aspects of the $250,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) is a horse who won't make the race.

As multiple graded stakes winner X Y Jet bypasses the six-furlong sprint Sept. 22 at Laurel Park with an eye on the Nov. 3 TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), the spotlight shifts to Switzerland and Always Sunshine—runners whose lone graded stakes successes came in the same Maryland race two years apart.

But what of the Kantharos  gelding who has come back from multiple knee surgeries, and whose career record for Rockingham Ranch and Gelfenstein Farm is just a nose away from a grade 1 win? According to Rockingham co-owner Brian Trump, X Y Jet isn't done yet. 

"He has a minor injury that has been taken care of already, and we just felt that with everything this horse has been through, our No. 1 priority is to take care of the horse," Trump said. "He probably could have raced through it, but we felt it was best to let him heal 100% and give him the best shot at winning the Breeders' Cup. He's been such a good horse to us. Every single time, he lays it down. He's been through the knee surgeries and had a long career. With him, we err on the side of caution."

X Y Jet finished a narrow second in 2018 and 2016 in the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored By Gulf News (G1) at Meydan, a race that taunts his owners and trainer Jorge Navarro to this day.

"We want to get him back to Dubai; he's going to win that damn race one of these years," Trump cracked.

In the De Francis, rescheduled from Sept. 15 due to the threat of severe weather from Hurricane Florence, Woodford Racing's Switzerland chases the rebound. Winless in seven starts as a 3-year-old, the son of Speightstown  came back strong in 2018 and ran out a four-race win streak capped May 19 with a 3 1/2-length victory in the six-furlong Maryland Sprint Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course

Switzerland has made one start for trainer Steve Asmussen since then, in the July 28 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, where he set the pace for four of six furlongs before flattening out to run fifth of seven. 

Gil Campbell's Stonehedge homebred Always Sunshine enters the De Francis having won back-to-back stakes at six furlongs for trainer Ned Allard—the July 14 Hockessin at Delaware Park and the Aug. 10 Tale of the Cat at Saratoga. The 6-year-old son of West Acre won the Maryland Sprint in 2016.

"The thing that's good about him is, he's got plenty of speed, but he'll sit off the pace a little bit and he's got a good pounce. I think that's the right kind of horse to have if you can get them," Allard said.

While Switzerland is making his Laurel debut, Always Sunshine has run well in three tries over the main track, winning the 2015 Dave's Friend Stakes. He hasn't run worse than fourth in four races this year after returning from a 10-month layoff.

The De Francis is the final race in the 3-and-up dirt sprint division of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship Series. Hillside Equestrian Meadows' Laki competed in the first four legs of the MATCH Series and leads the division with 23 points, four more than De Francis rival Lewisfield. The Man, who has won 10 of 15 starts, also figures in his graded debut for owner Jill Baffert.


Entries: Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash S. (G3)

Laurel Park, Saturday, September 22, 2018, Race 10

  • Grade III
  • 6f
  • Dirt
  • $250,000
  • 3 yo's & up
  • 5:00 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Switzerland (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Feargal Lynch 120 Steven M. Asmussen 5/2
2 2Sweetontheladies (FL) Gary L. Stevens 120 Henry Collazo 10/1
3 3Colonel Sharp (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate J. D. Acosta 120 Hugh I. McMahon 15/1
4 4Laki (MD) Horacio Karamanos 120 Damon R. Dilodovico 10/1
5 5Always Sunshine (FL) Jevian Toledo 120 Edward T. Allard 3/1
6 6Mr. Crow (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Trevor McCarthy 120 Ben Colebrook 6/1
7 7The Man (PA) Jorge A. Vargas, Jr. 120 John C. Servis 8/1
8 8Lewisfield (MD) Arnaldo Bocachica 120 Jeff C. Runco 5/1
9 9Arthur's Hope (NY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Rosario Montanez 120 Marco P. Salazar 30/1