X Y Jet hadn’t won in 20 months and his last start came 399 days ago, but he shrugged off any concerns leading wire-to-wire in Saturday’s $100,000 Mr. Prospector (G3) at Gulfstream Park. The Jorge Navarro pupil sped to the front at the break and repulsed the late bid of First Growth to prevail by a half-length, completing 6-furlongs in 1:09.45.
Gary Hartunian and Ivan Rodriguez campaign the 5-year-old gelding and regular rider Emisael Jaramillo was up on the son of Kantharos.
X Y Jet recorded his first stakes victory in the 2015 Mr. Prospector, scoring by 9 ¼ lengths over elders. After opening 2016 with convincing wins in the Sunshine Millions Sprint and Gulfstream Sprint (G3), the gray shipped overseas to record an excellent neck second in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) at Meydan.
He snapped a three-race losing streak Saturday, making his first appearance since a non-threatening third in the DeFrancis Memorial Dash (G3) in November 2016, and X Y Jet has now earned $860,053 from an 18-7-6-2 record.
After breaking on top, X Y Jet led by a length through splits of :22.21 and :44.81. First Growth was a clear second chasing the pacesetter and came with a challenge in the final furlong. X Y Jet got a little weary late, drifting out in deep stretch, but had enough to keep the runner-up safe to the wire.
“Our fear was that the horse hasn’t run for a long time and he might get tired,” Jaramillo said. “This horse is on top again.”
X Y Jet was off as the 3-2 favorite among 10 rivals.
First Growth easily held second as the 9-2 third choice, four lengths better than 5-2 second choice Sonic Mule, who held his positioning in third throughout. K Wave was another neck back in fourth at 93-1.
Bred in Florida by Didier Plasencia, X Y Jet sold for $65,000 at the 2013 OBS August 2-year-old sale. He’s out of the Lost Soldier mare Soldiersingsblues and counts the stakes-placed Woman Soldier as a half-sister.
Navarro said he will target another appearance in the Golden Shaheen in late March.
“I think there is a Florida-bred race (January 20 Sunshine Millions Sprint),” the trainer said. “If I can get a month in between, you’ll see him here one more time (before the Golden Shaheen).”
