Saturday’s program at Gulfstream Park will feature the Grade 3, $200,000
Hutcheson Stakes for sophomore sprinters, and there is also a trio of maiden
special weight races for three-year-olds earlier on the card. That sequence will
start with the
5TH race, a $47,000 affair contested at 6 1/2 furlongs that
attracted a nine-horse field. Five of them are first-time starters, including Sassicaia, who will be unveiled by trainer Chad Brown on behalf of owner Robert
LaPenta.
Sassicaia — named for the famed Tuscan wine — made headlines last March when he
sold for $1.6 million at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale conducted at Palm
Meadows. A son of Bernardini and the Forestry mare Hishi Aspen, the bay colt
first went through the auction ring as a yearling, selling for $250,000 at
Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July. He grew into his frame and, eight months later, zipped an
eighth of a mile in :10 1/5 at Palm Meadows. That display, coupled with
the colt’s physique and female family, made him the most sought-after juvenile
at the sale.
“He’s a big, strong, handsome colt that looks like he has a lot of potential,”
Brown said. “We like the horse quite a bit.”
Sassicaia’s dam Hishi Aspen won three times at 8 1/2 furlongs in Japan. She
hails from Broodmare of the Year Fall Aspen, whose descendants include champions
Dubai Millennium and Timber Country. The three-year-old has compiled a steady series
of workouts since arriving at Palm Meadows in November.
“He’s been coming along very well,” Brown added. “We expect that he’s the type
of horse that will improve as the distances get longer. This is a good spot to
get him started in, and we look forward to getting his career
underway.”
Sassicaia, listed at 5-1 on the morning line, will break from post 4 with
Joel Rosario in the saddle.
He will face a pair of colts exiting a January 1 maiden at Gulfstream.
Ragtime and Madd Exchange finished third and fourth, respectively, behind
wire-to-wire winner Gambler’s Ghost that day. Gambler’s Ghost will contest the
Hutcheson Stakes later on Saturday’s card.
Ragtime, a son of Henny Hughes who runs in the colors of breeder Phipps Stable,
blew out three furlongs in a bullet :35 1/5 on Tuesday for trainer Shug
McGaughey. Apprentice Dylan Davis will be back in the irons when the chestnut
breaks from the 2 hole.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Madd Exchange was the 2-1 favorite in his debut, but
broke a step slowly and made up ground belatedly. The Exchange Rate colt, a
$375,000 juvenile purchase, is from the immediate family of last year’s Jerome
and Gotham victor Vyjack, as well as Delta Princess
winner Tepin.
Madd Exchange drew the rail and will have the services of leading jockey Javier
Castellano.
Also noteworthy is Greyfell, most recently third to the highly-touted
Constitution here on January 11.
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