He might have brought a lackluster record in grade 2 stakes into the $200,000 WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes (G2), but Fearless has been peerless at the race's namesake oval.
The 5-year-old Ghostzapper gelding owned by race sponsor WinStar Farm and China Horse Club lifted his record to a perfect 3-for-3 at Gulfstream Park when he returned from an eight-month layoff Feb. 27 and rolled to victory by three-quarters of a length for trainer Todd Pletcher.
"It's very nice," said Elliott Walden about winning a race sponsored by the farm where he's the president/CEO and racing manager, "but I'm happy for the horse. He's a really neat horse. He's very talented. It was a great job by Destin Heath (WinStar's farm trainer) and our team at WinStar to get him ready after a long time off and then Todd does what Todd does. They come out running for him and (Fearless) ran a super race."
The victory was the fourth in seven starts for Fearless, whose two previous starters in graded stakes company resulted in a sixth in the June 27 Stephen Foster Stakes (G2)—which was his last start—and a fifth earlier that year in the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2). A half brother to the stakes winner Just Whistle (who was fifth in an allowance optional claimer two races before the Gulfstream Park Mile), he was offered at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale but went unsold for $120,000
"He's a gelding, which is not typically what we do," Walden said. "He was a real character as a young horse. He didn't want to train a whole lot. He was a big, heavy horse and gelding lightened him up."
Walden and Pletcher considered sending Fearless to the $600,000 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park, which was also contested Saturday, but in the end they opted to keep him on the surface the gelding loves best.
"We were confident. We decided on this one and it couldn't have worked out better. He's a very nice horse and hopefully we can have a big year with him," Walden said about the son of the Street Cry mare And Why Not. Fearless was purchased by WinStar's Maverick Racing arm and China Horse Club for $725,000 from Gainesway's consignment at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
And Why Not's latest foals are Marzipan, a 2-year-old filly by Candy Ride , and a yearling filly by Blame . Two of her three offspring to race are now stakes winners.
Fearless ($7.60), who gave Pletcher his sixth GP Mile win, was the 5-2 second choice behind heavy, 4-5 favorite Performer in the GP Mile.
Winds of Change, the 19-1 outsider in a field of six, enjoyed a four-length lead after a half-mile in :46.57 before jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. moved Fearless up from fourth and cruised to the lead midway on the turn.
Ahead by 1 1/2 lengths in midstretch, Fearless held off a late bid from Gelfenstein Farm's Avant Garde while covering the mile in 1:35.61.
A Tonalist gelding trained by Gustavo Delgado, Avant Garde finished two lengths ahead of Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer.
Winner of the Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park for trainer Shug McGaughey in his previous start, Performer failed to mount a serious bid in finishing third. The son of Speightstown has six wins and three thirds from nine career starts.
"He came back fine," McGaughey said. "I wasn't real pleased with the effort. (Jockey Jose Ortiz) said he was fighting the track but I can't make any excuses for him."
