Returning to a stakes race for the first time since his runner-up finish in the 2025 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2), Grande stood above the opposition in the $150,000 Ghostzapper Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park, leading from start to finish.
Capitalizing on a lack of pace in the race, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez sent Grande to the front in the 1 1/16-mile dirt contest, dictating slow fractions of :24.57, :49.42, and 1:13.56, and his mount maintained an advantage on the second turn and through the stretch. Grande was timed in 1:44.26 on a fast track, returning $2.20 for a $2 win wager as the overwhelming favorite
Capital Idea, who had stalked the pace in third early, offered a bid in advancing into second near the head of the lane, but was turned aside by Grande, who held him off for a three-quarter-length victory.
Racing Driver ran a distant third.
The Ghostzapper marked the first stakes triumph for Grande, a 4-year-old son of Curlin owned by Mike Repole's Repole Stable and trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. The colt, who is now 4-1-0 in five starts with earnings of $361,940, is perfect in two starts this year after missing much of his 3-year-old season after being a veterinary scratch from the Kentucky Derby (G1) last May at Churchill Downs.
Pletcher and Velazquez each captured the Ghostzapper for the sixth time, with two of those wins coming together. Before Grande, they teamed up for Ghostzapper Stakes success when it was run as the Hal's Hope Stakes in 2019 with Prince Lucky and 2010 with Quality Road .
Grande "kind of waited for the competition to come right next to him," Velazquez said. "And then I asked him. He responded nicely."
West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable, bought Grande for $300,000 from the consignment of breeder KatieRich Farms from the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. KatieRich Farms bred Grande in Kentucky out of the War Front mare Journey Home.
Curlin stands for $225,000 at Hill 'n' Dale Farms in Kentucky.
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Canadian trainer Kevin Attard Strikes with Sultana
Sovereign Award-winning trainer Kevin Attard has won 44 graded races, most of them in his native Canada, but others in the United States, including with his star female grass horses Moira and Starship Jubilee.
Now, another mare—Sultana—is adding to the trainer's U.S. accomplishments.
The 5-year-old daughter of Always Dreaming upset the $150,000 Orchid Stakes (G3T) on Florida Derby day, rallying past early leader Ayra Stark for a neck victory.
Speed Shopper showed.
Sixth of seven fillies and mares over the opening half-mile in the 1 1/2-mile grass contest, as Ayra Stark set fractions of :48.71, 1:14.22, and 1:39.31, Sultana swung into action with a wide bid leaving the last of three turns. She swooped up to take command at the eighth pole, outfinishing a resurgent Ayra Stark, who had lost the lead briefly amid a slew of challenges exiting the final turn.
The winner completed the race on a firm turf course in 2:24.47 under Junior Alvarado, capped by a final quarter-mile in :21.87, according to Equibase GPS data. She paid $39.20 to win.
"When we passed the three-eighths pole and I started tipping her outside, I could feel that she was going to be game at the end," Alvarado said.
The Orchid was the third consecutive win and second straight at the graded level for Sultana, who took the 1 1/4-mile Maple Leaf Stakes (G3) over Woodbine's Tapeta all-weather track in November in her 2025 highlight. She is now 4-1-1 in six starts with earnings of $237,941 for owners Lou Donato, Theodore Manziaris, Paul Borrelli, and Lanni Bloodstock.
The winner was a $50,000 purchase by Harbour 60 Club from the New Hope consignment to the Ocala Breeders' Sales 2023 June 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale. Michael Snyder and the Always Dreaming Syndicate bred the dark bay or brown mare in Kentucky out of the Pulpit mare Private Offering.
Always Dreaming, winner of the Florida Derby (G1) and Kentucky Derby in 2017, died in December 2024.
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