It's official: Bodexpress is no longer a punchline.
The colt, a maiden throughout the Triple Crown series who threw jockey John Velazquez at the Preakness Stakes' break, moved his record to 2-for-2 since then with a track record-setting performance on Wednesday at Gulfstream Park West.
The son of Bodemeister led at every call before hitting the wire in 1:35.58 under jockey Emisael Jaramillo in the track’s featured allowance race. The previous Gulfstream West record for the distance was nearly 3/4 of a second slower, at 1:36.25, and had stood since the Calder days in 2001.
Off at 4-5, Bodexpress beat one of his top rivals, a local hot horse in Gump, to the first turn, effectively putting that one away. Moretti, a Todd Pletcher trainee, meanwhile made a move through the turn but couldn’t sustain it.
Up front, Bodexpress never relented, clicking off fractions of 24.09, 47.64 and 1:11.52. None were a match for a horse that figures to try stakes again next.
Trainer Gustavo Delgado said entering Wednesday that Bodexpress, who’s campaigned by Top Racing LC, Global Thoroughbred and GDS Racing, could be seen next in the Dec. 14 Harlan’s Holiday (G3). That race is a logical local prep for the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup (G1).
Bodexpress improved his record to 9: 2-3-0 on Wednesday, coming back successfully from an easy maiden win on Oct. 14 at Gulfstream West. Before his Preakness folly, the colt was placed 13th in the Kentucky Derby, ran second to Maximum Security in the Florida Derby (G1) and was nudged out in maiden special weight company by top 3-year-old sprinter Shancelot.
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