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GAYEGO

Post Position 12

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PHOTO CREDIT: Horsephotos/NTRA

This son of Gilded Time out of a Lost Code mare has outrun by quite a bit his apparent speed pedigree, and, more importantly, has shown that he can leave the synthetic tracks in Southern California and win on the dirt, which he did in Oaklawn Park’s Arkansas Derby.     Gayego finished a troubled 17th in the Kentucky Derby and originally counted out of the Preakness Stakes. But his recovery from the bouncing around he took in the 20-horse field was so sharp that his connections decided to tackle the Preakness with the Belmont Stakes as part of a long-range plan.     The name Gayego was inspired by the people who hail from a region in Northern Spain called Galicia. Both of owners Dr. Jose N. Prieto’s parents and Carlos A. Juelle’s wife’s grandmother were born in that region of Spain and immigrated to Cuba. An individual from the region of Galicia is called a “Gallego.” To make life easier for Southern California’s Trevor Denman and the rest of the country’s track announcers, the owners have said, the “double l’s” in Gallego were changed to a “y,” thus Gayego.

TRAINER -Paulo Lobo, originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil now resides in Pasadena, Calif.     Paulo Lobo soaked up the Kentucky Derby experience for the first time this year, but was no stranger to Derby Week festivities at Churchill Downs. In 2002, he saddled longshot Farda Amiga to win the Grade I, $500,000 Kentucky Oaks on the day before the Derby.     Lobo, whose colt had run only on synthetic surfaces for most of his career, decided to see if Gayego could handle the dirt by running him in the Arkansas Derby. The colt bounded to victory and earned a shot at the Kentucky Derby. Unfortunately, starting from Post 19 in the 20-horse Derby, got a way slowly, was pinched back and nearly clipped heels in an early race traffic jam going down the Churchill Downs stretch the first time.     Lobo said after the race, he knew his runner was finished by the time he hit the first turn. The son of Gilded Time finished 17th.     After returning to his Hollywood Park base, Gayego bounced right back and has restored Lobo’s confidence enough to have the trainer and the owners to try a run in the Preakness.     The amiable Brazil-born trainer has followed his father into Thoroughbred training, getting his early schooling by working from 1987 to 1994 as an assistant under his father, Selmar Lobo, a top trainer in Brazil. He began training on his own at the time he left his father’s stable, posting victories in Group races, handicaps and listed races in his native Brazil.     He’s won more than 200 races since going on his own, including numerous wins on the Southern California circuit, which he joined in 2001. Farda Amiga brought him instant celebrity with her win in the Kentucky Oaks, which she followed up with a victory in the Grade I Alabama Stakes and the eventual Eclipse Award as the year’s top 3-year-old filly.     The Hollywood Park-based trainer also made quite a splash in 2004 with the brilliant sprinter Pico Central, who took the trainer to the winner’s circle in Santa Anita’s San Carlos Stakes, Aqueduct’s Carter Handicap and Belmont Park’s Metropolitan Handicap, otherwise known as the Met Mile. Lobo won back-to-back Honeymoon Breeders’ Cup Handicap with Quero Quero in 2003 and Lovely Rafaela in 2004.     Ace Blue captured Hollywood Park’s Mervyn LeRoy Handicap in 2005 for Lobo, and Brazilian-bred Molengao won the 2007 San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita.

JOCKEY - Mike Smith born Aug. 10, 1965 in Roswell, N.M., no resides in Pasadena, Calif.    Smith reached the top of the Thoroughbred racing world with his 2005 Kentucky Derby victory aboard Giacomo after posting two seconds and a third with his previous three mounts in the Run for the Roses. He finished 14th with Flashy Bull in 2006 and was seventh in 2007 with Giacomo’s half-brother Tiago, who had won the Santa Anita Derby. The colt went on to finish third in the Belmont Stakes, and win the Grade II Swaps Stakes and Grade I Goodwood Handicap before finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, all under Smith.     Other major winners in 2007: Cry and Catch Me, Passified, Boca Grande and Oprah Winney. Purse earnings for 2007: $6,345,175. He entered racing’s Hall of Fame in 2003.     After racing on the New York-Florida circuit and Midwestern venues, moved his tack to Southern California in 2001 and made a solid place for himself, before moving his tack to Kentucky and then on to New York and Florida. He’s now back in Southern California.     Topping his rider list in 2005, of course, was Giacomo, who came back to finish third in the Preakness Stakes and seventh in the Belmont Stakes.    Other stakes winners in 2005: Going Wild, High Standards, Puxa Seco, Singhalese, Razor, Tara’s Tough and Woke Up Dreamin.    Purse earnings for 2006: $4,309,865, down from 2005’ $6,520,617.     The biggest horse on the year was Giacomo again, aboard whom he won Del Mar’s San Diego Handicap and finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Big horse in 2004 was Lion Heart, runner-up to Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby. Came back to finish fourth in the Preakness Stakes. Other top horses ridden in 2004: Azeri, Mambo Slew, Dream of Summer, Bear Fan, Bluesthestandard, Katdogawn, Souvenir Gift, Noches De Rosa, Total Impact (winner of Hollywood Gold Cup) and Moscow Burning.     Smith has won more than 4,500 races. Has recovered from a broken back suffered in a frightening spill during the 1998 Saratoga race meeting. Was in a body cast for some time but returned to riding during the 1999 Gulfstream Park meeting.     Rode Horse of the Year Azeri throughout her championship year in 2002 and in 2003, when she won her second straight Eclipse Award as outstanding older filly or mare. Rode her again in early 2004 as she proceeded toward another Eclipse year as top older female. After dominating the riding ranks for two straight years, Smith landed in the middle of the Top Ten pack for a couple of years before bouncing back to finish third on the national list in 1997 with purse earnings of $14,730,546. A key victory that year came in the Breeders’ Cup Classic aboard Skip Away. Earlier on championship day, he rode Ajina to victory in the Distaff, and the two wins gave him eight in B.C. competition. Rode two winners on four B.C. championship days and back-to-back wins in the Breeders’ Cup Mile with Lure, giving him 10 championship day victories, third behind retired Jerry Bailey and Pat Day with 15 and 12, respectively. Purse earnings for 2001 totaled $5,467,810 as he began working his way into position in his newly chosen racing venue of Southern California.     In 1994, led the nation's jockeys in earnings with a then-record $15.9 million in purses, up from his leading $14 million in 1993. Established a record for stakes victories in 1994 with 67, breaking his own record of 62, set in 1993. In that two year span, Smith captured consecutive Eclipse Awards as the nation's top jockey. The native of New Mexico moved his tack from a Midwest base that included Oaklawn Park, Canterbury Downs and Churchill Downs to New York in late 1989 to contest the winter meeting at Aqueduct.     In his first year in New York, he rode Thirty Six Red to victory in both the Gotham Stakes and Wood Memorial before finishing sixth with him in that year's Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont Stakes. Churchill Downs tenure began in the fall of 1985, and he finished third in the jockey standings in both the fall '86 and '87 meetings. Was runner up to Pat Day, the Downs' all time jockey leader, in the fall '89 season, falling one short of Day's total. Moved to Southern California in the summer of 2001.     Among other major race victories: 2,000 Guineas at The Curragh, Berlo, Damon Runyon, Gallant Man, Grey Lag, Jaipur, Jim Dandy, Manhattan, Seneca and Stuyvesant. Among other best horses ridden: Holy Bull, 1994 Horse of the Year; two-time Breeders’ Cup Mile champion Lure; Skip Away, Fourstars Allstar, Cherokee Run, Tikkanen, Sky Beauty, Heavenly Prize, Devil His Due, Prairie Bayou, Glitter Woman and Chief Honcho. Won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 2000. KENTUCKY DERBY MOUNTS Year Horse Finish Owner Trainer 1984 Pine Circle 6th Loblolly Stable C.R. McGaughey, III 1990 Thirty Six Red 9th B. Giles Brophy Nick Zito 1992 Devil His Due 12th Lion Crest Stable H. Allen Jerkens 1993 Prairie Bayou 2nd Loblolly Stable Thomas Bohannan 1994 Holy Bull 12th Warren Croll Jr. Warren Croll Jr. 1995 Talkin Man 12th Kinghaven Farms/ Helen Stollery/ Peter Wall Roger Attfield 1996 Unbridled's Song 5th Paraneck Stable James Ryerson 1997 Hello 8th Al/Sandee Kirkwood Ron McAnally 1999 Cat Thief 3rd Overbrook Farm D. Wayne Lukas 2002 Proud Citizen 2nd Baker, Cornstein, Mack D. Wayne Lukas 2004 Lion Heart 2nd Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith Patrick Biancone 2005 GIACOMO WON Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss John Shirreffs 2006 Flashy Bull 14th West Point Thoroughbreds Kiaran McLaughlin 2007 Tiago 7th Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss John Shirreffs PREAKNESS STAKES MOUNTS Year Horse Finish Owner Trainer 1984 Pine Circle 5th Loblolly Stable C.R. McGaughey III 1992 Big Sur 11th Overbrook Farm D. Wayne Lukas 1993 PRAIRIE BAYOU WON Loblolly Stable Thomas Bohannan 1995 Talkin Man 6th Kinghaven Farms/ Helen Stollery/ Peter Wall Roger Attfield 1997 Concerto 6th Kinsman Stable John Tammaro III 1999 Cat Thief 7th Overbrook Farm D. Wayne Lukas 2004 Lion Heart 4th Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith Patrick Biancone 2005 Giacomo 3rd Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss John Shirreffs BELMONT STAKES MOUNTS Year Horse Finish Owner Trainer 1990 Thirty Six Red 2nd B. Giles Brophy Nick Zito 1993 Prairie Bayou Broke down Loblolly Stable Thomas Bohannan 1994 Amathos 5th Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum Bill Mott 1995 Off'n'away 6th Moyglare Stud Dermot K. Weld 1996 My Flag 3rd Ogden Phipps C.R. McGaughey III 1998 Yarrow Brae 10th Michael Tabor D. Wayne Lukas 1999 Prime Directive 10th Noreen Carpenito Patrick Byrne 2000 Globalize 10th Hollendorfer/Litt/Todaro Jerry Hollendorfer 2005 Giacomo 7th Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss John Shirreffs 2006 Oh So Awesome 5th Team Valor Stables James A. Jerkens 2007 Tiago 3rd Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss John Shirreffs

CO-OWNERS - Carlos A. Juelle and Dr. Jose N. Prieto (Cubanacan Stables).     Carlos A. Juelle was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1939, and has lived in the United States for many years. His family includes his wife, Magali Lima; two children, Magali Lovenskjold and Carlos Jr., and six grandchildren.     The Juelles live in Rolling Hills Estates in Southern California. Juelle was educated as an accounting, but recently retired from the clothing industry and joined his wife’s pharmacy business. Horse racing has been a lifelong passion for Juelle, having been introduced to the Sport of Kings by his family in Cuba. The family used to breed and race Thoroughbred horses under the name of Roxana Stud Farm. As a child, Juelle would go with his family to watch the horses work out in the morning at Oriental Park and at his family’s farm.     In 1960, Juelle and his wife made the decision to leave Cuba because they did not agree with the decisions of the Castro regime. In particular, they were upset with the regime’s claim that the state had control over the education and upbringing of their two young children. When Juelle and his wife requested an exit visa from the government to leave Cuba, he was forced into a hard labor camp for two years, after which time the government made an exit visa available for him and his family to leave Cuba. The family left Cuba for Spain in 1970.     At the time they left Cuba, the family’s property and the majority of their personal belongings were confiscated by the Cuban government. The family spent eight years in Barcelona, Spain, building up their resources, and in 1977 made the decision to move to the United States, where one of Juelle’s relatives lived. The Juelles settled down and raised their children in Palos Verdes Estates, also in Southern California.     Dr. Jose N. Prieto was born in Las Villas, Cuba, in 1930. He is married to Araceli Prieto and they have one daughter, Maria Rochart. Dr. Prieto and his wife live in Glendale, California. He is a general practitioner and has his private practice in the City of Cudahy, California. Dr. Prieto has been an avid horse racing fan for most of his life. He fell in love with the sport as a young man, when he would attend Thoroughbred races at Oriental Park in Havana, Cuba, with his friends. It was there that Dr. Prieto began honing his handicapping skills.     After the overthrow of the Cuban government by Fidel Castro’s forces, Dr. Prieto began working with other like-minded individuals toward a more democratic Cuba. Dr. Prieto, who would care for wounded militiamen in the jungles of the Sierra Maestra Mountains, was captured by Castro’s forces and sentenced to death before a firing squad. Dr. Prieto was spared from the firing squad by his wife’s uncle, a high-ranking member of the Castro government, who after repeated lobbying by his niece was able to get a stay of execution.     Dr. Prieto was held as a political prisoner for five years by the Castro regime, being released from prison in July 1973. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Prieto and his family left Cuba and returned to his parents’ homeland, Spain. The family lived in Spain for six months and subsequently, moved to the United States, settling in California in December of 1973.     Dr. Prieto practices as a physician and dedicates a substantial amount of his free time to his daughter’s non-profit organization, New Horizons Family Center, which works with at-risk children in Glendale.     As for Cubanacan Stables, Juelle and Dr. Prieto met in Los Angeles in 1983 and while building their friendship over the next few years, they discovered their mutual passion for horse racing. Dr. Prieto was familiar with the Juelle family’s involvement with Thoroughbred racing in Cuba. The pair formed Cubanacan Stables in 1991.     For the past 18 years, it has been their practice to go to the annual Keeneland yearling sale and purchase one horse. With the assistance of Thoroughbred bloodstock consultant Suzanne Cardiff, they compile a list of the best horses in their price range, with a goal of running in the Kentucky Derby.     In September 2006, they bought the yearling Gayego for $32,000. The Gilded Time colt was sent to Fares Farms, where he remained until he came to California to begin training at Romoland with Monte Schvaneveldt. It was Schvaneveldt who first told the partners that there was something special about Gayego. He was sent to be trained by Paulo Lobo in June 2007.     Gayego is Cubanacan Stables’ only horse in training.

CO-BREEDERS - Hargus and Sandra Sexton.     The husband-wife team of Hargus and Sandra Sexton are household names in Kentucky breeding, as well as in Kentucky Derby circles for their breeding of four starters in the Run for the Rose.     And now it appears they have No. 5 in Gayego.     The Sextons (she’s the niece of legendary horseman Rex Ellsworth) live in Versailles, Ky. He is a native of Green Hall, Ky., and was born there Aug. 19, 1920. Hargus Sexton has had a long-standing association with Thoroughbred breeding’s Walden family, going back to Ben Jr.’s grandfather, Julien Walden, who was the premier tobacco farmer in Kentucky. Sexton was a partner with Walden in the tobacco warehouse business.     Sexton entered the Thoroughbred industry in the early 1980s when he was a close associate of Ben Walden Jr. when he owned Vinery in Midway, Ky. Sexton helped in arranging the acquisition of such Vinery stallions as Black Tie Affair, a multiple stakes-winning sprinter and router.     Sexton’s first major breeding success came with Sri Pekan, a son of Red Ransom who became a multiple Group II winner in England and later stood as a stallion at Coolmore Stud in Ireland before being sold in 2002 to the Turkish Jockey Club. He has been a leading sire there. His North American runners include multiple Grade I winner Amorama (Fr), multiple Grade II winner Whilly (Ire) and Grade II winner Champion Lodge (Ire). Sexton was co-breeder with Ben Walden Jr. of Corinthian, a multiple stakes winner who captured the inaugural running of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last year at Monmouth Park. Sexton bred Morris Code, who didn’t finish in the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies but went on to be a multiple stakes winner with career earnings of $745,167.     The Sextons own about eight broodmares with Walden and 30-35 of their own. They own three farms in Versailles, Ky.: Glen Brook, Moss Hill and Oak Crest.     Together and in partnership, the Sextons bred four Kentucky Derby starters: Crypto Star, Desert Hero, Ragtime Rebel and Valhol.