By Ben Massam
Gary Hartunian and Ivan Rodriguez's X Y Jet (Kantharos) nearly parlayed his razor-sharp South Florida sprint form into a victory in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen S. at Meydan in March, and the gray was sent to the sidelines due to a knee chip following his runner-up effort in the U.A.E. fixture. The gelding returned to trainer Jorge Navarro's Monmouth Park base in July and makes his return as the 7-2 second choice in Saturday's GI Vosburgh S., a “Win and You're In” qualifying event for the Nov. 5 GI TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint.
“We just wanted to wanted to give him a race and this one fits perfect on our schedule,” Navarro said. “He's fresh. He's ready. We just want to see how he runs. We're expecting a good performance because he's doing really good.”
In order to return to the winner's circle, X Y Jet will need to negotiate a formidable obstacle in Green Lantern Stable homebred A. P. Indian (Indian Charlie). The bay established himself as the leader of the East Coast sprint division by virtue of a pair of Grade I wins in Saratoga's July 30 Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. and Aug. 27 GI Forego S. The 6-year-old–who has ample tactical speed–is drawn one spot to the inside of confirmed front-runner X Y Jet, posing an interesting tactical decision for regular rider Joe Bravo.
If a fast pace does materialize, GII True North S. winner Joking (Distorted Humor) could be the beneficiary. The late-running gelding has won three consecutive races in New York for owner/trainer Charlton Bakeer. Jerry Durant's Holy Boss (Street Boss) has run numerous races that make him competitive with this group, but has yet to break through at the highest level. The Steve Asmussen trainee completed the exacta behind A. P. Indian in the Vanderbilt–his first start with blinkers–and has trained steadily at Saratoga over the past two months.
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