Gayego, winner of the 2009 Mahab Al Shimaal (G3) on Super Thursday, will return to stakes company for the first time since his second in the 2009 Godolphin Mile (G2). Sunday’s Ancient Title Stakes (G1) will be the setting as Gayego’s performance will dictate where Godolphin sends him for the Breeders’ Cup – Sprint or Dirt Mile.
The winner of an allowance race on the undercard of the 2008 Breeders’ Cup program at Santa Anita, it is clear the son of Gilded Time can get over the Pro-Ride surface that will, once again, host North America’s richest weekend of racing. Garrett Gomez will ride Gayego, who will face a field of nine others in what is traditionally used as a prep for just the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). Top California sprinter Zensational is not part of the field as he will most likely be trained up to the race for Bob Baffert.
Gayego made his first start following a winter in Dubai when he aired at Saratoga in an allowance race this August.