Gufo

Gufo, a Declaration of War colt owned by Otter Bend Stables and trained by Christophe Clement, finished third in his career debut in November 2019 and won his second start by a nose in late December at Gulfstream Park. He remained at Gulfstream through their winter meet and into the spring, racking up two more victories.

The last of those came in the listed English Channel Stakes on May 2, giving his connections confidence to try the July 4 Grade 3 Kent Stakes at Delaware Park for his next start. Sent off as the 3-5 favorite, Gufo got off to a poor start under Trevor McCarthy but recovered to stalk the pace before powering through the stretch en route to a half-length victory, his fourth in a row. 

Gufo ran second by a head Aug. 15 in the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes. He regained his winning form Oct. 5 in the Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes as he rallied from sixth to prevail by a length and punch his expenses-paid ticket to the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf via the "Win and You're In" Challange Series.