J P's Gusto to begin stud career at Florida's Journeyman

J P's Gusto, a Grade 1-winning juvenile and top three-year-old sprinter, has

retired to Brent and Crystal Fernung's Journeyman Stud near Ocala, Florida, and

will stand his first season in 2012.

By champion sire Successful Appeal, J P's Gusto was one of the top

two-year-olds in the country in 2010, reeling off four consecutive stakes

victories. Based in California, he broke his maiden in the Willard L. Proctor

Memorial Stakes at Hollywood before winning the Grade 3 Hollywood Juvenile

Championship, the Grade 2 Best Pal and the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. J P's Gusto

also showed his quality by stretching out around two turns with a pair of game

runner-up finishes at 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 1 Norfolk and the Grade 1

CashCall Futurity.

As a three-year-old, J P's Gusto was a troubled second behind Grade 1 winner

Archarcharch in the Grade 3 Southwest. He reverted to sprinting in June to win

the Red Legend Stakes by a decisive 6 3/4 lengths, stamping himself as one of

the fastest three-year-old sprinters in North America.

J P's Gusto was being pointed for the Grade 1 King's Bishop at Saratoga

before sustaining a career-ending injury while training up to the race. He

retires with an impressive record of five stakes wins from six starts at sprint

distances, and owns three runner-up finishes in graded stakes around two turns.

As a two-year-old, J P's Gusto was weighted sixth highest on the 2010

Experimental Free Handicap at 120 pounds.

"J P's Gusto represents the quality we're always looking to get down here to

Journeyman, so we're thrilled to have him," Brent Fernung said. "He was a great

two-year-old and a top-class racehorse to the day he retired. On top of the

ability, his pedigree makes him a natural for Florida. Successful Appeal was a

fast Florida-bred and has turned out to be one of the top juvenile sires in the

world."   

Owned and campaigned by Gem Inc., J P's Gusto hails from the multiple

stakes-winning Caller I.D. mare Call Her Magic, who is a half-sister to the dam

of champion Proud Spell.

A earner of $811,760 lifetime from a 12-5-3-0 mark, J P's Gusto joins a

current roster of 13 stallions at Journeyman Stud, which was the Sunshine

State's leading stud farm in 2011 by mares bred. Stud fees for all Journeyman

stallions will be released soon.