Awesome Banner kicked off 2016 with a dominating victory in the $100,000 Hutcheson S. (G3) Saturday at Gulfstream Park, rolling by 4 ¾-lengths in what was just the 3-year-old son of Awesome of Course’s second lifetime start.

Off since setting a 4 ½-furlong track record in his 9 ¾-length maiden special weight debut, also at Gulfstream, last June, Awesome Banner looked just as good on Saturday. Hustling out the gate, Awesome Banner got plenty of company while he set fractions of :22.10 for the quarter and :44.87 for the half-mile. 

With a little nudge from Jose Caraballo at the top of the stretch, Awesome Banner powered away from the field and was hand-ridden in deep stretch to finish the six furlongs in a very quick 1:09.57.

“This is a brilliant colt. I think he’s going to have a long career ahead of him,” Caraballo said. “He is very smart, a smart horse. Anything you ask him to do, he’ll do. I think he’ll go longer. He’s a fast horse, but he’s not a speed horse, a crazy horse. He’s very relaxed. The few times I’ve got on him he’s been very sensible, very smart. Nothing bothers him.”

Awesome Banner was bred by his owner Jacks or Better Farm and upped his record to two-for-two, with earnings of $92,260. The Florida-bred colt is a half-brother to the stakes-placed Standard Deal. 

Trainer Stanley Gold said the colt would be considered for Gulfstream’s Florida Derby series of prep races during this winter’s meet.

Awesome of Course was the sire of some 30 winners in 2015, winning with 50% of his starters. His 4.01 APEX A-Runner Index ranks above top sires such as War Front, Galileo and Tapit. He is standing the 2016 season at Ocala Stud for $5,000, live foal stands and nurses.