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In This Issue:
Ce Ce Ventures East for Princess Rooney Happy Saver and Mystic Guide Renew Rivalry in G2 Suburban Accomplished Field Gives Graded-Stakes Feel to Saturday’s Perfect Sting Chance It ‘Dressed Up and Ready’ for Saturday’s 200k Smile Mandatory Rainbow 6 Payout Scheduled for July 4 Holiday Program Florida-bred Medina Spirit/COADY PHOTO Gulfstream Park Charts Tampa Bay Charts Medina Spirit, Rombauer Track Results & Entries Florida Stallion Progeny List Head Haskell Nominations Florida Breeders’ List BY MONMOUTH PARK Medina Spirit, trained by Bob Baffert, Wire to Wire Business Place PRESS OFFICE ______has not raced since winning the Kentucky Derby on May 1. Prior to the Derby, OCEANPORT, N.J. – Kentucky Derby pre- Medina Spirit was second to Rock Your Featured sented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1)- World in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winning Florida-bred Medina Spirit, (G1) and second to stablemate Life is Advertisers Preakness (G1)-winner Rombauer and the Good in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes, Big Lick runners-up from all three Triple Crown also at Santa Anita, on March 6. races top the list of 16 nominations to the Medina Spirit is owned by Amr Equistaff Inc. $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1) Zendan’s Zendan Racing Stables and the Florida Department of Agriculture to be run July 17 at Monmouth Park, it was son of Protonico was bred by Gail Rice. announced Wednesday by racing secretary Baffert has won the Haskell a record FTBOA John Heims and stakes coordinator Dove nine times. FTFM Annual Charity Items Ward. Rombauer finished third behind winner and Services Auction The Haskell Stakes is a “Win And Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes You’re In” race for the Grade 1 Longines presented by NYRA Bets (G1) after Ocala Breeders’ Feed & Supply Breeders’ Cup Classic to be run Nov. 6 at pulling off a mild surprise in the Preakness Seminole Feed Del Mar. See HASKELL on page 3 Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 3 Haskell Continued from COVER by winning at odds of 11-1. Michael McCarthy trains the Kentucky-bred son of Twirling Candy. The connections of Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun, Preakness runner-up Midnight Bourbon and Belmont Stakes run- ner-up Hot Rod Charlie have all indicated they are strongly con- sidering the Haskell Stakes, as are the connections of Rombauer, according to Heims. Mandaloun prepped for Monmouth Park’s showcase event by winning the TVG.com Pegasus Stakes at the track on June 13. TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2)- winner Hot Rod Charlie, third in the Kentucky Derby, waged an epic stretch battle with Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes before grudgingly giving way late and finishing sec- ond. The Haskell Stakes, at a mile-and-an-eighth, headlines a card that includes the Grade 1 United Nations at a mile- and-three-eighths on the grass. The United Nations closed with 22 nominations. There are three other graded stakes races on the Haskell undercard. Rombauer/MATT WOOLEU / EQUISPORT PHOTO Florida-breds Make Florida Racing Did you know Florida-bred thoroughbreds won 31.5% of races run at the recent Gulfstream Park Championship Meet?
This demonstrates how vital Florida-breds are to the success of Gulfstream Park throughout the year—not just during the Spring/Summer season.
Additional good news for Florida breeders—66% of those Florida-bred winners during the Gulfstream Park Championship Meet were sired by Florida stallions. Florida-breds: Race ‘Em or Chase ‘Em!
Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 5 Ce Ce Ventures East for Princess Rooney
Ce Ce/COADY PHOTO GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS RELEASE______HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Trainer Michael McCarthy has sent Ce Ce on a cross-country journey to Gulfstream Park on a quest to snag the biggest prize of the Spring/Summer Meet in Saturday’s $350,000 Princess Rooney Invitational (G2). The Southern California-based trainer has a history of big-race success at the Hallandale Beach track, having claimed the Championship Meet’s richest event with City of Light’s score in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in 2019. “City of Light’s win in the Pegasus was a nice introduction to Gulfstream,” McCarthy said. “We came back to Gulfstream for the Pegasus this year with Independence Hall, who I thought ran a very good third. It’s a racetrack we’ve performed well at. We’re obviously expecting more of the same this weekend.” The Princess Rooney, a seven-furlong ‘Win and You’re In’ Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race for fillies and mares, will headline Saturday’s Summit of Speed program that will also fea- ture the $200,000 Smile Sprint Invitational (G3), a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up. Ce Ce, 3-1 in the morning-line in a field of eight fillies and mares in the Princess Rooney, is a two-time Grade 1 stakes win- ner. The 5-year-old daughter of Elusive Quality scored back-to- back victories in the Beholder Mile (G1) at Santa Anita and the Apple Blossom (G1) at Oaklawn last year. Although Bo Hirsch LLC’s home-bred mare’s greatest successes have achieved in two- turn races, McCarthy said he was confident that she was ready for Saturday’s one-turn challenge. “I thought the seven-eighths would be a wonderful distance for her. It looks like there might be some rain down there this week, and I think she might like a wet-fast racetrack,” said McCarthy, who had considered the mile-and-a-sixteenth Ogden Phipps (G1) on the June 5 Belmont Stakes (G1) undercard. Ce Ce concluded her 2021 campaign with a fifth-place finish behind Monomoy Girl following an extremely wide trip in the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Keeneland. The Kentucky-
See PRINCESS ROONEY on page 7
Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 7 Princess Rooney Continued from page 3 bred mare came back five-months later to capture a seven-furlong Gulfstream Park track, over which she will seek her third victory optional claiming allowance at Santa Anita by three-and-a-quarter and second stakes success. The Juan Arriagada-trained 4-year-old lengths. She went back to two-turns in the Santa Maria, in which daughter of Maclean’s Music was Grade 1 stakes-placed twice this she bobbled at the start and faded to fourth. year prior to her first graded-stakes win at Belmont. “She had a nice little break after the Breeders’ Cup – I thought Javier Castellano will return to South Florida, where his Hall of her race in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff was sneaky good,” said Fame career in the U.S. began in 1997, for the riding assignment McCarthy, a former long-time assistant to Todd Pletcher before on Estilo Talentoso, the 5-2 morning-line favorite. going on his own in 2014. “It was always our plan to give her some Gary Barber’s Laura’s Light (7-2), a Grade 2 stakes winner on time off. She’s come back good. These racetracks in California turf, will also represent Southern California in the Princess have gotten deeper and gotten looser. They don’t seem to suit her.” Rooney. The 4-year-old daughter of Constitution, who is trained Ce Ce arrived at Gulfstream Tuesday evening. McCarthy has by Peter Miller, is coming off a victory in the off-the-turf Ouija “deputized” Ralph Nicks to oversee her training and saddle her for Board Stakes at Lone Star Park. the Princess Rooney in his absence. Florent Geroux, who guided Gun Runner to a victory in the $16 Victor Espinoza, who rode American Pharoah for a sweep of million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in 2018, has the the 2015 Triple Crown, will venture from Southern California to mount. ride. e Five Racing Thoroughbreds’ Sound Machine (12-1), who fin- Gulfstream Park has also been a friendly venue for Holly Hill ished second behind Pacific Gale in the Hurricane Bertie and won Stables LLC’s Pacific Gale, who captured the Inside Information the seven-furlong Musical Romance for Florida-bred fillies and (G2) and Hurricane Bertie (G3) during the 2020-2021 mares last time out; and Windylea Farm LLC’s Thissmytime, who Championship Meet. The John Kimmel-trained daughter of Flat finished second behind Pacific Gale in the Inside Information, are Out is scheduled to return to Gulfstream from New York to regain among the most accomplished South Florida-based fillies and her winning form. The 6-year-old mare has finished third in the mares entered in the Princess Rooney. Vagrancy (G3) and fourth in the Bed o’ Roses (G3) at Belmont My Purple Haze Stables Inc’s Heiressall (20-1) and Al Rashid since leaving South Florida. Stables LLC’s Hallawallah (20-1) will be the other South Florida- Romero Maragh has the call on Pacific Gale (4-1). based Princess Rooney entrants. Medallion Racing and partners’ Estilo Talentoso, who captured Sound Machine, Thissmytime and Heiressall are eligible for a the June 4 Bed o’ Roses last time out, also has a fondness for the $25,000 ‘Win Only’ bonus available to Florida-breds.
Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 8
Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 9 Happy Saver and Mystic Guide Renew Rivalry in G2 Suburban
BY KEITH MCCALMONT, Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile-winner Battle of Midway. NYRA PRESS OFFICE ______The consistent bay, who sports a record of 12-4-4-2 with purse earnings of $304,150, launched his current campaign with an even Wertheimer and Frere homebred Happy Saver puts his unde- third in the Grade 2 Brooklyn presented by Northwell Health on feated record on the line in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Stakes Day. Suburban, a 10-furlong Last June, Moretti cap- test for 4-year-olds and up tured the 11-furlong Flat at Belmont Park. Out over a sloppy The 135th renewal of Belmont main track by the Suburban, which is a five-and-a-quarter lengths “Win and You’re In” qual- ahead of a distant second ifier to the Grade 1, $6 to Tacitus in last year’s million Breeders’ Cup Suburban. He completed Classic in November at 2020 with a length-and-a- Del Mar, will be televised half win in the 1 3/4-mile live on NBC as part of a Birdstone in August at show airing from 5 pm to Saratoga, a title Pletcher 6 pm Eastern. said Moretti will have a The Suburban will fea- chance to retain on August ture the one-two finishers 5. of October’s Grade 1 “The further the better Jockey Club Gold Cup for him,” said Pletcher. won by Happy Saver by “He ran OK in here last three-quarters of a length year and this would be a over Godolphin homebred nice bridge to the Mystic Guide, who enters Birdstone to try and from a win in the Group 1 defend his title there.” Dubai World Cup at Ortiz, Jr. retains the Meydan. Happy Saver/COGLIANESE PHOTO mount on Happy Saver A rail-riding Happy from post six, while Saver, with Irad Ortiz, Jr. up, tracked Tacitus from third position Flavien Prat picks up the mount on Moretti from the inside post. with Mystic Guide to his outside in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Mystic Guide, trained by Mike Stidham, will be making his contested over a fast Belmont main track. first appearance since capturing the Dubai World Cup on March Mystic Guide moved outside of the pacesetter late in the turn 27 at Meydan. as Happy Saver waited for racing room behind rivals that finally The Ghostzapper chestnut, out of the multiple Grade 1-winning emerged when Tacitus came off the rail on the turn for home. A.P. Indy mare Music Note, made the grade in the Grade 2 Jim Mystic Guide put a nose in front inside the final eighth, but Happy Dandy in September at Saratoga ahead of his runner-up effort to Saver squeezed up the rail to secure the win. Suburban rival Happy Saver in the Jockey Club Gold Cup to close Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Happy Saver won four out his sophomore season. starts in his sophomore season, including the Federico Tesio in Mystic Guide, who has paired with Belmont Stakes-winning September at Laurel Park. The Super Saver chestnut launched his rider Luis Saez for his two starts this season, opened his current 4-year-old campaign on May 28 with a one-length score in an campaign in impressive fashion with a six-length win in the Grade optional-claiming mile on Big Sandy. 3 Razorback Handicap on a sloppy track on February 27 at Pletcher said Happy Saver, who worked a half-mile in :49.26 Oaklawn Park, garnering a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure. seconds Sunday on the Belmont dirt training track, has returned “Obviously, we don’t really know how much the sloppy track bigger and better as a 4-year-old. played into that number,” said Stidham. “He came back in the “I think as an older horse he’s a little more laid back in some of Dubai World Cup and made the number look like it was real, his works. He always performs well and he’s really filled out and which was good. We’ve given him plenty of time and he’s had matured,” said Pletcher, who won the 2017 Suburban with Keen Ice. three months since that race to bounce back. Looking at him train Pletcher said the stretch out in distance will suit Happy Saver. and his weight and his coat, he’s an absolute picture right now.” “For the way he ran in the Jockey Club Gold Cup last year, he’s Stidham said Mystic Guide will need to improve to turn the proven he likes that distance and that race looks even stronger now tables on Happy Saver. with what Mystic Guide has done,” said Pletcher. “He needs to be faster. The bottom line is that they’re both very Pletcher will also saddle Repole Stable and Eclipse good horses,” said Stidham. “I’m not taking anything for granted. Thoroughbred Partners’ Moretti. I know Happy Saver has never been beaten and it won’t be an easy A 5-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro, out of the Grade 1-win- race for us. I just hope we have the best horse.” ning Concerto mare Rigoletta, Moretti is a half-brother to 2017 See SUBURBAN on page 10
Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 10 Suburban Continued from page 9 Bond switched the bay to dirt for his last seven efforts. Stidham said Saez, who will pilot Mystic Guide from post four, The versatile Prioritize ran third in the Grade 1 Woodward could be a difference maker on Saturday. Handicap in September at Saratoga ahead of a fourth in the Jockey “Luis has ridden him in both races this year and he has a Club Gold Cup to close out his campaign. tremendous amount of confi- Joel Rosario retains the dence in the horse and that will mount from post three. play a big part,” said Stidham. George E. Hall and “I couldn’t ask to have a more SportBLX Thoroughbreds’ Max talented rider on him. We have Player, trained by Hall of Famer things set up for as good an Steve Asmussen, is in search of effort as he’s ready for.” his first win since capturing the Informative, trained by Grade 3 Withers on Feb. 1, 2020 Uriah St. Lewis for his family’s at Aqueduct Racetrack. Trin-Brook Stables, enters The 4-year-old Honor Code from a last-to-first score in the colt ran third in both the Grade 1 Grade 3 Salvator Mile at odds Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 of 79-1 on June 12 at Runhappy Travers following his Monmouth Park. Withers win for former condi- The 4-year-old Bodemeister tioner Linda Rice. chestnut has racked up 25 Transferred to Asmussen for career starts with three wins a fall campaign, Max Player fin- and three seconds, and picked ished fifth in both the Grade 1 up his first graded black type Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 last out when besting Ny Preakness in a Triple Crown Traffic by one-length, garner- campaign schedule which was ing a career-best 99 Beyer. readjusted due to the COVID-19 Manny Franco has the call Mystic Guide/COADY PHOTO pandemic. from post two. Max Player opened his sea- William L. Clifton, Jr.’s multiple graded stakes placed son with an off-the-board effort in the Group 1 Saudi Cup at King Prioritize, a 6-year-old Tizway gelding, finished a closing fifth last Abdulaziz Racecourse in February and ran sixth last out in the out in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on May 14 at Pimlico Race Pimlico Special. Course. Ricardo Santana, Jr. has the call from post five. Prioritize made his first nine starts on turf, including a third in The Suburban is carded as the closing race on Saturday’s 10- the 2018 Grade 2 Hill Prince at Belmont, before trainer Jimmy race program. First post is 1 pm Eastern. Gulfstream Park Spring/Summer Florida-bred and Florida Sire Stakes Races and Bonuses Date Race Conditions Distance Purse July 3 Princess Rooney Invitational (G2) 3yo and older, fillies and mares 7 fur. $350,000** Invite July 3 Smile Sprint Invitational (G3) 3yo and older 6 fur. $200,000** Invite July 4 Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint 3yo and older 5 fur. turf $75,000** June 20 July 31 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Dr. Fager 2yo colts and geldings 6 fur. $100,000 Closed July 31 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Desert Vixen 2yo fillies 6 fur. $100,000 Closed Aug. 14 Benny the Bull (Fla.) 3yo and older 7 fur. $75,000* Aug. 1 Aug. 21 Proud Man 2yo 7 ½ fur. turf $75,000** Aug. 8 Aug. 21 Sharp Susan 2yo fillies 7 ½ fur. turf $75,000** Aug. 8 Aug. 28 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Affirmed 2yo colt and geldings 7 fur. $200,000 Closed Aug. 28 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Susan's Girl 2yo fillies 7 fur. $200,000 Closed Sept. 11 Sheer Drama (Fla.) 3yo and older, fillies and mares 7 fur. $75,000* Aug. 29 Sept. 18 Armed Forces 2yo 1 mi. turf $100,000** Sept. 5 Sept. 18 Our Dear Peggy 2yo fillies 1 mi. turf $100,000** Sept. 5 Sept. 25 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes In Reality 2yo colts and gelding 1 1/16 mi. $400,000 Closed Sept. 25 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes My Dear Girl 2yo fillies 1 1/16 mi. $400,000 Closed Sept. 25 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Wildcat Heir 3yo and older 1 mi. $125,000 Closed Sept. 25 Hollywood Beach 2yo 5 fur. turf $100,000** Sept. 12 (Fla.) = Restricted to Florida-breds * Plus $25,000 Florida Sire Stakes Win Bonus ** Plus $25,000 Florida-bred Win Bonus
Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top
Page 11 Accomplished Field Gives Graded-Stakes Feel to Saturday’s Perfect Sting BY BRIAN BOHL, NYRA PRESS OFFICE ______Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Owned by Jay Oringer, Jack Bick, Al Bianchi Racing, Adam Multiple graded stakes-winners will comprise an accomplished Bayroff and Mike Maturo, Piedi Bianchi, whose experience at field in Saturday’s $100,000 Perfect Sting for fillies and mares 4- Belmont includes a third-place finish in the 2020 Grade 2 Ruffian years-old and up competing at one mile on the Widener turf course on Big Sandy, put in a strong breeze going five furlongs in 1:01.55 at Belmont Park. on June 20 over the Belmont The Perfect Sting is one inner turf. Trainer Carlos of two stakes on the Saturday Martin said her workout sus- card, including the Grade 2, tained her progress after $400,000 Suburban earning an 86 Beyer for her Handicap that is a “Win and Intercontinental effort. You’re In” qualifier to the “She showed another Grade 1, $6 million dimension last time and ran Breeders’ Cup Classic in her best turf race. She really November at Del Mar. ran a terrific race,” Martin While the eighth edition said. “We only got beat by of the Perfect Sting is not Change of Control, who is graded, the resume of the one of the better turf fillies participants provides a big- out there. She’s keeping the race pedigree, highlighted by momentum and I’m opti- Juddmonte’s Grade 1-winner mistic. We’ll see. It just came Viadera. up a very tough race for a The Chad Brown trainee listed stakes. This looks like will be making her 5-year- a Grade 2 field.” old debut after capping 2020 Piedi Bianchi, who won with three consecutive stakes Viadera/BENOIT PHOTO her first stakes in the Frances scores by slim margins, start- Slocum in 2018 before ing with a win by a neck in the one-mile De La Rose in July at adding wins last year in the Correction at Aqueduct Racetrack and Saratoga Race Course in her second North American start. another in the 2020 edition of the Frances Slocum at Indiana The British-bred daughter of Bated Breath posted another vic- Grand Race Course, will be seeking her first turf win in five starts. tory by a neck in the Grade 3 Noble Damsel going one mile on the The Overanalyze grey will break from post four under Flavien Belmont turf in September and concluded her successful year by Prat. edging Blowout by a nose in the Grade 1 Matriarch going one mile Augustin Stable’s Honey Cake, an Irish-bred daughter of in November at Del Mar, earning a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Siyouni who last raced in November when winning the seven-fur- Figure. long Prix Ceres at the Fontainebleau in France, will make her first Viadera, who has been training at Saratoga leading into the start in the United States. Perfect Sting, won three of her first nine starts in Ireland and Great Transferred into the care of Jonathan Thomas, the 4-year-old Britain before being shipped to the United States and transferred Honey Cake has been breezing at Belmont, including a five-fur- to Brown’s care. long work in 1:01.80 on the inner turf Sunday. Joel Rosario will ride from post nine. Honey Cake will look to return off a seven-month layoff and Susan and John Moore’s Princess Grace also will be making show the form that led to four wins in eight starts in France to her seasonal bow off graded-stakes success, with the 4-year-old begin her career. Karakontie filly concluding her sophomore year with a two-and- “She came with a nice resume,” Thomas said. “We’re just hop- three-quarter length win in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere moved off the ing to pick up where it left off. She’s a beautiful filly and seems to turf in November at Churchill Downs. have a lot of class and had some good works on the turf. She’s Princess Grace has won three of her four starts, getting her pic- shown a very nice turn-of-foot.” ture taken in her first two outings before earning a personal-best Manny Franco will ride from the inside post. 88 Beyer for a runner-up effort in her stakes debut when she fin- Team Valor Racing and Everything’s Cricket Racing’s Madita, ished just a half-length back to Stunning Sky in the mile-and-a- the runner-up in the One Dreamer in September at Kentucky sixteenth Grade 3 Valley View in October at Keeneland. Downs, will make her first start in more than eight months for “She’s a small, feminine looking filly but she runs huge in her trainer Arnaud Delacour, drawing post seven with Hall of Famer races and everything she does is game and all heart,” Stidham said. John Velazquez in the irons. The German-bred Madita, making her “Those kind don’t have to be big and powerful, they just have what 6-year-old bow, will be looking for her second win in seven starts it takes inside and she seems to have that.” since arriving from her native country in 2019. Luis Saez will have the call from post three. Rounding out the field are Hogans Holiday [post two, Irad Piedi Bianchi has won three stakes on dirt but earned black Ortiz, Jr.] and Sunset Kiss [post six, Jose Lezcano]. Truth Hurts type going seven furlongs on the turf last out, finishing just a and Velvet Crush are entered for the main-track only. length-and-a-half back to Change of Control in a strong runner-up The Perfect Sting is carded as race nine on Saturday’s 10-race finish in the Grade 3 Intercontinental on June 3 as part of the program. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.
Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 12 Chance It ‘Dressed Up and Ready’ for Saturday’s 200k Smile HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – place finish in the Twin It’s been a long wait. Spires Turf Sprint in May, But 18 months after the son of Lookin At Lucky branding himself as a prom- won the $50,000 ising 3-year-old, and 15 Hollywood Lakes in June months after going off as at Gulfstream. Diamond one of the favorites in the Oops has won six of 11 Tampa Bay Derby (G2), starts at Gulfstream and Shooting Star three of four at the dis- Thoroughbreds, LLC’s tance. Florent Geroux is Chance It appears ready to named to ride. establish himself as one of Trainer Kathy Ritvo has the country’s premier 4- entered three in the Smile year-olds in Saturday’s in Frosted Grace, Double $200,000 Smile Sprint Crown and Invitational (G3) at Ournationonparade. Gulfstream Park. Frosted Grace, a 5-year- “He’s all dressed up and old son of Mark Valeski, ready to go,” said Mary enters the Smile off a third- Lightner, managing partner Chance It/LAUREN KING PHOTO place finish May 15 in the of Shooting Star Maryland Sprint (G3) at Thoroughbreds. “We were looking for a big 3-year-old year for Pimlico. Earlier in the year Frosted Grace was second in the him. It didn’t happen. Now we’re looking for a big 4-year-old Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3) and second in the Sir Shackleton. year.” Double Crown’s victory over Chance It in May was his first start Florida-bred Chance It, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. and 3-1 in since finishing second in the Chick Lang Stakes (G3) at Pimlico the morning line, will need his best Saturday in the six-furlong in October. The son of Bourbon Courage finished third in last Smile when facing a field of eight that includes multiple Grade 2 year’s Smile behind Cool Arrow. Ournationonparade finished third winner Diamond Oops (5-2), 2020 Florida Derby (G1) runner-up behind Diamond Oops in the Hollywood Lakes last time out and Shivaree (15-1), and graded-stakes placed Double Crown (9-2) See CHANCE IT on page 13 and Frosted Grace (6-1). The Smile is one of two graded stakes races comprising Saturday’s Summit of Speed card highlighted by the $350,000 Princess Rooney (G2), a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” that Florida-breds has attracted multiple Grade 1 winner Ce Ce. One of the fastest 2-year-olds of 2019, Chance It won two- Make Florida Racing thirds of the Florida Sire Stakes – including the mile-and-a-six- Did you know Florida-bred thoroughbreds teenth $400,000 In Reality in September to wrap up his juvenile won 36.8% of races run at the recent Tampa season. The son of Currency Swap made his 3-year-old debut on Bay Downs season? Jan. 4, 2020 by winning the Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream. Two months later, Chance It went off the second choice at 5-2 in the Tampa Bay Derby and finished fifth. The colt would not return to the races for nearly 15 months. This demonstrates “He came out with a soft tissue injury from that race,” Lightner how vital Florida-breds said. “At three, he was certainly a stakes horse, but we felt he was are to the success of a graded-stakes horse. So, we decided to give him all the time he Tampa Bay Downs. needed.” Chance It prepped for the Smile May 23 when he finished sec- Additional good news for ond in an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream while making Florida breeders—72% of those his first start in 15 months. Florida-bred winners during the “We were happy with his race,” Lightner said. “We’re pretty Tampa Bay Meeting were sired competitive people so we would have liked to have won. But he by Florida stallions. really needed the race and the horse that beat him [Double Crown] is a good horse.” Chance It enters the Smile off two ‘bullet’ workouts. Edgard Florida-breds: Zayas is named to ride. Race ‘Em or The Patrick Biancone-trained 6-year-old Diamond Oops won the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill Downs and the Chase ‘Em! Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland (G2) last fall. After a fourth-
Wire to Wire July 2, 2021 Back to Top Page 13
Thursday Charts Chance It Continued from page 12 Click Here to View Entries for Gulfstream Park was fifth in last year’s Smile. Ritvo has named Javier Castellano ! "#" $%&' ( ! '! ")*+ #,-./* 01) 01) on Frosted Grace, Luca Panici on 2,/ 3- 3/& ' ( ! 4 ("4,5678" ,,-5),.* " # 2/9"7+"& Double Crown and Cristian Torres on Ournationonparade. :2.; *<$= 4,--*>7? .2-/*>+<? 6,/*+ ? 26*$ ? ,6*<<? ,@6*<<? A-6*<<? ,566*<<" ' )22 *=++$" @.)22*$$+<" ,.)22 *<=7 " B,-)22 * +" C.)22 *<7+" C0,56,A)22 Willy Boi (15-1), trained by Jeff *=" Engler, finished fourth in the !"#$ % &' ! Hollywood Lakes last time out. The " # $%&%'()$ ' * * + ,- ./01 2 Uncaptured colt had previously fin- 134.'5 ).6..7.) 2 *# *# )8%99 * ished fourth in the Chick Lang. Miles : )';4.)<. * " # = '%% Ahead (4-1) finished second in the # >&%7.'&%9%? * + # @)).A1 Hollywood Lakes for trainer Eddie 1.'5A?.) 2# 2B C= 0)&DD ! 0%9>))%) 2 2 '/9. Plesa Jr. Miles Ahead has won six races .5%A3. 2 :.))%E.5)< at Gulfstream and is four of six at the !"! #$%&' distance. () *+ ,-.+ /01 2 + ,-,3+ /- 4 Chance It, Shivaree and Willie Boi + "7 $"+ <"7 0! ! <"$ "7 are eligible for a $25,000 “Win Only” = (: ! D +" Bonus available to Florida-breds. * E + ) ( *<"= ! += ) ( *$>" * B! + ) ( *" ! ) +=<