Three-Bagger Saturdays turn into four
Sept. 3: After enjoying a series of three-bagger Saturdays, Pleasant Acres stallions struck for a home run that included three maiden-breakers – at Monmouth Park, Delaware Park and Gulfstream.
MONMOUTH: Handsome Playboy kicked off the afternoon in the first race at 12:19, breaking his maiden in his career debut for owners/breeders Gerald and Mary Bennett and giving Handsome Mike his first 2-year-old winner of 2022.
Samy Camacho was aboard the colt in a $53,900 maiden special contested at one mile over the turf course. Handsome Playboy was away well from the rail and took up a good position in third place on the inside. He slipped through on the turn and swung out to mid-track for the stretch run, as announcer Frank Mirahmadi chimed in with, “Handsome Mike storms to the front and opens up with authority . . . Handsome Mike will get his picture taken.” The margin of victory was four lengths and the colt paid $12.20, while collecting a check of $33,000 for the Bennetts.
DELAWARE: A little more than an hour later, Handsome Mike 3-year-old Better Call Mama broke her maiden in her seventh start, with a clocking of :52.46 for the ‘about’ five furlongs on the grass popping up on the tote board at the end of the race, which she won by two lengths with a powerful closing kick. But it turned out to be an error of some kind with the teletimer and what would have been a course record was erased. The Equibase chart wound up minus fractions or a final time.
The filly bred by Jeanne Clermont earned $25,200 in the $42,000 maiden special, raising her total to $48,284. She paid $2.80 as the prohibitive favorite.
GULFSTREAM: Rough Enough was the third maiden-breaker of the day, winning in her 19th start for owner/breeder/trainer Gerald James and collecting a check for $11,600. The 3-year-old Gone Astray filly paid $7.80, scoring by 1 1/2 lengths under Jose Morelos with a mile and 70 yards over the Tapeta surface in 1:44.18. Rough Enough was 0-1-4 for 16 tries before Morelos came on board and guided her to a first, second and third in her last three races.
A week before his name was scheduled to come up on the monthly calendar, Septemberten scored his first victory of the year, and boosted his career record to 5-7-10 in 39 tries. The 6-year-old Gone Astray gelding earned a check for $15,400 and increased his career total to $226,575. The $3,500 OBS October yearling was bred by OBS employee Randell Edwards and his wife, Lucy, and all Septemberten’s races have come in South Florida, making for a healthy breeders’ awards haul. The gelding won by 6 1/2 lengths in 1:23.31 for the seven furlongs, receiving an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 104, his best ever.
Gone Astray now has 34 winners in 2022.