Bernie Dickman

Neolithic’s 11th winner of 2023, Prevent, is eligible to be included in the ranks of ‘rising stars’ after his victory in a $59,000 maiden special at Gulfstream Park in only his second start.

After finishing second in his May 5 debut, the 2-year-old colt bred by Katia Perez Ozuna stepped it up in his second try at five furlongs over the Tapeta surface under Leonel Reyes. Prevent battled head-and-head for the lead through a :21.91 quarter, then proved best over a pair of rivals in the stretch to win by a comfortable 1 1/4 lengths in a clocking of :57.55. The $15,000 OBS January 2-year-old paid $6.20 and collected a check for $43,000, raising his two-race total to $55,800.

R Averie Lynn returned to Delaware Park Wednesday and showed that her sharp performance there last summer was no fluke.

In a five-race span in mid-2022, the now 5-year-old daughter of Gone Astray was at her peak, winning three times and adding a second. In her latest effort, a $22,000 starter allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs, Daniel Centeno shot her to the lead at the break and she was never in danger through fractions of :22.49 and :47.09, winding up 4 1/2 lengths in front at the wire, clocked in 1:06.73.

The $25,000 OBS July 2-year-old bred by Dancing Wind Stables is Gone Astray’s 17th winner this year; she paid $8.80 and earned a check for $13,200. That raised her total to a healthy $179,586 on a record of 7-12-3 in 33 starts.

Gone Astray’s 15th winner of 2023 came at a venue far from his birthplace, at Assiniboia Downs in Western Canada.

Hard West, a rare 6-year-old still competing who is not a gelding, scored his ninth career victory during a successful six-race span in which he’s 2-2-1-1. With Antonio Whitehall in the irons, Hard West was off well in the race at five furlongs, made a three-wide run on the turn to take the lead into the stretch and held two rivals safe to win by nearly two lengths.

Bred by JDBA Stables, Hard West paid $4.30 after getting the distance in :59.55, and earned a check for $9,900 Canadian, $7,330 U. S. He’s 9-6-5 in 46 starts with a lifetime bankroll of $159,841.

Bucchero picked up winner No. 14 over the weekend when Free Smoke broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park in his fourth start as a 3-year-old.

The colt bred by Philip and Karen Matthews was a generous 4-1 with Angel Morales despite the fact that he had finished second in his previous two tries. With apprentice Morales in at a light 112 pounds, six less than each of Free Smoke’s five rivals, the son of Bucchero broke well behind the leaders in the five-furlong turf race, made a strong three-wide move on the turn and into the stretch, then outgamed the closers late to score by a neck in :56.46.

The $145,000 OBS April 2-year-old is 1-2-0 in his four starts, and the check for $30,700 lifted his bank account to $50,450.

Bucchero’s first stakes-placed runner of 2023 is the 2-year-old Mattingly, who finished a solid second at odds of 9-1 in the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, less than two months after he was purchased for $70,000 at the OBS March sale.

Mattingly broke sharply from the No. 8 post with Edgar Perez in the five-furlong turf race, and pushed pace-setter No Nay Mets through fractions of :21.98 and :45.44, but he was not able to threaten the leader in the stretch. In a clocking of :57.50, No Nay Mets was 3 1/2 lengths best, but Mattingly easily held the runner-up spot and collected a check for $21,120.

Neogem inserted a minor tweak into one of American race track announcers’ favorite stretch calls yesterday: the one that goes “from last to first.” In an 11-horse, $40,000 maiden optional claimer at Gulfstream Park, the 3-year-old filly by Neolithic went “from next-to-last to first” under Leonel Reyes.

Neogem gave the favorite players a scare when she walked out of the gate in the one-mile race on the turf. The filly owned and bred by Just For Fun Stables was still 10th after they crawled the first quarter in :25.08, but Reyes sent her 8-wide on the turn and she inhaled most of the field as they turned into the stretch, then ran over the leaders in the last 100 yards to win by nearly two lengths.

Neogem paid $4.40 and became winner No. 9 for Neolithic this year while collecting a check for $24,400, raising her total to $50,670 on a record of 1-3-0 in five starts.

The eighth race at Gulfstream Park yesterday was an all-Joe Orseno affair from start to finish. The veteran trainer’s Beauty of the Sea went wire-to-wire in the $40,000 maiden optional claimer at five furlongs over the turf course, and stablemate Dan’s Candi Gold was second for the entire trip.

Beauty of the Sea is a 3-year-old filly by Bucchero and became the stallion’s 13th winner of 2023 in just her third start. Edgar Perez was aboard the filly bred by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds who won by a length and earned a check for $24,400, upping her total to $33,160. She was clocked in :57.08 and paid $7.

In his excellent freshman season last year, Bucchero wound up with 14 winners, $$638,575 in progeny earnings, and in 24th place on Florida’s leading sire list. Only four months into 2023, it’s evident the son of Kantharos is going to dwarf his first-year statistics.

Bucchero already has 12 winners to his credit this season, and with Ms. Bucchero’s second straight victory at Parx Racing yesterday, in a $48,458 allowance optional claimer, his progeny earnings jumped to $508,771, putting him sixth on the Florida list.

Carol Cedeno was aboard the 3-year-old filly, who went head-and-head for the lead in the two path in a quarter of :22.53. She edged away from the pack in the run to the half, and the filly bred by Pamela Edel widened her lead to 3 1/4 lengths at the wire, clocked in 1:14.18 for the six furlongs. She paid $5, boosted her record to 2-1-0 in three starts, and the winner’s check of $25,200 shot her earnings up to $52,360.

To add to Bucchero’s good start to season No. 2 is the fact that he has 88 registered 2-year-old foals.

At the age of 59, Jose Ferrer enjoyed a memorable weekend at Tampa Bay Downs, winning on his last five mounts – four of them on Sunday – including a perfect maiden-breaking trip in a $25,000 claimer with Big Bucksalot, a 3-year-old Neolithic gelding.

Big Bucksalot was away sixth in mid-track down the backstretch in the race at six furlongs, and Ferrer didn’t waste any time going after the leaders before the field reached the turn. The gelding bred by Julie Jackson looped the field while three wide heading into the stretch, reached the lead at the eighth pole, and drew off to score by 4 1/4 lengths without opposition.

Big Bucksalot is Neolithic’s fourth winner of 2023; he was clocked in 1:12.23 and paid $10.20, while earning a check for $9,980. He won in his fourth start and helped Ferrer take over second place in the Tampa jockeys’ standings heading into the final week of racing.

No Never No More’s first winner of 2023 is Jomama Sassy, a 3-year-old filly bred in Minnesota by owner Eric Berg who broke her maiden in her sixth start.

Scott Bethke was aboard for the 4-furlong test at Fonner Park, and Jomama Sassy only had to face three rivals. She went out for the lead, battled on the front end for a quarter, then edged away and won by a length, clocked in :48.20. She paid $21.60 and earned a meager check for $2,940.