Turf News

Slick handicappers are always quick to judge a trainer whose first-time starter pays off handsomely for a sharp victory after posting a series of mediocre morning trials.

That scenario played out in spades in Gulfstream’s 11th race Saturday, when trainer George Weaver struck with Devil’s Only Friend, a first-timer who gave Long On Value victory No. 3 of 2023, and paid $44.60 in so doing.

The 3-year-old gelding bred by Bulldog Racing had seven Palm Beach Downs works listed, none of them of the kind that would make someone sit up and take notice. But Kevin Krigger sent Devil’s Only Friend to the lead and they battled up front through six furlongs in a quick 1:09.81 before the gelding shook clear in upper stretch and won by nearly two lengths, getting 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass in 1:28.66, less than two seconds off the course record.

The $35,000 OBS March 2-year-old earned $26,800 and a solid Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 84.

Poiema returned from a vacation of more than three months yesterday and was reunited with former jockey Eddie Perez in the seventh race at Gulfstream Park; Perez took her wire-to-wire in a $51,000 allowance optional claimer at seven furlongs.

The 4-year-old filly broke on top, and never had a breather as she passed the furlong markers in :22.87, :45.70 and 1:10.34. She crossed under the wire three-quarters of a length in front clocked in 1:23.41, collecting a check for $31,300. Poiema raised her record to 4-3-2 in 18 starts and her earnings to $180,735, becoming winner No. 6 for Neolithic this year.

The $14,000 OBS June 2-year-old bred by Cheryl and James McGuire paid $8.60 and received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 89. She’s her sire’s third highest earner and first to reach four victories.

It was just nine days ago that an all-Pleasant Acres exacta (Chalcolithic, by Neolithic; Bella Facia, by Long On Value) paid $229 for $2 at Tampa Bay Downs. In the third race at Gulfstream Park yesterday, Pleasant Acres stallions struck again, this time with a pair of Long On Value fillies.

The two 3-year-olds, Oopsie Doopsie and Constitutionalist, jumped out of the gate first and second in the race at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Tapeta track. Oopsie Doopsie, ridden by Edgard Zayas and owned and bred by George Kerr, put up fractions of :23.26, :46.72 and :58.61, and continued on an easy lead for the entire trip, with Constitutionalist not far behind. Oopsie Doopsie, won it by 3 1/4 lengths and the Long On Value $2 exacta paid $81.80.

In her first five starts on dirt and turf, Oopsie Doopsie had posted one second and a third, and this was her first try over the all-weather track. She earned $14,700, paid $13, and reached the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.57, giving her sire his second winner this year.

Amira’s Prince began yesterday having just two winners since Jan. 1, but in the space of 61 minutes at Tampa Bay Downs, doubled the number to four.

3rd race: Wrecking Ball, a 3-year-old gelding bred by Martin and Emily Goodell who didn’t start at two, broke his maiden under Samuel Marin in his third try in a $32,000 claimer at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Marin had Wrecking Ball coasting in third place on the rail and under a stranglehold down the backstretch, let him out on the turn, sent him after favored Whiskeymac for the stretch run and they blew by the even-money shot to score by 1 1/4 lengths.

Wrecking Ball earned $9,850 for his first victory, achieved in 1:44.26, and received his best speed figure – a 77 – from Equibase.

5th race: Night Jumper, a 3-year-old gelding making his first start of 2023, scored his fourth career victory in a field of six going one mile on the grass. In one of the rare occurrences in racing, Night Jumper led the finishers home in the exact order of their odds. The gelding owned and bred by Darsan Inc. was sent off at $2.10-1, followed by the second horse at $2.40-1, the third at $2.50-1. the fourth at $3.80-1, the fifth at $9.80-1 and the trailer at $47.90-1.

Night Jumper raced the mile in 1:35.62 with Samy Camacho, won by half a length and earned a check for $17,050, increasing his total to $125,372 on a record of 4-1-0 in 11 starts.

Bucchero’s initial 2-year-old crop of last year wound up getting him 14 winners, along with progeny earnings of $638,575. After Thorn Crown’s maiden-breaking victory at Oaklawn Park yesterday, the son of Kantharos already has 10 winners and earnings of $401,561 in the first 89 days of 2023.

After four unsuccessful tries using three different riders, trainer Steve Asmussen opted for his 24-year-old son, Keith, to try to turn it around in yesterday’s 5 1/2-furlong test in Arkansas. Keith rushed his filly out quickly to battle for the top, and after a quarter in :22.78, she took a slight lead into the stretch and continued on for a neck victory over 4/5 Street Painter in 1:06.20.

Thorn Crown, a $25,000 OBS March 2-year-old, paid $7.60 and earned a check for $15,600.

In her first seven races, which were run over a span of four seasons, the best Princess Tereska could muster up was a lone second and a third. Prior to the eighth race at Tampa Bay Downs yesterday, the daughter of Gone Astray hadn’t seen action for a year and six days.

When the 6-year-old mare bred by Dancing Wind Stables made her return, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if she went off at 20-1 or higher. Yet, with just three recent ho-hum morning trials listed at the Nelson Jones Training Center in Ocala, Princess Tereska went to the post at just 6-1. She more than validated the heavy action.

With Mario Fuentes in the saddle, Princess Tereska took back to sixth heading down the backstretch in the race at six furlongs. She then made a strong run on the turn, was up to second at the top of the stretch, caught 9/2 Feel Like Guessing in the last 100 yards, and sprinted away to a nearly three-length victory in 1:12.40. She earned $7,850, paid $14.40 and gave Gone Astray his 11th winner this year.

A pair of 3-year-olds with widely different resumes were victorious on Sunday, giving Bucchero his eighth and ninth winners of 2023, while moving him up to sixth place on this season’s Florida general sire list, and raising his progeny earnings for a little more than one year to $1,005,496.

Ms. Bucchero – Winner of the final race on the Tampa Bay Downs Florida Cup Day program, the filly bred by Pamela Edel had finished a creditable second in her career debut with Jose Batista aboard just 15 days earlier. In her maiden–breaker, again under Batista and at odds of 6/5, Ms. Bucchero sizzled on the lead in :22.04, :44.70 and :56.85, reaching the wire four lengths in front in and putting an eye-catching 1:09.58 on the teletimer. It was worth $19,760.

Toddchero – Bucchero’s leading money-winner also went wire-to-wire, this one at Sam Houston in Texas, and collected a check for $21,360. The twice stakes-placed colt bred by GDS Racing Stable, a $77,000 OBS April purchase, raised his bank account to $120,020 on a record of 2-2-4 in 10 starts. He won by half a length under Lane Luzzi, getting a mile in 1:38.93, and paid $11.40.

Heading down the backstretch in yesterday’s third race at Tampa Bay Downs, 6/5 favorite She’s So Bearish was controlling the pace after setting early fractions of :23.27 and :47.52. Chalcolithic, a 3-year-old filly by Neolithic ridden by unknown Cecily Evans, and Bella Faccia, a Long On Value filly with veteran Marcos Meneses in the saddle, were firmly ensconced less than a length apart, trading seventh and eighth places on the turf course.

On the turn, Evans put Chalcolithic into high gear with a wide swing to the outside, while Meneses first attempted to find a hole on the inside with Bella Faccia, but failing to do so, took off after Chalcolithic. In mid-stretch, the favorite was gasping, and announcer Jason Beem chimed in with “Chalcolithic is kicking in nicely down the outside . . . Bella Faccia is also starting to roll.”

They ‘kicked in’ and ‘rolled’ to a 1-2 finish, getting the mile on the grass in 1:40.30, with the favorite 4 1/4 lengths back in third. The Neolithic-Long On Value $2 Pleasant Acres exacta paid a juicy $229.

In breaking her maiden in her fourth start, Chalcolithic paid $20.60, becoming Neolithic’s fifth winner this year, and the first in just three Tampa tries for Cecily Evans, who looked nothing like a rider whose entire 2022 resume reads “12-2-2-0.” Chalcolithic may have bought her an increase in business.

Cosmic Speculation became Bucchero’s first two-time winner of 2023 yesterday with a wire-to-wire performance under Jose Ortiz in a $39,000 starter optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park.

In the 3-year-old gelding’s prior start on Feb. 17, Ortiz had guided Cosmic Speculation to a maiden-breaking wire-to–wire effort at 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass in which he achieved his best Equibase ‘E’ speed figure – an 80, and paid $30.20. Ortiz went one better this time, lulling his rivals to sleep through moderate fractions of :23.02, :47.94 and 1:11.52 and getting Cosmic Speculation home by half a length in the race at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, this time with another career best ‘E’ figure of 81.

Cosmic Speculation, bred by Jennifer and Gillian Johnson, paid $13 and earned a check for $23,800, raising his five-race total to $64,300. He’s Bucchero’s leading money-winner so far this season with $55,000 in the bank, and lifted his sire’s progeny earnings for a little more than one season to within $47,000 of $1 million.

In his last race at Gulfstream Park, Neophyte made a strong late run under Sonny Leon only to fall half a length short at the wire in a race at five furlongs over the Tapeta track. In the third race yesterday, the 4-year-old Neolithic gelding turned in the same kind of effort, but this time – at 5 1/2 furlongs – he was able to get up to score by half a length.

Down the backstretch, Leon moved Neophyte off the rail and sent him seven wide turning into the stretch. The gelding bred by SCF Farm did the rest, blowing by the frontrunners and holding off one closer as they approached the wire. He was clocked in 1:03.86.

The consistent Neophyte paid $6.40, while raising his record to 2-2-4 in 13 starts and his earnings to $76,440, and becoming Neolithic’s fourth winner this year.

At about the same time that Neolithic was up at the wire in winning the third at Gulfstream, Our Fantasy was destroying the field in the third at Tampa Bay Downs.

The 6-year-old mare by Amira’s Prince collected $8,150 for her seventh career victory, boosting her record to 7-8-8 in 35 starts and her bank account to $247,364. Sam Marin had her in a stalking position down the backstretch, and when he moved her on the turn she exploded down the lane and ran away by 11 widening lengths, paying $4.20 and racing seven furlongs in a sharp 1:23.48.

Our Fantasy, a $50,000 OBS April 2-year-old bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon, has finished worse than fourth just once in her last 13 starts.