Turf News

Anybody compiling a list – world-wide – of those who believe the number 13 carries with it an unlucky stigma, can’t include the backers of Indy Princess Koko.

The daughter of Amira’s Prince scored her third victory in 16 starts yesterday – December 13 – at Mahoning Valley. Her maiden-breaker had come at Belterra Park on May 13, and her second victory was posted at Thistledown – on October 13. There was also a third added at Thistledown on July 13.

Erik Barbaran was aboard Indy Princess Koko yesterday, and he brought the 4-year-old filly from last place in the six-horse field to a flying finish in the race at six furlongs. The Equibase chart has Indy Princess Koko 5 3/4 lengths behind as the field passed the first quarter in :23.32 seconds. But a closer look at the video shows the margin was at least 9 or 10 lengths. From there, the filly bred by Jeannine S. McGinn looked like Arazi winning the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, literally inhaling the field with a monster move turning for home, then cruising to a 7 1/4–length victory. She had won her other two by seven and 3 1/2, a combined total for the three of nearly 18 lengths.

Indy Princess Koko was clocked in 1:11.35, paid $11.20 and earned a check for $6,660.

Handsome Mike’s 29th winner of 2021 is Take to the Skies, a 4-year-old filly who broke her maiden at Tampa Bay Downs yesterday despite a layoff of nearly eight months.

Ridden by Wilmer Garcia, Take to the Skies was off well in the race at one mile on the turf, settling in third on the inside She went after the leaders coming to the final turn, and survived a battle to the wire, holding off two fast-closing rivals in deep stretch. The filly bred by Ross Thomas Russell paid $5.60 as favorite and earned a check for $8,470; she has been worse than fourth just once in seven races.

Handsome Mike has progeny earnings of nearly $1.1 million this year, and is the ninth-leading sire among all those who will stand in Florida in 2022.

Gone Astray’s impressive run since his arrival at Pleasant Acres continues unabated. The stallion by Gone West picked up his 50th winner of 2021 with the virtually wire-to-wire victory of 2-year-old Nameeomee, who made her career debut at Charles Town last evening and lit up the tote board to the tune of $56.60, $24.60 and $12.40.

Christian Hiraldo was aboard the strangely-named filly, who had just two mediocre workouts listed, making it a difficult wagering proposition for the betting public. Nameeomee jumped out quickly in the race at 4 1/2 furlongs, battled for the lead through a quarter in :22.14, took over by herself on the turn and drew off late to win by 3 1/2 lengths in :54.01.

The filly bred by John R. Cothran earned $10,908, which boosted Gone Astray’s progeny earnings for the year to $2,084,472. He’s one of just seven Florida stallions who will wind up 2021 with more than $2 million.

The main differences between the winners of the fourth and fifth races at Gulfstream Park yesterday are that Poiema is a 2–year-old who raced six furlongs and World Gone Wild is a 3-year-old who raced ‘about’ five furlongs.

Here are the similarities:

(1) Sex, Sires – both are fillies by stallions from Pleasant Acres; Poiema by Neolithic, World Gone Wild by Gone Astray.

(2) Sales – both were purchased out of OBS sales.

(3) Post position – both left from No. 1.

(4) Trip – both broke a step slowly; both rushed up on the inside to take the lead going to the first quarter; both fought off several challengers along the way; both held on gamely in the stretch to win, World Gone Wild by a neck for her fourth victory, Poiema by one length for her first (7th winner for Neolithic).

(5) Prices: Poiema paid $20.20, World Gone Wild $19.20.

(6) Earnings – World Gone Wild $32,400; Poiema $36,700.

Twilight Zone material?

There were two stakes contested at Tampa Bay Downs yesterday and runners by Pleasant Acres stallions played a major role in two of them. Cattin (Neolithic) won the $100,000 Inaugural, and Chasing Happiness (Gone Astray) finished third in the $100,000 Sandpiper.

There were nine Claiming Crown stakes contested at Gulfstream Park and runners by Pleasant Acres stallions played a role in a pair of them, too. Our Fantasy (Amira’s Prince) finished second in the $80,000 Glass Slipper Starter Stakes, and Cat’s Astray (Gone Astray) finished fourth in the $90,000 Distaff Dash Starter Stakes.

In addition, C V Thunder (Handsome Mike) broke her maiden over the all-weather track at Turfway Park. The total monetary haul for the four Pleasant Acres stallions came to $113,712.

(1) – Cattin, a $25,000 OBS Winter 2-year-old bred by Curtis Mikkelsen and Patricia Horth, came from off the pace to win the Inaugural by 2 1/2 lengths under Samy Camacho, paying $11.40 and earning a check for $80,000. That includes $50,000 for the FSS bonus. He was clocked in 1:10.90 for the six furlongs and boosted his record to 2-0-1 in four starts, with earnings of $164,550.

(2) – Chasing Happiness, owned and bred by Bill and Lynn Rainbow, missed second by a neck in the Sandpiper after being squeezed at the break, then steadied, and collected $5,000. The 2-year-old filly is 1-1-1 in three starts with earnings of $48,900.

(3) – At odds of 8-1, Our Fantasy was nailed at the wire by a head in the Glass Slipper after making a five-wide move into the lead, and had to settle for the runner-up check of $16,544. The 4-year-old filly bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon, a $50,000 OBS April 2-year-old, is 5-4-3 in 20 starts with earnings of $157,224.

(4) – Cat’s Astray, a 46-1 proposition, missed second by a head and a neck in the Distaff Dash, and collected $4,968 to raise her total to $160,718 on a record of 5-6-5 in 33 tries. Winner Payntdembluesaway broke the course record of :55.61 for ‘about’ five furlongs on the grass, lowering it to :55.31.

(5) – C V Thunder, a 3-year-old filly bred by Jim Gulick, broke her maiden in her 10th start, scoring by a nose and paying $37.80. She raced six furlongs in 1:11.62 and earned $7,200.

In her first six career starts, Galileta posted a record of 1-0-0. But the 4-year-old daughter of Amira’s Prince has shown great improvement since, going 2-1-2 in her last six after yesterday’s wire-to-wire eye-catcher at Turf Paradise.

With Brayan Pena in the saddle, Galileta took the lead out of the gate and was never seriously threatened, winning by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:30.04 for the 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass. The filly who finished third at odds of 27-1 in the $50,000 Emerald Distaff Handicap on Aug. 15, paid $3.20 as favorite and earned a check for $8,689, raising her total to $49,556. She’ll be in a new barn for her next appearance after being claimed yesterday.

Red-hot Gone Astray enjoyed a 1-3 finish in the second race at Mountaineer last evening, highlighted by a wire-to-wire romp by Hard Astray.

Hard Astray won his second straight, shooting to the lead under Gabriel Lagunes and cruising down the stretch for an easy, 6-length score in the race at a flat mile. The 4-year-old gelding has won three times in 2021, and is 2-2-0 in his last five starts. He paid $7.20, while receiving an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 85, his best in 13 career races.

Yeudiel, another 4-year-old Gone Astray gelding, was the only challenger early in the stretch, but he was caught nearing the wire and finished third. He’s 1-6-5 in his last 14 tries.

Gone Astray sailed past the $2 million mark in 2021 progeny earnings when Fast Loaded scored a come-from-behind nose victory in a $30,800 allowance race at Charles Town last evening.

The 4-year-old gelding bred by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds earned a check for $18,402, raising his sire’s total to $2,006,024 and leaving him less than $$68,000 from reaching $13 million lifetime.

Gerald Almodavor was aboard Fast Loaded, who left from the No. 7 post in the race at seven furlongs, and was off fifth, five lengths behind the leaders heading down the backstretch. Almodavor moved him up on the inside on the final turn, swung him to mid-track for the drive and Fast Loaded was up in time, paying $5.40, and giving Gone Astray 90 winning races for the year.

Fast Loaded raised his record to 7-3-2 in 19 starts while his earnings jumped to $158,536. In 2021 alone, he’s won five times and earned $106,786.

It took Panadero four tries at Gulfstream Park to figure it out, but after a pair of fourths in his last two races down south, he put it all together on yesterday’s opening program at Tampa Bay Downs.

The 2-year-old gelding by Handsome Mike enjoyed a dream trip in the race at one mile over the dream turf course in Oldsmar, with Samy Camacho breaking him on top from the No. 3 post, then settling back to a stalking third on the inside. On the final turn, Camacho moved off the rail, sent Panadero between horses into the stretch and Panadero coasted to the lead, holding off one rival late to score by half a length in 1:39.41.

Panadero became Handsome Mike’s 26th winner of 2021, paying $10.60 and earning a check for $8,610. He was a $9,000 OBS 2-year-old for breeder Tom McCrocklin in March.

Pleasant Acres’ newest addition to the stallion barn – the veteran Gone Astray – continued his hot streak yesterday since arriving in Morriston: two runners, two more winners.

The son of Dixie Union saw late bloomer Cazman romp in the afternoon at Mahoning Valley, and Hard Astray do likewise in the evening at Mountaineer Casino and Resort.

Cazman, a 6-year-old gelding bred by James F. Webb, didn’t get to the races until he was five, and has wasted no time since, making 32 starts in less than two seasons and running up a record of 4-8-6. He broke a step slowly from the No. 2 post in yesterday’s six-furlong race, but Eddie Dominguez rushed him up on the inside and Cazman took the lead in a :22.73 quarter. From there on, it was just a case of how far he would win by, and it turned out to be 7 1/2 widening lengths, as the track announcer told his audience, “CAZMAN is THE MAN.” He paid $9.80 and earned a check for $8,100, increasing his two-year total to $47,767.

Hard Astray won for the second time this year under Gabriel Lagunes, going wire-to-wire at a flat mile over a muddy track as the even-money favorite. He opened up by five lengths in the stretch and was geared down to win by 3 1/4, collecting $4,524, and moving Gone Astray a step closer to $13 million in career progeny earnings, and to $2 million in 2021.