Turf News

A victory by Mister Abarrio, and stakes-placed performances by Dancing N Dixie, Brawn and Prevent, have lifted Neolithic to within $80,000 of second place on Florida’s leading active sire list for 2024. The son of Harlan’s Holiday has progeny earnings of $1,637,771, and at his current pace he’s a certainty to reach his first $2 million season well before the end of December.

Mister Abarrio extended his in-the-money streak to nine in a row Sunday with a come-from-behind victory under newcomer Teshawn Hazelwood in a $48,000 allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park. The 3-year-old colt bred by Dr. Tiffany A. Atteberry and Scott Brown, a $30,000 OBS October yearling, was up by a neck in a race at one mile on the grass, clocked in 1:33.50. He paid $15.80 and collected $30,800, increasing his career earnings to $144,250, of which $83,870 has come this year. He’s 3-5-7 in 21 starts, and 2-2-5 in his last nine.

Dancing N Dixie, Neolithic’s leading money-winner, finished third in the Gr. II, $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes at the Spa. The 3-year-old filly bred by the late NFL defensive back Freddie Hyatt was the fourth choice at 6-1 in the race at a mile and three-sixteenths on the turf, which went in 1:54.92. The third-place check for $48,000 increased Dancing N Dixie’s total to $368,550 for owners Gary Barber, Rocky Top Stables (Jackie Ventura) and LEMB Stables. She’s 3-0-4 in 11 career starts and 1-0-4 in six tries with a bank account of $278,940 this year.

Brawn and Prevent finished second and third in the $95,000 Bear’s Den Stakes at a mile on the grass at Gulfstream Park. At odds of 8-1, Brawn finished just a neck behind 3/5 favorite Grand Mo the First and picked up a check for $20,850, increasing his earnings to $124,563 for owners/breeders Just For Fun Stable on a record of 2-2-0 in 11 starts.

Prevent collected $12,910 for third, and has now earned $199,497. He’s 3-4-1 in 14 starts.

The four checks added $112,560 to Neolithic’s bank account for 2024.

In his first 16 starts, Cattin never raced on the turf, so it was no problem when the $25,000 claimer at one mile on the grass that he was entered in at Gulfstream Park Sunday was switched to the Tapeta surface at a mile and 70 yards.

With Emisael Jaramillo in the irons, the 5-year-old Neolithic gelding, coming off a runner-up finish in his previous try, took the lead at the break and controlled the pace throughout, winning by two lengths in 1:41.46. The gelding bred by Curtis Mikkelsen and Patricia Horth, a $25,000 OBS yearling, paid $8, and tied his career best Equibase “E” speed figure of 94. The winner’s check of $24,100 raised his bankroll to $243,485 on a record of 4-1-3 in his 17 starts. He became winner No. 32 for Neolithic this year, tying his final total from 2023.

Last year, Neolithic enjoyed his best season at stud, with 32 winners and $1,422,736 in progeny earnings. Yesterday, a victory by Lil Poker Face in a $30,800 maiden special at Evangeline Downs, plus a runner-up finish by Brawn in a $61,000 allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park, and the son of Harlan’s Holiday reached a new high – $1,444,224 – and it’s a long way off to Dec. 31.

My Lil Poker Face became Neolithic’s 31st winner, so he’s close to setting a personal record in that category, too. Over a sloppy surface, with Joel Dominguez in the saddle, the 2-year-old filly bred by Matalona Thoroughbreds battled on the lead in a :22.28 quarter, took over in the stretch and drew off to a 1 1/2-length score, clocked in 1:00.92 for the five furlongs in a race originally scheduled for about five furlongs on the grass. She collected a check for $18,000.

Brawn’s runner-up finish at Gulfstream was worth $12,140.

A little more than halfway through the year, Neolithic is just a stone’s throw away from having his best season from the standpoint of progeny earnings. After the victory of Platinum Rocker at Penn National, the son of Harlan’s Holiday’s earnings have reached $1,412,824; his previous best of last year was $1,422,736. He had 32 winners in 2023 – he already has 30 this year.

Kentucky Derby-winning rider Sonny Leon was aboard Platinum Rocker, a 3-year-old filly bred by the late Dr. Cornelius and Doris Link, and a $20,000 OBS June 2-year-old. Coming off a second-place finish, at odds of 4-1, she broke on top and led every step of the way in the race at a mile and 70 yards over the Tapeta surface that was originally scheduled for one mile on the grass.

Platinum Rocker held off a pair of late challengers and won by half a length in 1:43.68. She paid $10.40 and the check for $16,800 raised her bank account to $54,170 on a record of 2-2-1 in 11 starts.

Neolithic is getting closer to eclipsing last year’s first million-dollar season, and he’s moved into third place on the list of Florida’s leading active sires of 2024. After the victory of Neon Sign at Penn National, the son of Harlan Holiday’s progeny earnings stand at $1,368,277, and at his current pace, it won’t be long before he passes 2023’s high of $1,422,736.

With Inoel Beato in the saddle, Neon Sign broke on top in the race at six furlongs, then was eased back to fourth along the inside heading down the backstretch. Coming to the turn, Beato edged the 4-year-old gelding closer to the leaders while still on the inside, then swung him out to the two path for the stretch run. He closed with a rush and won by two lengths, clocked in 1:11.13, giving him two victories in his last three starts. He received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 87, eight points higher than his former best of 79, which he received for his May 22 score.

Overall, the $15,000 OBS June 2-year-old bred by Southern Comfort Farm is 4-2-0 in 14 starts, and the winner’s check of $12,600 lifted his career total to $68,235.

It was just a matter of time. In three straight graded stakes on the grass, Dancing N Dixie rallied from dead last, rolled down the stretch fastest of all only to finish third, and only because the wire came up too soon. She fell short by a length in the Gr. III Florida Oaks at Tampa, by three-quarters in the Gr. II Appalachian at Keeneland, and by 1 1/2 lengths in the Edgewood at Churchill Downs.

That all ended Saturday.

With Jose Ortiz in the irons, the 3-year-old daughter of Neolithic came from last place at the top of the stretch in the $250,000 Tepin Stakes at Churchill, inhaled the pack in mid-stretch and won the one-mile race by a neck, clocked in 1:36.04. She paid $11.78 and received an Equibase speed figure of 104, her third straight race over 100.

Owners Gary Barber, Rocky Top Stables (Jackie Ventura) and LEMB Stables collected $135,315, which raised Dancing N Dixie’s 10-race total to $320,550 on a record of 3-0-3. The $35,000 OBS Open 2-year-old bred by the late former NFL player Freddy Hyatt is trained by Hall of Fame Ocalan Mark Casse, who, ironically, was the trainer of Tepin, an earner of $4.4 million.

Neolithic welcomed another winner on Saturday when Private Thoughts, bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon, captured a $44,000 starter optional claimer over the Tapeta surface at Gulfstream Park. The 3-year-old gelding was an $11,000 OBS March 2-year-old, owned by attorney David Romanik and trainer Ron Spatz.

Private Thoughts was away alertly in the race at a mile and 70 yards and immediately hooked up in a duel outside of Adios Cole. The two battled on the lead the rest of the way, with Private Thoughts finally edging his lone foe by three-quarters of a length in 1:40.98 and collecting a check for $25,900. That increased his total to $113,184 on a record of 3-1-2 in eight starts.

Neolithic’s 29th winner of 2024 could be likened to a hypnotist the way she lulled the field to sleep in a mile and 70-yard race at Penn National.

High Vibes, a 5-year-old Maryland-bred mare ridden by Gabriel Maldonado, took the lead at the break and went wire-to-wire, putting up trotting fractions of :25.00, :49.48 and 1:14.90 without receiving a serious threat, and reaching the wire nearly five lengths in front, clocked in 1:46.15. Bred by Maria and Mary Haire, she paid $4.20 and earned a check of $8,400, leaving her less than $2,000 from reaching the $100,000 mark. Her record is 5-2-6 in 30 starts.

At the 2023 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association yearling sale, breeder Richard Barton, under the consignor name Richard Barton Enterprises, sold a Bodexpress filly to Randy Morris for $8,000. At the same sale, in partnership with Robert Traynor, he sold a Bodexpress filly to John E. Parker for $6,500.

What were the odds that the two California-bred fillies would both make their career debuts on June 22, at tracks separated by 793 miles, with post times an hour and eight minutes apart. Parker’s filly, now named Her Blind Side, went to the gate at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington at 2:14 and with Alex Cruz in the saddle, broke her maiden in a race at 4 1/2 furlongs. She won by a neck in :53.17, paid $8.66, and earned a check for $7,695.

Filly no. 2 is now named Coracoracora, and her debut came at the Pleasanton Fair in Pleasanton, California, in a maiden special at five furlongs that went off at 3:22. With Alexander Chavez aboard, she came from just off the pace to score by 3/4’s of a length in :59.23, paid $22.40, and collected a check for $19,500.

With the two winners, Bodexpress is tied for the early lead among Florida’s freshman sires of 2024. His runners have earned $52,199.

Great Venezuela can easily be viewed in the “rising star” category after her second straight Gulfstream Park victory since her return to the races, following a 4 1/2-month layoff.

The 3-year-old Neolithic filly owned and bred by Orlyana Farm has raised her eye-catching overall record to 4-1-1 in six starts, and the $25,900 check for her latest score in a $44,000 starter optional claimer swelled her earnings to $120,400. With Leonel Reyes in the saddle in the 5 1/2-furlong race over the Tapeta course, Great Valenzuela stalked the early pace through quarters of :21.89 and :45.46, went three wide for the stretch run and drew off by nearly three lengths, clocked in 1:03.85. She paid an unbelievable $2.10 to win.

Neolithic is still in fourth place among Florida’s active stallions with 2024 progeny earnings of $1,133,940, and he’s third on the list of winners with 28.

Our Fantasy has won twice at Finger Lakes in the span of 16 days and anyone who didn’t know they were watching Wednesday’s incredible score might have thought they were seeing a rerun of the first one.

On June 3, the 7-year-old daughter of Amira’s Prince was left standing in the gate at the break and quickly fell 10 lengths behind. With Tony Calo giving her the “from first to last” call she inhaled her rivals on the turn and went on to win by nearly four lengths. She repeated the performance to the letter in a $20,000 starter optional claimer, including her standing in the gate and losing 10 lengths early, but this time she won by five with Calo tipping his hat to Yogi Berra by adding, “It’s deja vu all over again.”

The $50,000 OBS April 2-year-old bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon was clocked n 1:47.07 for the mile and 70 yards and paid $2.30; she paid $2.50 on June 3. The $12,000 check lifted her career earnings to $346,759 and she now sports a unique record of 12-13-12 in 54 starts.

Amira’s Prince also had a winner at Parx, the Pennsylvania-bred Humble Joe. The 4-year-old gelding bred by Cupstid Crews broke his maiden under Angel Castillo, coming from off the pace and winning by nearly two lengths, while getting six furlongs in 1:12.63. He paid $7.40, and the winner’s share of $18,000 increased his career total to $51,235.