Turf News

Saturday proved to be another red letter day for Pleasant Acres, with Poseidon’s Warrior getting two more stakes victories added to his ledger. Firenze Fire returned from a two-month layoff following the Kentucky Derby to capture the Gr. III Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park by 9 lengths, and Navy Commander posted his first stakes score with a 3 1/4-length victory in the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Firenze Fire came from about four lengths off the pace under Irad Ortiz, looped the field with a powerful run on the turn, and galloped away to his decisive victory in the final sixteenth in a race previously won by such racing greats as Native Dancer, Assault, Nashua, Damascus, Conquistador Cielo and Holy Bull. His clocking of 1:33.74 for the mile is just 1 1/2 seconds off the track record, and is the best in the Dwyer in the four years since the race has been contested at that distance. 

Firenze Fire is owned by his breeder, Mr. Amore Stables, and earned $165,000 for his fourth stakes victory. He now has a total of $834,100, on a record of 5-1-0 in 11 starts. In another interesting note, the colt was 7-1 in the betting for a long while leading up to post time, and dropped to 6-1 as they were nearing the gate. As they headed down the backstretch, the last tote board change saw him fall to 5/2, which meant somebody somewhere sent in a ton of cash at the last second. He paid $7.50 and moved right back into the thick of the 3-year-old chase.

In New Jersey, Navy Commander was sent right to the lead by Angel Arroyo in the 1 1/16-mile Long Branch and was never headed en route to his easy wire-to-wire score. Owned by his breeder, Swilcan Stables, the Pennsylvania-bred gelding raised his record to 5-0-1 in 11 starts. He has won two straight and 4 of 7 this year, while raising his earnings to $186,663. 

With the two stakes victories, Poseidon’s Warrior jumped up to eighth on Florida’s leading sire list with earnings of $905,411. 

Not too many runners win 60 percent of their starts, but Forty Fathoms has accomplished that feat. The 3-year-old colt by Poseidon’s Warrior made it two victories in a row and three out of five with a game score at Gulfstream Park yesterday and is well-regarded by the track’s trainers, having been claimed out of his last two starts. 

With Emisael Jaramillo aboard, Forty Fathoms battled for the lead in the two path, took over a furlong from the wire, then held on gamely to win by a neck, getting six furlongs in 1:11.50. Bred by Mary Robinson, the $7,000 OBS March 2-year-old collected $13,500 for the victory to raise his total to $45,220, an average of $9,000 per start. 

Walter De La Cruz has forged a good working relationship with the Poseidon’s Warrior colt Raise a Warrior. The veteran jockey had guided the 3-year-old bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon to a nine-length victory on July 13, and came back Monday to make it two in a row, this one by 6 1/2 lengths. Raise a Warrior shot to the lead in the one-mile race and was in control throughout, prevailing as the even-money favorite. The red-hot $14,000 OBS October weanling has posted a record of 3-2-0 in his last six starts. 

Finger Lakes devotees witnessed a rarity in the fifth race yesterday when a pair of 3-year-olds by  Poseidon’s Warrior finished 1-2 in a maiden race run at 5 1/2 furlongs over a sloppy track. Both Poseidon’s March, who was sent off as the 6/5 favorite, and Threetwentysix, who was 16-1, raced at the rear of the pack in the early going. Threetwentysix moved first, cruising into the lead at the top of the stretch with Poseidon’s Warrior in close pursuit after a four-wide loop on the turn. The latter went by in mid-stretch and drew off to score by two lengths, while Threetwentysix left the rest behind and was nearly nine lengths ahead of the third-place finisher at the wire. It was the first victory in four tries for Poseidon’s Warrior, who is owned by his breeder, long-time Pleasant Acres client Patricia Generazio. The all-Poseidon exacta paid $72.

Handsome Mike’s freshman season moved forward yesterday with the victory of his second winner – Levy Land – in a 5-furlong race at Gulfstream Park. The filly was bred by her owner, Midwest Thoroughbreds, one of the leading racing stables in North America. With Emisael Jaramillo riding, Levy Land became locked in an early pace battle, but she outgamed her rivals to the wire to break her maiden in just her second start. She won by three-quarters of a length, paid $10.40 and earned a check for $23,650.

Gulfstream Park enjoys many important racing days during the year – Pegasus World Cup Day, Florida Derby Day, Donn Handicap Day and Summit of Speed Day, to name just a few. Saturday, June 23 could easily have been called “Pleasant Acres Stallions Day.”

The ninth race was won by Galileo’s Affair, a 3-year-old filly by Treasure Beach; No. 11 was taken by Spicy Nelly, a 3-year-old filly by Beau Choix, and the 12th by Miss Marisol, a 3-year-old filly by Poseidon’s Warrior. Even race No. 7 got into the act, having been won by Bimini, a 2-year-old filly by former Pleasant Acres stallion Brethren.

Galileo’s Affair handled the sloppy track with ease after the race was taken off the grass. The filly bred by Joe and Kris Carroll settled in at the  rear of the field under Jonathan Gonzales, moved outside and began her run on the turn, reached the leader a sixteenth out, and drew out by nearly three lengths at the wire. The $37,000 OBS August yearling is now 2-1-2 in 10 starts with earnings of $74,370 and is 2-0-1 in four tries this year.

Spicy Nelly, owned and bred by Just For Fun Stable, shot to the lead with Leonel Reyes and was 2 1/2 lengths in front at the end of seven furlongs in 1:24.72 in another race that came off the grass. She’s won two in a row and sports a record of 3-3-1 in 10 starts with earnings of $81,557.

Miss Marisol went wire-to-wire in the slop with Romero Maragh aboard despite being bumped twice at the break, and she also reported home by nearly three lengths. It was her first victory in three starts. The three Pleasant Acres winners collected a combined $47,700 for their efforts.

After taking more than five months off between her two and 3-year-old racing campaigns, Sparkle Sammy has now won two in a row after a more-than-eventful trip over six furlongs on the grass at Woodbine yesterday. 

The Poseidon’s Warrior filly, bred by Pleasant Acres Stallions owners Joe and Helen Barbazon, was taken to the lead by Gary Boulanger and was in front through a quarter in :22.29. Then, a loose horse shot inside her and Sparkle Sammy was forced to the outside, dropping back to second. Boulanger was able to get her back on stride and sent her to the lead again, and Sparkle Sammy continued on to a commanding score, drawing off by four lengths under a hand ride. She had broken her maiden five weeks earlier by 4 1/2 lengths.

Sparkle Sammy’s clocking of 1:08.18 is just one and one-fifth seconds off the Woodbine turf course record for six furlongs and there’s no telling what she might have posted if not for the incident on the first turn. 

Treasure Beach’s career progeny earnings surpassed the $1 million mark yesterday when Steel Beach broke his maiden with a wire-to-wire victory on the grass at Gulfstream Park. The 3-year-old gelding had started twice on the dirt before switching to the turf course and showing great improvement.

With Jose Alvarez aboard, Steel Beach took the lead out of the gate, held off 7/10 favorite Nonno Nino throughout the mile and one-sixteenth run, and prevailed by a neck at the wire. The gelding owned and bred by Hart Farm LLC paid $67.80 while becoming his sire’s 13th winner of 2018 and earning a check for $11,600, raising Treasure Beach’s earnings to $1,011,525.

After breaking his maiden at Santa Anita in late October, Treasure Hunter started seven times under a string of journeyman jockeys and finished second in four of those races. All it took to end that runner-up string yesterday was a switch to one of the top riders in the country – Rafael Bejarano.

Competing in a six-furlong starter allowance with a purse of $33,345, Bejarano shot the 3-year-old Treasure Beach colt to the lead and the two were in full control as Treasure Hunter posted sizzling fractions of :21.87, :45.19 and :57.65. The colt bred in Kentucky by Norman G. Houston III, a $61,000 OBS April purchase, was never threatened and went on to score by 1 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:10.76. The $19,800 winner’s check raised Treasure Hunter’s bank account to $62,580 and vaulted his sire within less than $15,000 from the $1 million mark in career progeny earnings.   

Walter De La Cruz enjoyed a rocking chair ride with Raise a Warrior in a mile and 40-yard race at Thistledown yesterday. De La Cruz took the 3-year-old colt out quickly and the son of Poseidon’s Warrior settled into second down the backstretch. With three furlongs remaining, he urged the colt into action and Raise a Warrior did the rest, cruising by the leader in a  matter of seconds and leaving the field in his wake. The 6/5 favorite opened up a four-length lead in the lane and stretched it to nine lengths at the wire.

The colt bred by Pleasant Acres owners Joe and Helen Barbazon is 2-3-0 in his seven starts as a 3-year-old  and 2-2-0 in his last five.