Bernie Dickman

Over the span of his first three seasons, Corporate Affair went 32 races at Gulfstream Park and one at Tampa Bay Downs without winning a race. All the now-5-year-old gelding by Gone Astray had to show for it was two seconds and six thirds.

After a typical outing on Jan.1, Corporate Affair shipped to Puerto Rico and wound up in the barn of Rojas Racing Stable and trainer Carlos Sostre. All his new trainer has done with the gelding since is send him to the post four times at Camarero, and Corporate Affair has responded with three victories and one second, the loss coming by a nose to a 3/10 shot.

In his latest, the gelding went wire-to-wire under Nicky Figueroa, winning by 1 1/4 lengths with seven furlongs in 1:25.86. He paid $8.20 and received a 79 Equibase speed figure, best of his 37 races. He’s won his three victorious outings by a combined total of 10 lengths.

Neolithic’s parade toward his best season continued unabated yesterday as two razor-sharp 3-year-olds went wire-to-wire in back-to-back races at Gulfstream Park and accounted for a miniscule daily double price of $10.60.

TRUMPETS – The filly bred by Matalona Thoroughbreds is a charter member of the list of Neolithics who have proven to be a great bargain with just three races under her belt. She was an $8,000 OBS October yearling, and has already racked up a bank account of $71,230 for owner/trainer Joe Catanese III.

With Edgar Perez aboard in a $48,000 allowance test at five furlongs over the Tapeta surface, from the No. 1 post Trumpets hit the gate at the break, but she recovered quickly and rushed up to take the lead. She put up sizzling fractions of :21.73 and :45.18 and left the field behind late to score by four lengths in :57.58. She paid $3 as favorite and the check for $30,800 raised her 2024 earnings for two winning races to $60,800.

PREVENT – The colt bred by Katia Perez Ozuna and owned by Brian Cohen has been a major bargain – a $15,000 OBS Winter Mixed Sale purchase. Coming off a runner-up finish in the $110,000 Equistaff Sophomore Turf Stakes, with Edgard Zayas in the saddle he led all the way in a $61,000 allowance optional claimer at one mile on the turf course, and outgamed the closers at the wire by a nose, clocked in 1:34.14. He paid $6.40 and the check for $38,600 lifted his total to $181,060 on a record of 3-4-0 in 11 starts.

The two winners, plus a third-place finish by Big Bucksalot at Tampa, helped Neolithic move into fourth place on Florida’s general sire list with $723,322 in the till.

In the span of two hours and two minutes at Gulfstream Park yesterday, Neolithic added winners 16 and 17 to his 2024 total which ties him for third among all Florida sires. At the same time, he added $69,400 to his progeny earnings that helped lift his season’s total to $647,282, good for fifth place among Florida’s sires, while giving Joe and Helen Barbazon another healthy breeder’s award.

SLIDE SHOW – At 2:17, the 3-year-old colt bred by the late former NFL player Freddie Hyatt made OBS buyers look bad after he was a $14,000 RNA at the 2023 Winter Mixed Sale. Making his career debut in a $60,000 maiden special, Slide Show broke from the gate on top and continued on for a 12-length score with as easy a trip as rider Miguel Vasquez has ever enjoyed. The colt passed the poles on the Tapeta course in a leisurely :24.55, :49.50 and 1:13.60 without receiving a threat, then coasted away down the lane with Vasquez standing in the irons for the last 16th.

Despite three sharp morning trials, including a :58.68 5-furlong Tapeta breeze, Slide Show paid a generous $12.60, $8.40 and $6.40, while earning a check for $38,000 for owner JR Racing. It appears as though a star has been born.

PRIVATE THOUGHTS – At 4:19, the 3-year-old gelding bred by the Barbazons, an $11,000 OBS March 2-year-old, stalked the early pace under a strong hold by Paco Lopez in a $49,000 starter optional claimer, moved two wide for the stretch drive and drew off late to score by 1 1/4 lengths. The gelding co-owned by his trainer, Ron Spatz, and attorney David Romanik, was clocked in 1:40.55 for the 1 1/16 miles, paid $3.80 as favorite, and collected a check for $31,400. He boosted his earnings to $85,054 on a record of 2-1-1 in six starts.

DANCING N DIXIE – It’s a little too early to compare the 3-year-old Neolithic filly to the great closers of all time, like the immortal Silky Sullivan and Breeders’ Cup eye-opener Arazi, but she’s certainly making a bid.

For the second time in a row, Dancing N Dixie came from out of the clouds to finish third in a graded stakes, both times just falling short at the wire. On March 9, she rallied from 11th and last in the Gr. III Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs at odds of 68-1. Yesterday, at 10-1, she came from 12th and last under Jose Ortiz in the Gr. II, $400,000 Appalachian Stakes presented by the Japan Racing Association at Keeneland, and missed getting all the money by half a length and a head. The Equibase chart has her about 9 1/2 lengths behind the leader heading down the backstretch, but it was closer to 15 – she was five lengths behind the 11th horse. She received her best ‘E’ speed figure, a 104.

Dancing N Dixie was also a bargain at the last OBS Open June Sale, selling for just $35,000. She’s owned by Tina Casse, wife of her trainer, in partnership with Rocky Top Stable and LEMB Stables and she’s earned $138,235 on a record of 2-0-2 in eight starts.

In her Gulfstream Park debut on Feb. 29, Travel Happy went off at 9/2 under Luis Saez and turned in a strong performance, finishing third but missing by just half a length and a nose. In her second try on Thursday, with the race under her belt and the addition of Irad Ortiz Jr., the country’s leading rider, the 3-year-old filly bred by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds was bet down to 3/5 in a $32,000 maiden claiming race at 5 furlongs over the Tapeta surface.

Ortiz sent the daughter of Gone Astray out quickly and she led every step of the way, passing the furlong markers in :22.29 and :46.22, and reaching the wire two lengths in front, clocked in :58.50. She paid $3.20 and earned a check for $19,200, lifting her two-race total to $22,720, but owner Tracy Pinchin and trainer Jose Pinchin lost her for $25,000.

Neolithic picked up his 15th winner of 2024 when Brawn went wire-to-wire in a $59,000 allowance optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park on Wednesday and he’s tied for third for number of winners among all Florida sires.

Jesus Rios was aboard the 3-year-old colt owned and bred by long-time Pleasant Acres client Just For Fun Stable and trained by Ruben Sierra. Brawn won by half a length in 1:37.54 for the mile and paid $29, earning a check for $37,400 and raising his total to $90,203 for just seven starts.

Just For Fun also had Neoking finish second at Turfway Park the same day for a $2,928 paycheck, while a third Neolithic runner, Expecting a Winner, was third at Tampa Bay Downs good for $3,300. The three checks sent the stallion’s progeny earnings for three months to a healthy $542,657.

Neolithic enjoyed a fruitful day at four tracks around the country on Sunday, highlighted by a pair of seconds in $110,000 stakes on the Festival Cup program at Tampa Bay Downs. The total amount of purse money earned was $82,060, and it moved Neolithic up to fifth place on Florida’s general sire list at $497,734.

PREVENT — At odds of 7/2, the 3-year-old colt led all the way in the Equistaff Sophomore Turf Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth on the grass, and was nailed in deep stretch by Live Oak Stud’s even-money favorite, Crystal Quest. Prevent finished three-quarters of a length behind, and collected a check for $20,000, raising his career total to $142,460 on a record of 2-4-0 in 10 starts.

IF NOT FOR LUCK – The 5-year-old horse finished well under Jesus Rios in the six-furlong NYRA Bets Sprint Stakes, finishing second at odds of 12-1. The race went in 1:09.82. If Not For Luck had won his previous two races, and the $20,000 check boosted his earnings to $128,600 on a record of 3-2-2 in nine tries.

TRUMPETS – The 3-year-old filly was making her second start at Gulfstream Park after a second-place finish in her debut. She went wire-to-wire under Edgar Perez in a $50,000 maiden optional claimer at five furlongs, putting up sizzling fractions of :21.73 and :44.17 and scoring by 5 3/4 lengths in the near track-record time of :55.36 – the record is :54.89. She paid $3.60, and the $30,000 winner’s check increased her two-race total to $40,430.

SHORT STRAW – After seven starts without winning, the 4-year-old filly bred by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds made it two victories in a row with a 2 3/4-length, wire-to-wire score at Hawthorne, getting five furlongs in :58.82 under Israel Hernandez. She paid $5.80, collected $6,600 and became Neolithic’s 14th winner of 2024.

MY BROTHER MIKE/MISTER ABARRIO – My Brother Mike finished fourth in a maiden claiming race at Oaklawn and added $1,500 to the day’s take. Mister Abarrio was third at Gulfstream at 1 1/16-miles on the Tapeta course in a race that came off the grass. He earned $3,960 and was claimed out of the race for $35,000.

The Isabel Astray didn’t get to the races until she was almost four years old, at Monmouth Park in September of 2022, and she broke her maiden in her first try. Coming up to yesterday at Tampa Bay Downs, she had only raced five more times, without a victory, but with two seconds and a third to her credit at Mountaineer Park, all under Carlos Lugo.

Lugo was aboard again yesterday in a mile and 40-yard test that came off the grass, and he guided the 5-year-old Gone Astray mare to her second score. He took her away third at the break, but The Isabel Astray dropped back to seventh on the rail early. Heading down the backstretch, Lugo got her in gear three wide and she began picking off rivals one by one. By the time they hit the top of the stretch, the mare bred by Inversiones Fl was moving into the lead, and she ran away and hid in the final sixteenth, 3 1/4 lengths in front.

The Isabel Astray boosted her record to 2-2-1 in seven starts, and the check for $12,425 raised her earnings to $33,180. She paid $14.60 and received a 74 Equibase speed figure for the effort, best of her seven races.

Ramiro Rosas Medina, owner and breeder of Florindia, has been the epitome of patience with his 3-year-old Gone Astray filly, Florindia.

Florindia raced eight times as a 2-year-old and won just once, at Gulfstream Park in June. She’s raced five more times this season, and scored victory No. 2 in her 13th try. With Hector Diaz aboard, Florindia became Gone Astray’s fifth winner of 2024, getting up by half a length in a mile and 40-yard test at Tampa Bay Downs that went in 1:41.93. She paid $21.80 and earned a check for $10,675, and her owner/breeder’s patience has paid off to the tune of $81,170.

Gone Astray also had a recent winner in Puerto Rico, the consistent 6-year-old She’s Classy scoring again at Camarero. The mare bred by Craig Wheeler now sports a record of 8-6-9 in 39 starts with earnings of $120,143, and she’s 4-2-0-2 in her last 10 tries.

After his blazing start in the first two months of the new year, during which he had 13 winners and moved into fourth place on Florida’s general sire list, Neolithic tailed off briefly and dropped back to ninth place. But a spate of sharp finishes on Saturday, although without a winner, elevated him back up to sixth.

DANCING N DIXIE – The 3-year-old filly bred by the late Freddie Hyatt was sent off at mammoth odds of 68-1 in the $200,000, Gr. III Florida Oaks over the slick Tampa Bay Downs turf course. With Gabriel Maldonado riding, the Mark Casse trainee hit the gate at the break and was away 11th and last in the race at 1 1/16 miles. The $35,000 OBS June 2-year-old remained last down the backstretch, about 10 lengths behind the leaders, but Maldonado set her down nearing the turn, and Dancing N Dixie gobbled up groun while very wide, then came barreling down the lane and finished third, a length and a head behind favored Waskesiu. She earned a check for $20,000, raising her career total to $110,860, and received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 96.

PRIVATE THOUGHTS – The 3-year-old gelding is a 100% Pleasant Acres product, bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon. Trained and co-owned by Ron Spatz in partnership with attorney David Romanik, he went off at 5-1 and stalked the leaders early, then took the lead entering the stretch in the $59,000 allowance optional claimer at a mile and 70 yards over the Tapeta track. But he was nailed at the wire and wound up second by a neck to Live Oak Stud’s Crystal Quest. Private Thoughts collected a check for $11,340 and received his best ‘E’ speed figure of 81. He’s 1-1-1 in five starts with a bank account of $53,654.

BRAWN – the 3-year-old colt was the pacesetter under Jesus Rios in the same race as Private Thoughts but could not sustain it in the stretch and he finished fourth, collecting $2,700 and increasing his earnings to $52,803 for owner/breeder Just For Fun Stable.

POIEMA – Neophyte’s second-leading money-winner added $8,400 to her earnings with a second-place finish in a 7-furlong, $50,000 Handicap at Tampa Bay Downs. The 5-year-old mare took the lead at the start under Jose Ortiz, put up fractions of :22.42, :45.15 and 1:09.37, then was oufinished by a head in the final strides by 8/5 favorite Sterling Silver. The $14,000 OBS June 2-year-old raised her record to 5-7-2 in 26 tries, and her earnings to $264,153. Her 103 ‘E’ speed figure is the best of her career.

NEOPHYTE – The 5-year-old gelding bred by SCF Inc. (Belinda Kitos) led all the way into the stretch with Edgard Zayas aboard in a $10,000 claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Tapeta surface at Gulfstream. He was caught nearing the wire after passing the poles in :22.10, :44.75 and :56.68, and wound up second by three-quarters of a length. Neophyte earned $5,200, lifting his total to $107,037 on a record of 3-5-5 in 20 starts.

The five paychecks added up to nearly $48,000, and Neolithic’s 2024 progeny earnings jumped to $381,772.

While Neolithic was racking up 13 winners in January and February, he also added a pair of stakes-placed runners, Jordi’s Dream and Loana.

JORDI’S DREAM – The 4-year-old filly bred by Ian Parsard led into the stretch under Charlie Marquez before tiring late to finish third in the $100,000 Leinster Lightning City Stakes over the Tampa Bay Downs turf course. Not too shabby for a 50-1 shot. The race went in :55.98, just two seconds off the five-furlong course record. Jordi’s Dream collected a check for $10,000, and now sports a record of 1-1-1 in six starts with earnings of $63,490.

LOANA – The 4-year-old filly bred by Mary K. Haire in Pennsylvania was a $65,000 Timonium 2-year-old, and despite an impressive recent slate, was sent off at 32-1. She missed second place by a nose in the $100,000 Harry Henson Handicap at Sunland Park, a one-mile race that went in 1:35.98 and was won by a 1/9 shot. Loana has finished in the top three in eight consecutive races, three of them winning efforts, and the $10,000 check in the Henson increased her earnings to $97,966. She received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 92, her best in 14 starts.