R Morning Brew Gives Curlin’s Honor his first winner

Richard Averill has been winning races for years with his Florida-breds, most of whose names begin with the letter R. At Gulfstream Park yesterday, one of those ‘R’s not only broke her maiden in her 2-year-old debut, she became the first winner for Pleasant Acres’ freshman sire Curlin’s Honor.

R Morning Brew broke on top under Edgard Zayas, rolled through the slop behind fractions of :22.66, :45.91 and :58.28, and was 4 1/2 lengths in front at the wire, clocked in 1:11.45 for the six furlongs. The filly bred by Dori Morgan Hyatt, widow of the late former NFL player Freddie Hyatt, paid $7.20 and earned a check for $29,000 for Averill Stables.

R Morning Brew is the third foal out of the Uncaptured mare Foolhearted Woman. She’s a half-sister to the 3-year-old filly Dancing N Dixie, two-time stakes-winning and four-time graded stakes-placed filly by Neolithic. Owned by Gary Barber, Rocky Top Stables (Jackie Ventura) and LEMB Stables, Dancing N Dixie has earned $368,550.