Bernie Dickman

Neolithic picked up two more winners, Poiema at Gulfstream Park and Mr Ramirez at Evangeline Downs, and he now has 29 from 60 starters this year, a 48.3 percentage.

POIEMA – The 6-year-old mare bred by Cheryl and James Maguire has turned out to be a major bargain. She was a $14,000 OBS June 2-year-old, and the winner’s share of her first victory of 2025 – $23,600 – boosted her career total to $300,913, third highest of all Neolithic runners.

Eddie Perez was in the irons for the $40,000 starter allowance at six furlongs, and he put Poiema on the lead early. She held her rivals at bay via fractions of :22.61, :45.18, and :57.53 before crossing the finish line 1 1/4 lengths in front in 1:10.67, and paying $5.20. She’s now 6-7-4 in 32 starts.

MR RAMIREZ – The 4-year-old colt is another bred by the ultra-successful partnership of Joe and Helen Barbazon, Ed Seltzer and Beverly Anderson. Jose Rodriguez had him close to the early pace down the backstretch before making a strong late run to win by two lengths. Coming off second and third-place finishes, he went off at 7/5 and paid $4.80, clocked in 1:25.44 for the seven furlongs, while earning a check for $6,600. His 75 Equibase ‘E’ speed figure is best of his 11-race career.

The two victories pushed Neolithic over $1.3 million in 2025 progeny earnings.

Neolithic’s 27th winner of 2025 is Loana, a 5-year-old mare bred in Pennsylvania by Mary K. Haire. With Elvin Gonzalez aboard in a race at one mile and 70 yards at Prairie Meadows, the $65,000 Timonium yearling sat comfortably in the two path early, following a slow pace up front.

After a crawling half mile in :51.08, Loana went up for the lead on the turn, cruised by the leader in the stretch and drew off to win by 3 1/4 lengths, clocked in 1:44.93. She paid $3.40 and earned a check for $10,980, increasing her lifetime total to $126,974. In 23 starts, she’s compiled a record of 4-3-5.

Neolithic runners have made 1,321 starts, and they have finished first, second or third in 44.7 percent of those races.

The $100,000 Jersey Derby scheduled for one mile on the turf at Monmouth Park turned out to be a boon for three owners after heavy rain caused a switch to the main track and five other owners opted to scratch.

One of the three remaining was Quizler, a 3-year-old colt by Curlin’s Honor bred by SFC (Belinda Kitos) who took the lead at the break with Isaac Castillo, held it for three-quarters of a mile, then tired late over the sloppy track and finished third. A $15,000 OBS June graduate, Quizler earned a check for $10,000, raising his total to $89,020, with $74,940 coming this year. His record is 2-3-2 in nine starts.

Just Trust Me is the first runner for Bodexpress to rack up five victories, winning No. 5 in the $24,800 Fancy as Overnight Stakes at Assiniboia Downs in Manitoba.

It was the third in a row for the 3-year old bred in California by Richard Barton Enterprises, after the colt shipped to Canada from Turf Paradise. Antonio Whitehall was aboard Just Trust Me, who proved to be a ton the best in the five-furlong race, winning by five lengths in 1:00.76. He boosted his record to 5-4-1 in 14 starts, and his earnings to $118,391, and he’s one of four runners by Bodexpress to pass the $100,000 mark.

He paid the unbelievable prices of $2.10, $2.10, $2.10 across the board.

After four uneventful tries at Oaklawn Park, Ranch Rebel shipped to Prairie Meadows and was successful in her first outing there. The 3-year-old filly became Gunnevera’s eighth winner of 2025 with a smart wire-to-wire performance under Ken Tohill.

At odds of 6-1, Ranch Rebel put up fractions of :22.70, :46.21 and :58.92, and drew off with authority in the lane to score by 4 1/4 widening lengths with a clocking of 1:12.72 for the six furlongs. The filly bred by Watershed Bloodstock paid $14.40 and earned a check for $7,200.

Dancing N Dixie didn’t receive any publicity when she sold for $35,000 at the 2023 OBS June Sale, but she’s more than made up for it two years later. The 4-year-old filly by Neolithic is her sire’s leading money-winner, and she added to her bank account with a sharp second-place finish in the $75,000 Powder Break Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

With Miguel Vasquez aboard, Dancing N Dixie was seventh early in the field of 10 racing one mile over the turf course. When Vasquez got her in gear, the filly bred by the late former NFL player Freddie Hyatt made her patented strong late run, but she ran out of ground and fell just short of Lets Go Koko by half a length in a clocking of 1:33.51. Dancing N Dixie earned a runner-up check of $14,250 for the partnership of Gary Barber, Jackie Ventura and LEMB Stables, raising her career total to $404,800.

Stonecold Reaction contributed $11,400 to Neolithic’s earnings ($1,230,790) with a head victory in a 5 1/2-length test that was switched from the grass to the main track at Monmouth Park. With Paco Lopez in the saddle, the 3-year-old colt stalked the pace until the turn, rallied between horses in the stretch and was up at the wire in 1:06.05. It was Stonecold’s first victory in four starts and was worth $7.80 at the windows. The $18,000 OBS December purchase became Neolithic’s 26th winner of 2025, third most of all Florida sires.

Blue Casanova broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park on Sunday in his sixth start, a $56,000 maiden special, giving Neolithic his 25th winner of 2025; last season he had 50 when the year ended. Neolithic’s runners have made 205 starts thus far this year and they have accounted for 93 in-the-money finishes, 37 of them victories.

Richard Bracho was in the irons aboard Blue Casanova, who started from the No. 6 post in the race at 1 1/8 miles over the Tapeta surface. The 3-year-old colt was off fourth about three lengths off the lead heading down the backstretch, and Bracho moved him up on the rail right behind the two leaders coming to the turn. He swung the colt off the inside at the top of the stretch, split two rivals and proved best by one length in the run to the wire, clocked in 1:51.89.

Blue Casanova paid $7.00 and earned a check of $33,000 for owner/breeder Rolling Meadows Farm.

In the space of a few hours out west on Saturday, Bodexpress made a statement – adding one stakes-winner, one stakes-placed runner and one first-time winner, all 3-year-olds bred in California by Richard Barton, and Bodexpress is firmly entrenched as Florida’s No. 2 second-crop sire.

At 1:20 p. m., Distorted Cat broke her maiden under Jacquelyn Bobroff at Sunray Park and Casino in Farmington, New Mexico, getting 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:20.57. In her fourth start, the filly came from mid-pack, made a strong five-wide move and was up to win by 1 1/2 lengths. The $5,500 California Breeders yearling paid $8.80 and earned a check for $7,635.

At 4:12, Going Deep, a $10,000 Fasig-Tipton California Fall yearling bred by Barton in partnership with Robert Traynor, finished second in the $125,000 Melair Stakes at Santa Anita and earned a check for $25,000. With Edwin Maldonado in the saddle in the race at a mile and one sixteenth, Going Deep, a 15-1 proposition, raced in second until the stretch, took the lead heading for the wire, and was nailed by half a length by Om N Joy. She’s 2-3-0 in eight starts with earnings of $128,400, second most among all Bodexpress runners.

An hour and a half later, Santa Barbarian, who had broken his maiden in his fourth start, won the $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes under Kazushi Kimura in start No. 5, racing 1 1/8 miles on the grass in 1:49.80. At odds of 43-1, the gelding was eighth and last after a quarter, made a three-wide move to reach contention, and went on to win by half a length, good for a juicy $75,000 payday, which increased his bank account to $113,260. He paid $89.20.

Latch the Hatch became the second runner by Curlin’s Honor to pass the $100,000 mark in earnings with a victory in a $43,000 allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park.

Edgard Zayas was aboard the 3-year-old gelding, a $22,000 OBS October yearling bred by John B. Penn. Zayas sent Latch the House out for a stalking position at the quarter, took over the lead with a three-wide move at the half, then annihilated the field in the stretch and won by 5 1/2 lengths with six furlongs in 1:10.81. The victory was worth $25,800 and raised Latch the Hatch’s total to $100,190 on a record of 2-2-1 in five starts. He paid $3.60 and received a 90 Equibase ‘E’ speed figure, best of his seven races.

It will be difficult for Leinster to continue to remain atop the country’s freshman sire list for any lengthy period; he has 20 named foals, while many of the Kentuckians have 70 to 85. But for the present time, the Pleasant Acres stalwart is a mile ahead of the competition.

When Monster won the second race at Gulfstream on Friday, he became Leinster’s third winner of the young season; nobody else has more than one. As the lone stakes-winner, his progeny have already accrued $219,426 in earnings – nobody else is even close.

Monster, a colt bred by Dr. Ross Russell and Deeann Smith Cavanaugh, was purchased by Arindel for $25,000 at the OBS Winter sale. With Edgard Zayas aboard, at odds of 3/5 in the $70,000 maiden special, he broke in front, put up serious fractions of :22.39 and :43.21, then sprinted away from the field to break his maiden by nine lengths. He raced the five furlongs on the grass in :55.14, paid $3.40 and earned a check of $54,000 for Arindel.