Bernie Dickman

Gone Astray’s 15th winner of 2023 came at a venue far from his birthplace, at Assiniboia Downs in Western Canada.

Hard West, a rare 6-year-old still competing who is not a gelding, scored his ninth career victory during a successful six-race span in which he’s 2-2-1-1. With Antonio Whitehall in the irons, Hard West was off well in the race at five furlongs, made a three-wide run on the turn to take the lead into the stretch and held two rivals safe to win by nearly two lengths.

Bred by JDBA Stables, Hard West paid $4.30 after getting the distance in :59.55, and earned a check for $9,900 Canadian, $7,330 U. S. He’s 9-6-5 in 46 starts with a lifetime bankroll of $159,841.

Bucchero picked up winner No. 14 over the weekend when Free Smoke broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park in his fourth start as a 3-year-old.

The colt bred by Philip and Karen Matthews was a generous 4-1 with Angel Morales despite the fact that he had finished second in his previous two tries. With apprentice Morales in at a light 112 pounds, six less than each of Free Smoke’s five rivals, the son of Bucchero broke well behind the leaders in the five-furlong turf race, made a strong three-wide move on the turn and into the stretch, then outgamed the closers late to score by a neck in :56.46.

The $145,000 OBS April 2-year-old is 1-2-0 in his four starts, and the check for $30,700 lifted his bank account to $50,450.

Bucchero’s first stakes-placed runner of 2023 is the 2-year-old Mattingly, who finished a solid second at odds of 9-1 in the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, less than two months after he was purchased for $70,000 at the OBS March sale.

Mattingly broke sharply from the No. 8 post with Edgar Perez in the five-furlong turf race, and pushed pace-setter No Nay Mets through fractions of :21.98 and :45.44, but he was not able to threaten the leader in the stretch. In a clocking of :57.50, No Nay Mets was 3 1/2 lengths best, but Mattingly easily held the runner-up spot and collected a check for $21,120.

Neogem inserted a minor tweak into one of American race track announcers’ favorite stretch calls yesterday: the one that goes “from last to first.” In an 11-horse, $40,000 maiden optional claimer at Gulfstream Park, the 3-year-old filly by Neolithic went “from next-to-last to first” under Leonel Reyes.

Neogem gave the favorite players a scare when she walked out of the gate in the one-mile race on the turf. The filly owned and bred by Just For Fun Stables was still 10th after they crawled the first quarter in :25.08, but Reyes sent her 8-wide on the turn and she inhaled most of the field as they turned into the stretch, then ran over the leaders in the last 100 yards to win by nearly two lengths.

Neogem paid $4.40 and became winner No. 9 for Neolithic this year while collecting a check for $24,400, raising her total to $50,670 on a record of 1-3-0 in five starts.

The eighth race at Gulfstream Park yesterday was an all-Joe Orseno affair from start to finish. The veteran trainer’s Beauty of the Sea went wire-to-wire in the $40,000 maiden optional claimer at five furlongs over the turf course, and stablemate Dan’s Candi Gold was second for the entire trip.

Beauty of the Sea is a 3-year-old filly by Bucchero and became the stallion’s 13th winner of 2023 in just her third start. Edgar Perez was aboard the filly bred by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds who won by a length and earned a check for $24,400, upping her total to $33,160. She was clocked in :57.08 and paid $7.

In his excellent freshman season last year, Bucchero wound up with 14 winners, $$638,575 in progeny earnings, and in 24th place on Florida’s leading sire list. Only four months into 2023, it’s evident the son of Kantharos is going to dwarf his first-year statistics.

Bucchero already has 12 winners to his credit this season, and with Ms. Bucchero’s second straight victory at Parx Racing yesterday, in a $48,458 allowance optional claimer, his progeny earnings jumped to $508,771, putting him sixth on the Florida list.

Carol Cedeno was aboard the 3-year-old filly, who went head-and-head for the lead in the two path in a quarter of :22.53. She edged away from the pack in the run to the half, and the filly bred by Pamela Edel widened her lead to 3 1/4 lengths at the wire, clocked in 1:14.18 for the six furlongs. She paid $5, boosted her record to 2-1-0 in three starts, and the winner’s check of $25,200 shot her earnings up to $52,360.

To add to Bucchero’s good start to season No. 2 is the fact that he has 88 registered 2-year-old foals.

At the age of 59, Jose Ferrer enjoyed a memorable weekend at Tampa Bay Downs, winning on his last five mounts – four of them on Sunday – including a perfect maiden-breaking trip in a $25,000 claimer with Big Bucksalot, a 3-year-old Neolithic gelding.

Big Bucksalot was away sixth in mid-track down the backstretch in the race at six furlongs, and Ferrer didn’t waste any time going after the leaders before the field reached the turn. The gelding bred by Julie Jackson looped the field while three wide heading into the stretch, reached the lead at the eighth pole, and drew off to score by 4 1/4 lengths without opposition.

Big Bucksalot is Neolithic’s fourth winner of 2023; he was clocked in 1:12.23 and paid $10.20, while earning a check for $9,980. He won in his fourth start and helped Ferrer take over second place in the Tampa jockeys’ standings heading into the final week of racing.

No Never No More’s first winner of 2023 is Jomama Sassy, a 3-year-old filly bred in Minnesota by owner Eric Berg who broke her maiden in her sixth start.

Scott Bethke was aboard for the 4-furlong test at Fonner Park, and Jomama Sassy only had to face three rivals. She went out for the lead, battled on the front end for a quarter, then edged away and won by a length, clocked in :48.20. She paid $21.60 and earned a meager check for $2,940.

After his seventh career victory, which came at Parx Racing on April 27 of 2021, Town Jak went just short of two years before getting No. 8. That victory finally came yesterday at Finger Lakes with Jeremias Flores turning in a flawless ride aboard the 7-year-old Gone Astray gelding.

Town Jak broke third and remained there in hailing distance of the two pacesetters until the turn, when he picked it up, went three wide, and outgamed them to the finish by a hard-earned half a length. He paid $7.40 after getting 4 1/2 furlongs in :52.63.

Town Jak, a $17,000 OBS Winter Mixed Sale yearling bred by Jaime Ramirez, became winner No. 15 for Gone Astray this year, and raised his record to 8-9-8 in 50 starts. The winner’s check of $7,560 increased his total to $186,398.

Taking a winner’s circle photo is all the more satisfying when the breeder and the trainer are co-owners of the horse who has just broken his maiden in his career debut, accomplished via a sterling performance.

That was the case in the first race at Tampa Bay Downs yesterday after the victory of the 3-year-old Vidiano, a son of Neolithic who was bred by SCF Inc., trained by Dennis Manning, and co-owned by Manning and Belinda Kitos, owner of Ocala’s Southern Cross Farm with her husband, retired doctor Robert Kitos.

Vidiano had six moderate listed works at Oakridge Training Center, none that would make anyone sit up and take notice. But the gelding went off at just 6-1, so somebody knew something. With Sam Marin in the irons, Vidiano broke well from the No. 2 post in the race at six furlongs, shadowed the top four through a quick quarter in :22.29, then mysteriously dropped back by about 10 lengths going to the half.

Marin got him rolling on the turn and the gelding ate up ground in mid-track, then inhaled the leaders in the stretch as announcer Jason Beem chimed in with “Vidiano has all the momentum.” He wound up 2 1/4 lengths in front at the wire in a clocking of 1:10.53, receiving an excellent 82 ‘E’ speed figure in the process. Vidiano paid $15.20 and the partners collected $11,950.