Bernie Dickman

In his first six career starts, Quantum Quest visited the winner’s circle just once. In his last five tries, the 4-year-old Gone Astray gelding has won three times

Victory No. 3 came at Santa Rosa in California last night in a $30,000 allowance optional claimer at five furlongs over the turf course. With Assael Espinosa aboard, the gelding bred by W. K. and D. S. France jumped into the lead at the start, put up a quarter in :22.93 and was never threatened thereafter. He held off a slew of closers in deep stretch, but was half a length in front at the wire, clocked in :59.40.

Quantum Quest paid $5.40 and earned a check for $16,200, jumping his total to $70,740, with $55,800 coming this year.

IT’S BECOMING A HABIT – On July 16, Neolithic, Ride On Curlin and Gone Astray scored a racing triple for Pleasant Acres stallions, and just 13 days later, the same three have done it again – with three different horses.

RIDE ON CURLIN – Cowboy at Heart contributed to yesterday’s triple at Charles Town by turning in the best performance of his 18-race career. The 4-year-old gelding bred by Stephen H. Smith was off sharply with Christian Hiraldo, battled with Widget Factory through fractions of :23.46 and :47.31, then drew off on the turn and went on to score by nearly four lengths as Paul Espinosa announced that “Cowboy at Heart wins with something left in the tank.”

Cowboy at Heart received an 88 ‘E’ figure for the effort, his best ever, after getting 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:20.00 and collecting a check for $10,479. He paid $9.80 and raised his record to 4-2-1, with three of the victories coming this year.

NEOLITHIC – Stone Age broke his maiden in his ninth start, also with his best-ever ‘E,’ a 76, at Gulfstream Park. The 3-year-old gelding owned and bred by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds won a heated stretch battle by half a length in 1:11.50 for six furlongs with Edwin Gonzalez in the irons. He earned $11,600 and became winner No. 12 for Neolithic from 24 starters in 2022.

GONE ASTRAY – Shade Tree Thoroughbreds is also the breeder of Fast Loaded, who won at Laurel for his 10th victory in a 28-race career, and his third this year, all since April 20. With Walter Rodriguez aboard, the 5-year-old gelding prevailed by a neck after a head-and-head battle with 1/2 favorite Bahama Channel, clocked in 1:26.17 for the seven furlongs. Fast Loaded earned $10,800, which boosted his career total to $195,477. He paid $7.20.

After a layoff of nearly seven months, Wink and a Nod returned to the races at Mountaineer Park in April, and in his first five races of 2022, recorded three seconds and a third. Primed for a stellar effort, the 6-year-old gelding by Gone Astray was back at it yesterday in a race at five furlongs with only three rivals, but with the misfortune of having to face Donnels Creek, who was 1/5 on the tote board.

Alex Gonzalez took Wink and a Nod away second on the rail, then dropped back to third as Donnels Creek went up to vie for the lead. The favorite took over heading into the stretch, but Wink and a Nod never left the rail, powering to the lead and edging clear by a length at the wire. The gelding bred by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds and Ruth Delaplane raced five furlongs in :58.76, paid $9.60 and collected a check of $4,582. He improved his record to 8-11-5 in 43 starts with earnings of $81,057.

The explosion heard after the seventh race became official at Thistledown yesterday occurred just after Indy Princess Koko’s win price appeared on the tote board – $102.60.

The 5-year-old daughter of Amira’s Prince had just completed a monster stretch run, the kind that usually elicits what most track announcers like to call “from last to first.” Thistledown’s veteran race caller, Matt Hooks, dubbed it “from worst to first.”

Indy Princess Koko broke from the No. 1 post with Luis Rivera in the $16,000 claimer at six furlongs, and eased back to ninth in the nine-horse field. On the turn, she was a good 10 lengths from the leaders, when Rivera swung her five or six wide and she closed like an express train in mid-track, getting up to win by half a length in 1:12.26.

The mare bred by Jeannine Strauss McGinn earned a check for $10,800, increasing her career total to $51,122 on a record of 5-2-5 in 22 starts. It was her first victory of 2022 in five tries.

Among Florida’s current top 25 stallions, only five have hit 50 percent or better in the winners-to-starters column so far this season. Two of them are Pleasant Acres sires, Ride On Curlin, who has had two winners over the last two days, and Neolithic.

Lady Simpatia made it 12 winners from 24 starters for Ride On Curlin at Delaware Park yesterday with Angel Suarez able to accomplish something none of the other riders in the 4-year-old filly’s first 10 races could – he put her on the lead by herself.

The filly bred by the highly successful partnership of Joe and Helen Barbazon and Ed Seltzer and Beverly Anderson had opted for the lead several times in her previous races, but had never been able to do what she did yesterday on the grass – open a two-length lead at the first quarter. By putting up fractions of :22.06 and :44.87 nobody ever got close and Lady Simpatia broke her maiden in :57.02 for the five furlongs. She won by two, paid $32.40 and earned her best check – $12,000 – and her best ‘E’ speed figure – 70.

When Damir stepped onto the track yesterday at Delaware Park, the gelding hadn’t been in the winner’s circle for one year and five days, and hadn’t even raced since last October. The 4-year-old son of Ride On Curlin took care of both those items with a flourish yesterday at Delaware Park under Aubrie Green.

In a race at a mile and 70 yards that was originally scheduled for the turf, Damir was off fifth and last leaving the gate. The gelding bred by Robyn Thompson began moving up off the rail down the backstretch, caught the leaders on the turn and put it in another gear as track announcer Joshua Brown chimed in with “Damir is rolling away from the opposition.” At the wire he had rolled nearly five lengths in front and was widening with every stride.

Damir’s second victory was worth $25 at the mutuel windows and $12,600 to his bank account. He raced the distance in 1:47.09 and gave Ride On Curlin his 11th winner this year.

Add Morethanicanhandle to the list of runners who showed little at the beginning of his career, then had the famed lightbulb go on one day and turn it all around.

The 3-year-old son of Handsome Mike might have been better off staying in the barn for his first four races; the closest he came to the winner was seven lengths in start No. 4 in June. Yesterday at Monmouth, however, someone turned the light switch on and the colt proved to be more than the field could handle, taking Andrea Mezzatesta wire-to-wire for a 2 1/4-length score in 1:42.73 for the 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

Handsome Mike’s 16th winner of 2022 paid $34.40 and put $11,400 in the bank for owner/breeder Mr Amore Stable. His ‘E’ speed figure of 75 was easily best of his five starts.

If ever a lightly-raced runner didn’t look like a neophyte while breaking his maiden, it was Neophyte yesterday as he won the third race at Gulfstream Park, a $50,000 maiden special at five furlongs over the Tapeta surface.

The 3-year-old gelding by Neolithic had raced twice last summer, finishing third both times. He returned on June 17 after a layoff of 8 1/2 months and finished third again. But in start No. 4 yesterday, he looked like a combat veteran as Jose Morelos took him wire-to-wire to become his sire’s 12th winner of 2022.

Neophyte broke quickly from the gate and opened up a two-length lead, speeding past the quarter in :21.97 and the half in :45.23. He then cruised to the wire without a challenge, scoring by 4 1/2 lengths in :57.10.

The gelding bred by SCF Inc. paid $11.60 while earning a check for $30,700, raising his bank account to $41,220 and receiving his highest ‘E’ figure of 78. With 12 winners from 23 starters, he’s one of just two top 20 Florida sires currently over 50% in that category.

Pleasant Acres celebrated another of those special Saturdays with a pair of winners at Gulfstream Park and one at Lone Star, all by different sires.

GONE ASTRAY – The son of Dixie Union had the honor of having one of his offspring welcome back jockey Sonny Leon, who got his U. S. start campaigning at Gulfstream in what seems like eons ago, and who now returns as the winner of the Kentucky Derby aboard Rich Strike. Leon had four mounts on his first day back in Hallandale Beach, and won with his second try with She’s Classy in the fourth race.

Leon got winner No. 30 for Gone Astray this year, and the first victory for She’s Classy since Aug. 6 of 2020 at Monmouth Park. The 4-year-old filly bred by Craig Wheeler was off third in the race at five furlongs over the Tapeta surface, eased back to fourth on the rail, found room between horses at the top of the stretch and was able to prevail late by half a length. She was clocked in :59.16, paid $6.40 and raised her record to 2-3-8 in 20 tries. The $13,500 winner’s check increased her total to $63,665.

RIDE ON CURLIN – Ailsa Morrison, one of the ultra-talented group of female riders competing at Gulfstream this year, went wire-to-wire with J R’s Pride, a 2-year-old colt who was breaking his maiden in start No. 3. The colt bred by DeLuca & Sons Stables zipped past the markers in :21.89 and :45.60, completing the five furlongs in :59.04 and 1 3/4 lengths in front. The $47,000 OBS March 2-year-old paid $7.20 and collected a check for $19,600. Ride On Curlin has 10 winners from only 22 starters thus far this season.

NEOLITHIC – Secret Holiday, a 3-year-old colt who didn’t race at two, broke his maiden at Lone Star in his sixth start after getting two seconds and a third in his first five. The $10,500 OBS June 2-year-old also made every pole a winning one with Anardis Rodriguez aboard, and paid $13.80. He won the $33,000 maiden special at six furlongs by a head in 1:12.58 and the check for $19,680 upped his bank account to $33,717.

Pleasant Acres stallions added a pair of stakes-placed finishes to their ledgers yesterday – Sister Otoole finishing second in the $200,500, Gr. III Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park, and Toddchero doing likewise in the $122,200 Prairie Meadows Gold Juvenile Stakes.

Sister Otoole, a 5-year-old mare by Amira’s Prince bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon and making her 16th start, had to negotiate the rain and a soft turf course in Delaware. With Kendrick Carmouche riding, she was no match for Key Biscayne, by former Pleasant Acres stallion Brethren, but was easily second best in the race at 1-3/8ths miles, and collected a check for $40,000. That raised her earnings to $238,032, with $65,973 coming this year.

Toddchero, a colt by red-hot freshman sire Bucchero, came into his race after breaking his maiden in his debut and was sent off at 4-1. Lane Luzzi guided the $77,000 OBS April 2-year-old to his runner-up finish behind heavy favorite Tyler’s Tribe, and he earned $20,000, bringing his total to $39,740. The 5 1/2 furlongs went in a quick 1:03.64.