Pleasant Acres stallions enjoy special day
There were two stakes contested at Tampa Bay Downs yesterday and runners by Pleasant Acres stallions played a major role in two of them. Cattin (Neolithic) won the $100,000 Inaugural, and Chasing Happiness (Gone Astray) finished third in the $100,000 Sandpiper.
There were nine Claiming Crown stakes contested at Gulfstream Park and runners by Pleasant Acres stallions played a role in a pair of them, too. Our Fantasy (Amira’s Prince) finished second in the $80,000 Glass Slipper Starter Stakes, and Cat’s Astray (Gone Astray) finished fourth in the $90,000 Distaff Dash Starter Stakes.
In addition, C V Thunder (Handsome Mike) broke her maiden over the all-weather track at Turfway Park. The total monetary haul for the four Pleasant Acres stallions came to $113,712.
(1) – Cattin, a $25,000 OBS Winter 2-year-old bred by Curtis Mikkelsen and Patricia Horth, came from off the pace to win the Inaugural by 2 1/2 lengths under Samy Camacho, paying $11.40 and earning a check for $80,000. That includes $50,000 for the FSS bonus. He was clocked in 1:10.90 for the six furlongs and boosted his record to 2-0-1 in four starts, with earnings of $164,550.
(2) – Chasing Happiness, owned and bred by Bill and Lynn Rainbow, missed second by a neck in the Sandpiper after being squeezed at the break, then steadied, and collected $5,000. The 2-year-old filly is 1-1-1 in three starts with earnings of $48,900.
(3) – At odds of 8-1, Our Fantasy was nailed at the wire by a head in the Glass Slipper after making a five-wide move into the lead, and had to settle for the runner-up check of $16,544. The 4-year-old filly bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon, a $50,000 OBS April 2-year-old, is 5-4-3 in 20 starts with earnings of $157,224.
(4) – Cat’s Astray, a 46-1 proposition, missed second by a head and a neck in the Distaff Dash, and collected $4,968 to raise her total to $160,718 on a record of 5-6-5 in 33 tries. Winner Payntdembluesaway broke the course record of :55.61 for ‘about’ five furlongs on the grass, lowering it to :55.31.
(5) – C V Thunder, a 3-year-old filly bred by Jim Gulick, broke her maiden in her 10th start, scoring by a nose and paying $37.80. She raced six furlongs in 1:11.62 and earned $7,200.