Handsome Mike picks up two weekend winners

Handsome Mike added two more winners to his ledger over the weekend, Do What It Takes breaking her maiden at Monmouth Park and Saint Michael making it two victories in a row at Penn National.

Do What It Takes, a 3-year-old filly bred in New York by Joe and Helen Barbazon, was a $10,000 OBS April purchase last year. After finishing second in her previous start, she went off at even money in this six-furlong race.

She was bumped leaving the gate, then was rushed up by Reylu Gutierrez to take the lead going to the first quarter. Around the turn, Gutierrez gave up the lead to Breath of Dawn and Do What It Takes dropped back to second. But the rider never gave up, angling his filly out to mid-track for the stretch run, and she came again, going on to score by 2 1/4 lengths and becoming Handsome Mike’s 10th winner this year.

Saint Michael, bred by Jeannine Strauss McGinn, was consigned by Pleasant Acres to the OBS Winter Sale in 2017 and was purchased for $9,500 by long-time Ocala breeder Frank Bertolino, owner of Monarch Stables. After the colt broke his maiden, Bertolino lost him in a claim for $20,000.

In his new silks, Saint Michael won his last by six lengths, then made it two straight in Pennsylvania with a hard-fought victory by half a length, clocked in a quick 1:10.82 for the six furlongs. In winning for the third time in nine starts, he earned his highest ‘E’ rating on Equibase, an 86.