Lil Green Machine breaks his maiden at Tampa in 4th try with Spanabel

It took Skyler Spanabel three tries to get the lowdown on Lil Green Machine, and the duo hooked up at Tampa Bay Downs yesterday in try No. 4 to break the maiden of the 4-year-old gelding by Ride on Curlin.

Spanabel had guided Lil Green Machine to two seconds and a fourth before using a rail-running ride to gain his first victory. The gelding was purchased by Karyn Phillipp for $3,000 as a yearling at the OBS October sale in 2019, and yesterday’s check of $9,495 increased his bank account to $25,630 for his owner/trainer.

Lil Green Machine broke fourth in the race at six furlongs and dropped back to sixth along the backstretch, about five lengths off the pace. Spanabel then slipped him through on the inside on the turn and into the stretch and they ran down the last two rivals in the last 50 yards to win by half a length and become Ride on Curlin’s fourth winner of 2022.