Turf News

It was another good weekend for Bucchero; two more winners, giving him 38 this year from 72 starters, nine of them 2-year-olds.

REZASROLEX – After a second-place finish in his debut, the 2-year-old gelding went wire-to-wire under Julio Felix in a $16,200 maiden special at one mile on the grass at Belterra Park. Rezarolex was clocked in 1:38.12, holding off all challenges to score by a neck and collecting a check for $9,558, lifting his two-race total to $12,798 for owner/breeder Scott Herbertson. He paid $6.00.

ENSIGN SKIP – The 3-year-old gelding was fractious and proved hard to handle in the gate, but Edgard Zayas was still able to get the maiden away quickly in the race at a mile and 70 yards over the Gulfstream Park Tapeta surface. Ensign Skip sat a comfortable second down the backstretch, but wasn’t making progress on the turn and looked well-beaten. Zayas persevered, got the gelding bred by Crystal Lanum rolling again, and he squeezed between horses nearing the wire to win by three-quarters of a length. The $25,000 OBS October yearling paid $3.80 and came away with a record of 1-0-4 in 12 starts. He earned $11,600, raising his total to $32,270.

Back on March 11, Kendrick Carmouche guided Majestic Return to a 6 1/2-length victory over a sloppy track at Aqueduct in just her second start. After a third at Saratoga and a second at Belmont Park in her fifth and sixth starts, Majestic Return and Carmouche encountered the best of both worlds on Sunday: a return to Aqueduct for the Belmont meeting and a sloppy track to boot.

It proved to be the right medicine, and the 3-year-old New York-bred daughter of Long On Value became her sire’s biggest money-winner with a wire-to-wire romp in an $80,000 allowance race at six furlongs. Carmouche hustled her out of the gate and Majestic Return sizzled through fractions of :22.48, :45.68 and :57.52 while getting no real challenges. She opened up heading into the stretch and it became no contest; the filly drew off to score by 7 1/4 lengths and was going away at the finish.

Majestic Return was clocked in 1:10.23, paid $5.10, and earned a check for $44,000, boosting her bank account to $116,288. She received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 88, best of her seven starts.

Devil’s Only Friend, a 3-year-old Long On Value gelding, has won two races in a row, the first at Monmouth Park and last night at the Meadowlands-at-Monmouth meeting.

The $35,000 OBS March 2-year-old bred by Bulldog Racing was ridden by Lane Luzzi in his latest, a neck victory via a wire-to-wire performance at five furlongs on the turf. The gelding was clocked in :58.23, paid $4.20 and earned a check for $12,600, raising his total to $58,050 on a record of 3-0-0 in six starts.

Neolithic has registered six winners between Sept. 2 and Sept. 16, which includes four in the last week, and his 2023 progeny earnings have vaulted to $819,418.

Bedrock Birdie is the latest, winning in wire-to-wire fashion yesterday in a 5 1/2-furlong race over the Tapeta surface at Gulfstream Park. With Edgard Zayas aboard, the 2-year-old filly bred by Matalona Thoroughbreds in partnership with Joe and Helen Barbazon went by the furlong markers in :22.77, :46.11 and :57.54, then held off first-time starter Great Venezuela, another Neolithic filly, in a head-bobbing photo. It was another 11 1/4 lengths back to the third-place finisher. The Neolithic $2 exacta paid $43.80.

Included in Neolithic’s September hot streak is a maiden-breaking victory by the 4-year-old Jamaican-bred colt Neo Star at Caymanas Park.

Bedrock Birdie, a $20,000 OBS October yearling, scored in her second start clocked in 1:03.78 and paid $8.60; she earned a check for $19,600 from the $30,200 purse.

With the victory of Hey Boots in his career debut at Charles Town yesterday, Bucchero has hit the 50 percent mark for 2023; 72 starters, 36 winners.

The 2-year-old gelding bred by Lance Colwell and Janine M. Clark went wire-to-wire under Axel Concepcion in a $26,500 maiden special at 4 1/2 furlongs, winning by 2 1/2 lengths in an excellent :52.42. The $12,000 Timonium 2-year-old had been working well for his first try and paid $5.60, earning a check for $15,819.

Elsewhere, Fairhopecurly was cross-entered in races at Horseshoe Indianapolis and Kentucky Downs, and owner/breeder Scott Herbertson and his crew chose the former. The decision turned out to be the right one, and the 2-year-old Bucchero filly made it 2-for-2 with a half-length score over 6/5 favorite Riparound in a $36,000 allowance test.

Fairhopecurly had captured her debut at Belterra Park by 1 3/4 lengths and has now earned $31,320. She paid $8.60 for this one after getting five furlongs on the grass in :57.71 under Emmanuel Esquivel, and collecting $21,600.

Neolithic is on pace to hit the $1 million mark in progeny earnings for the first time in three seasons. After Bourbon On Ice’s heart-stopping victory racing six furlongs at Thistledown yesterday, the son of Harlan’s Holiday is averaging a little more than $92,000 a month, putting him on pace to reach $1.1 million by year’s end.

With David Haldar in the irons, Bourbon On Ice was shuffled back early, then made a bold four-wide run on the turn to reach contention. He fought gamely down the lane, getting up by a nose at the wire while clocked in 1:12.66. The 4-year-old gelding bred by Belvedere Farm, a $35,000 OBS October yearling, became Neolithic’s 22nd winner this year, and earned a check for $7,560. He paid $7.20 and ran his career record to 4-4-2 in 27 starts with earnings of $75,350.

Poiema took over as Neolithic’s leading money-winner of 2023 after collecting the $36,000 for her wire-to-wire victory in the $60,000 Stormy Embrace overnight handicap at Gulfstream Park.

The 4-year-old filly bred by Cheryl Janine and James Patrick McGuire raised her current-year earnings to $92,250; overall, she’s 5-5-2 in 22 starts with a bank account of $241,685.

Edgar Perez was aboard the $14,000 OBS June 2-year-old in the 6 1/2-furlong handicap and put Poiema on the lead leaving the gate. She passed the furlong markers in :23.19 and :46.30 while opening up daylight over her pursuers and sprinting away to score by 5 1/2 lengths in 1:18.09. She paid $3.

Bucchero’s sensational summer shows no signs of slowing down. Book’em Danno became his second stakes-winner this year with a victory in the $129,000 Smoke Glacken at Monmouth Park, and Both Sides became winner No. 35 with her score in a $40,000 maiden optional claimer at Gulfstream Park.

BOOK’EM DANNO – After taking his career debut in August by 9 1/2 lengths, the 2-year-old New Jersey-bred gelding made it 2-for-2 with his stakes victory and the check for $75,000 raised his two-race total to $118,125. With Samuel Marin aboard, the gelding named after the Hawaii Five-0 catch phrase made a 3-wide move on the turn, then cruised to the wire two lengths in front. He was clocked in 1:10.86 for the six furlongs, paid $2.80 and received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 96.

BOTH SIDES – The 3-year-old filly was purchased by Bucchero’s owner, Harlan Malter, for $150,000 at the OBS June sale, and her first victory came while racing in the colors of Malter’s Ironhorse Racing Stable. With Miguel Vasquez in the saddle, Both Sides won the 5 1/2-furlong test on the Tapeta surface by half a length, clocked in a quick 1:03.95. She received an ‘E’ figure of 84, earned $24,400 and Bucchero moved up one spot into fifth place on the Florida general sire list with progeny earnings of $1,588,500.

When Fast Fixer was disqualified days after his June 2 victory at Gulfstream Park, the only ones who benefitted from his supposed maiden score were those who backed him at the windows. The 3-year-old gelding paid off at $69.80, $27.40 and $13.20, plus a handful of juicy exotics, and after a DQ decision due to a positive test comes down, there’s no way to retrieve the cash from the winning bettors. Only the owners and breeder Good Beginnings Farm have to take the hit.

The gelding by Bucchero came back to get a second and a third, and yesterday made amends by breaking his maiden at Gulfstream in a 5 1/2-furlong race over the Tapeta surface. With Hector Diaz Jr. in the irons, Fast Fixer became Bucchero’s 34th winner with his 1 1/2-length victory, earned a check for $11,600, and left his sire less than $4,000 away from moving up to fifth place on Florida’s leading sire list for 2023. He paid $3.20 as the heavy favorite, was clocked in 1:04.53, increased his earnings total to $21,600, and received his best Equibase ‘E’ speed figure, an 86.

Bucchero’s 33rd winner was Shards, a 2-year-old colt bred by Craig Wheeler who broke his maiden at Colonial Downs in his third start and also paid $3.20. With Antonio Gallardo up, the $175,000 OBS March purchase made a five-wide run on the turn and inhaled the speed, drawing off by five lengths at the wire. He was clocked in 1:02.90 for the 5 1/2-furlong race on the outer turf course, and the $36,000 paycheck boosted his total to $52,000 on a record of 1-1-1 in three starts.

Calvin Borel has been winning races for more than three decades and has three Kentucky Derby victories on his resume. At Louisiana Downs last night, he showed a little of what has made him one of the top riders in the country over that span.

Aboard the 3-year-old filly Loana in a muddy $27,000 allowance race at a mile and 70 yards, a race that came off the turf, Borel lulled his foes to sleep with a :24.83 first quarter, then put it in overdrive and opened up daylight en route to a 5 3/4-length victory in 1:44 flat.

Loana, a daughter of Neolithic bred by Mary K. Haire, had one second to show for her first six starts, but is 2-2-1 for her next five. The $65,000 Timonium 2-year-old collected a check for $14,400, increasing her career total to $58,534.