Turf News

Jose Ortiz put Cosmic Speculation on the lead in the second race at Gulfstream yesterday, lulled the rest of the field to sleep through a controlled pace of :24.76 and :47.97, then had plenty left to break his maiden in his fourth career start.

The 3-year-old gelding by Bucchero reached the wire 1 1/2 lengths in front of fast-closing even-money favorite Victoria’s Chief, and was clocked in 1:29.89 in the $53,000 maiden special at 7 1/2 furlongs over the turf course. Bred by Jennifer and Gillian Johnson, Cosmic Speculation earned a check for $31,800, raising his total to $40,500 on a record of 4-1-1-0. He paid $30.20, became winner No. 4 for Bucchero this year, and was awarded an 80 Equibase ‘E’ speed rating, his best thus far.

It took Samy Camacho two tries to get in sync with Lookin’ Super, and it turned out that the third time was the charm.

Sent off as the 7/5 favorite going seven furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs, Lookin’ Super chased King Miano down the backstretch and into the turn in a :22.46 first quarter and a half in :45.51. He charged to the front in the stretch and proved to be much the best late, drawing off by 5 1/2 lengths in a sizzling clocking of 1:22.89. The 3-year-old Bucchero gelding, a $25,000 OBS June 2-year-old bred by Pamela Edel, received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 80 and earned a check of $11,250 for trainer Gerald Bennett and his Winning Stables.

Lookin’ Super is Bucchero’s third 3-year-old winner since Jan. 1 and sent the progeny earnings of the son of Kantharos to $110,421, which puts him in 12th place this season among Florida’s active sires.

Gone Astray’s sixth winner of 2023 is a rare Illinois-bred – the 3-year-old colt Richiesonaroll.

Bred by Richard Ravin, Richiesonaroll made a strong 4-wide move on the turn in the six-furlong maiden race at Tampa Bay Downs, then proved easily best in the stretch, winning by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:10.58. It was another 8 1/4 lengths back to the third-place finisher. Richiesonaroll paid $3.40 as favorite and received an excellent ’91’ Equibase E speed figure for the effort, best of his seven-race career.

The colt’s first victory was worth $8,400 to Gerald Bennett and his Winning Stable, but Tampa’s perennial leading trainer lost Richiesonaroll for $16,000 after three other trainers dipped into the claiming box to try to halter him.

World Gone Wild overcame trouble and picked up her 10th career victory yesterday with a come-from behind score in a 6 1/2-furlong race at Parx Racing.

Jeremy Laprida was in the saddle for the 5-year-old Gone Astray mare’s milestone as she raised her overall record to 10-3-1 in 30 starts. Bred by Dr. Myron R. Wilson and a $3,000 OBS October yearling in 2019, World Gone Wild added $110,800 to her bank account, which now stands at a formidable $261,275.

World Gone Wild jumped at the break but Laprida was able to send her out to stalk the leaders in fourth place on the inside down the backstretch. Laprida tried to find racing room nearing the top of the stretch but his mare was forced to check briefly, and when she recovered he sent her four wide. World Gone Wild then ran down the leaders in mid-stretch, and held off one late runner to win by three-quarters of a length, paying$7.

Gulfstream Park and a slew of sharp handicappers celebrated an all-Pleasant Acres daily double yesterday, when Buc N Beauty won the first race and paid $3.80, followed up by Chiquirin’s $39.80 upset in the second race. The all-Pleasant Acres $2 double checked in at a cool $113.

Race 1: Tyler Gafffalione was aboard Buc N Beauty, a 3-year-old filly owned and bred by Thoroughbred Racing Nation who was making just her second start in $50,000 maiden optional claiming company after registering a third-place finish in her debut. She went to the lead, put up early fractions of :22.80 and :44.72, then held on to score by half a length in 1:06.57 for the 5 1/2 furlongs. Bucchero’s second January winner earned $30,700 and has banked $36,130 in her two starts.

Race 2: Chiquirin, a 4-year-old gelding by Gone Astray bred by SJT Racing Stable, was so far behind heading down the backstretch of the one-mile race that he was out of the TV picture. Ivan Pimentel Jr. switched into overdrive on the turn and the gelding used the rail to gobble up the leaders. He took the lead at the top of the stretch and drew off easily to get his second victory in 11 starts. Track announcer Pete Aiello, usually an excellent judge of a winner’s final margin, missed by a mile in this one with the call “Chiquirin clears off to win by five at the end,” but the camera showed it to be nine lengths and widening. He collected $11,600 for the effort, accomplished in 1:38.75.

When assessing all the bad luck horsemen often endure with their stables, it’s heartwarming to learn about the other side of the coin from time to time.

On Sept. 4, MCA Racing Stable claimed Carabinero out of his second race at Gulfstream Park – a winning effort – for a mere $12,500. The 3-year-old Neolithic gelding bred by Lott’s Creek Farm had been purchased at the OBS March sale for $55,000. After a third and another victory in his new barn, Carabinero was the recipient of an owner’s dream – six horses entered in a $34,620 starter allowance claimer, followed by three late scratches.

With only two others to concern him, Carabinero was sent off at 1/2 and easily lived up to the bettors’ confidence. With Angel Morales aboard, he went wire-to-wire, won by 3 1/2 lengths with six furlongs in 1:ll:99, and earned a check for $22,600. He’s now a formidable 3-0-1-1 in five starts with earnings of $70,820 and the owners of MCA Stable have collected $58,400 of that total. However, they lost Carabinero in a claim yesterday for $25,000, making his addition to their bank account a cool $83,400 with which they can search for another claim.

Carabinero began his career with a fourth-place finish and an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 59. That number increased in every race, winding up with a 77 yesterday.

Credit Ocala jockey Jose Ortiz for getting Gone Astray his third winner this month.

She’s Classy was making a strong wide move from behind on the turn in the third race at Gulfstream Park yesterday, when Ortiz suddenly yanked her to the left and she split horses and out-gamed three rivals to the wire, winning by half a length. The 5-year-old mare bred by Craig L. Wheeler upped her record to 4-4-8 in 25 starts and the check for $14,800 lifted her earnings to $97,865.

She’s Classy, who has won three of her last six plus a second, paid $24.20 after racing 5 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta surface in 1:03.15.

Joe and Helen Barbazon struck for two breeders’ awards yesterday via former Pleasant Acres stallions, one with long-time partners at Gulfstream Park in track-record time and the other at Tampa Bay Downs.

Extendo, a 3-year-old colt by Handsome Mike who is now 2-for-3, went wire-to-wire at Gulfstream under Luis Saez, winning a $39,000 starter optional claimer by nearly seven lengths in a record 1:01.61 for 5 1/2 furlongs over the Tapeta track. Bred in partnership with Ed Seltzer and Beverly Anderson, Extendo collected $23,800, boosting his three-race take to $43,840. The $25,000 OBS June 2-year-old is out of Jeekers, who now has five foals and five winners.

At Tampa, Poseidon’s Myth, a 5-year-old gelding by Poseidons Warrior bred by the Barbazons, won the eighth race by a nose under Angel Arroyo for his first career victory.

Add Bad Water to the rapidly growing list from Bucchero’s first crop who have come out running, although the gelding trained by Ocala’s Robert Smith did it a little differently than the 14 winners before him. As opposed to most of the stallion’s 2022 successes who have gone wire-to-wire or sat close to the lead in the early going, Bad Water was about eight lengths behind coming to the turn in the five-furlong race at Tampa Bay Downs.

The gelding showed just three forgettable works on his tab leading up to yesterday’s debut, two of them at Smith’s Wesfield Farm, yet Bad Water was bet down to 5/2. With Marcos Meneses up, he was off sixth in the two path, and remained there down the backstretch as the pacesetters widened the gap between them through fractions of :21.74 and :45.94. But Meneses switched into overdrive on the turn and his mount gobbled up the leaders, aided by his rider saving tons of ground by wrangling him to the rail. From there, Bad Water battled down the lane against the other two first-timers in the race, and prevailed by a neck in a three-horse photo.

Bucchero’s first 3-year-old winner, who was bred by Dr. Ross Russell, paid an even $7 after getting the five-eighths in :58.83, and earned a check for $10,300.

Valuable Breigh kicked off her 2023 campaign with as imposing a performance that any runner could make, while giving Gone Astray his second winner of opening week of the New Year.

The 4-year-old filly bred by Carol A. Reitman, Susan Gannon and Warren Miller exploded in the stretch going 6 1/2 furlongs at Parx Racing, leaving the field behind in the last eighth of a mile and winning in the mud by an eye-opening 12 1/4 lengths. Yabriel Ramos was the recipient of the rocking-chair ride, which began with an early battle that ended when Valuable Breigh opened up daylight and was never threatened following a :22.76 quarter. Her Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 85 was by far her career best.

Valuable Breigh earned $13,200 for her victory, lifting her total to $58,240; she’s posted a record of 3-1-1 in 15 starts.