Turf News

On Breeders’ Cup Day 1, Pleasant Acres stallions won a pair of races from South Florida to Arizona.

GULFSTREAM PARK: My Billeeboy, who broke his maiden last time out in his fourth start to become Long On Value’s first winner, made it two in a row yesterday in a $51,000 allowance optional claimer with Edgar Perez riding. Despite coming in with a victory, a second and two thirds, the 2-year-old colt bred by Lavender Hill Stud still paid $35.20 as the longest price on the board. He earned a check for $31,300, raising his five-race total to a healthy $83,100.

My Billeeboy broke well in the race at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Tapeta course, went after 4/5 favorite Extendo on the turn, took the lead into the stretch and went on to score by two lengths in 1:05.34. His Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 80 was his best thus far.

TURF PARADISE Lady Phyllis, still going strong at age seven, raised her record to 7-9-7 in 39 starts with a three-quarters of a length victory on the grass in Arizona. The Gone Astray mare had Harry Hernandez aboard in the race at 7 1/2 furlongs and they broke on top, eased back to second on the backstretch behind pacesetter Sweet Honor, then beat the 6-1 shot home while holding off several closers.

Lady Phyllis, bred by Northwest Stud, paid $7.80 and earned a check for $7,457, increasing her career bank account to $146,075. She became winner No. 42 this year for Gone Astray, who is just short of $1.6 million in progeny earnings, and sits in fifth place on Florida’s leading sire list.

It took all of Miguel Vasquez’s skills to guide She’s Classy to the wire at Gulfstream Park for her second victory this year.

The 4-year-old daughter of Gone Astray raced off the pace early in the race at five furlongs over the Tapeta surface, and the meet’s leading rider swung her off the rail as they reached the top of the stretch. From there, she out-gamed two rivals to the wire and won a three-horse photo by a head.

Just four races earlier, a track record of :55.40 was set for the distance; She’s Classy reported home in :56.76. She earned a check for $13,500, raising her total to $82,755 on a record of 3-4-8 in 23 tries. The filly bred by Craig L. Wheeler paid $24.40.

Toddchero became stakes-placed for the third time in only five starts when he overcame the No. 12 post and finished third under Lane Luzzi in the seven-furlong, $110,000 Clever Trevor Stakes at Remington Park yesterday.

The 2-year-old colt by Bucchero, who had previously finished second in the Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows and third in the Kip Deville Stakes at Remington, earned a check for $12,100, raising his total to $61,090, most for any runner by his freshman sire. The $77,000 OBS April 2-year-old was bred by GDS Racing Stable.

Bucchero has had 21 starters in his initial crop, with three stakes-placed runners, eight winners and seven others who have finished second or third.

In her first start in September, Feisty Sara missed breaking her maiden by a slim half-length racing six furlongs at Gulfstream Park. Moving to the Tapeta surface for start No. 2, the filly gave Neolithic his 17th winner of 2022, and third of the 2-year-old variety.

The filly bred by Matalona Thoroughbreds raced five furlongs in :58.06 and won by 1 1/4 lengths under leading rider Miguel Vasquez, paying $3.60 as favorite. She earned $18,400, bringing her two-race total to $24,700, as Neolithic reached an even 100 winners plus placers in his less than two seasons.

Vasquez was also responsible for the neck victory of Emirates Affair, who went wire-to-wire at 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta course and raised her record to 3-7-2 in 23 starts. The 4-year-old filly by Handsome Mike picked up $16,000 for her second score of 2022 and increased her career total to $120,160. She is another bred at Pleasant Acres by Joe and Helen Barbazon.

Dropkick Murphy and Spy Hunter made their debuts yesterday in the fifth race at Gulfstream Park, a $40,000 maiden special at 5 1/2 furlongs. Both 2-year-old colts by Bucchero had been working well at the Palm Meadows Training Center, Dropkick Murphy posting two bullet works to one for Spy Hunter, and the bettors sent the former off as the 3/2 favorite, with the latter second choice at 5/2.

When the gate opened, the two sped to the front as a team and proceeded to dog each other through fractions of :22.45, :45:41 and :57.87, with no challenges from the rest of the field. At the top of the stretch, it was Spy Hunter who proved best, drawing off by 5 1/2 lengths in 1:04.62 and giving Bucchero his eighth winner in his initial crop.

Spy Hunter, a $28,000 OBS April 2-year-old, paid $7 and earned a check for $24,000, while Dropkick Murphy collected $8,400 for second. The $2 Pleasant Acres exacta paid $24.20.

Oh Donna gave Bucchero his seventh winner in his first crop with a professional performance in a $40,000 maiden special under Jorge Vargas Jr. at Meadowlands. The stallion by Kantharos is tied for first among Florida’s active freshman sires.

The 2-year-old filly bred by Edward R. Schuster was off alertly in the race at five furlongs over the turf course, and tracked the pacesetter in second until the top of the stretch. In the lane, Oh Donna out-gamed three challengers and won by a neck in 1:00.29. Her initial victory in three starts was worth $24,000 and raised her total to $37,620. A $35,000 OBS June 2-yeaar-old, she paid $8.60.

At Delaware Park, R Averie Lynn made her 12th start of the season a winning one, and raised her record to 6-11-2 in 28 starts. The consistent 4-year-old Gone Astray filly, 2-1-0 in her last three tries, collected $26,400 of the $44,000 allowance purse while getting her third victory this year. She has banked $102,383 since Jan. 1 and $154,802 overall.

Under high weight of 125 pounds, R Averie Lynn was away quickest from the rail under Daniel Centeno, sprinting to the quarter in :21.84 with just one challenger in hailing distance. She opened up on the turn, won by 1 1/2 lengths and paid $4.; it was another seven lengths back to third.

Coco Shell broke loose during the post parade prior to the third race at Delaware Park yesterday, but it turned out to have no ill effects on his race performance a few minutes later.

With Madeline Rowland aboard for the six-furlong test, the 2-year-old colt by Handsome Mike was away fifth while racing wide down the backstretch, then made a monster run on the turn and had the lead as they straightened out for home. Coco Shell went on to score by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:12.75 and paid $39.20, despite a sharp second-place finish in his previous start at Monmouth Park .

The colt owned and bred by Ballybrit Stable earned $13,200 for his maiden-breaker, becoming Handsome Mike’s 23rd winner of 2022.

At the 2017 OBS October sale, OBS financial officer Randell Edwards and his wife, Lucy, sold a Gone Astray yearling for a disappointing $3,500. Five years later, they have more than made up for it in the way of breeders’ awards via Septemberten’s outstanding performance at the track.

The now 6-year-old gelding has started 41 times, has never left South Florida, and after his heart-stopping victory at Gulfstream Park yesterday, has posted a record of six wins, seven seconds and 10 thirds. At award percentages of 10-3-2 (with a few subtractions for the season when the FTBOA stopped paying for second and third), the $3,500 sale is long forgotten.

Yesterday’s purse in the seven-furlong allowance optional claimer was $43,000, adding $4,300 to the breeders’ award account. Samuel Camacho Jr. took Septemberten away sixth from the rail and the gelding remained there until the final turn. Then Camacho swung him about five wide and Septemberten closed like a fire engine on the way to a blaze, getting up at the wire by a nose in 1:23.87 and adding $25,800 to his earnings, which now stand at $251,800.

When being interviewed by the media, trainers always stress that for their next start, all their horse has to do is “run back to their last race.” That’s exactly what Neon Summer did at Remington Park yesterday.

In her previous race at Horseshoe Indianapolis on Sept. 9, the 3-year-old filly by Neolithic missed winning her second race by a neck, with five furlongs on the grass in :58.32. Yesterday, at the same distance, the filly bred by Patricia Generazio engaged in a tough battle on the front end, and survived a three-horse photo in :58:58.

The $10,000 OBS June 2-year-old paid $4.40 and earned $20,196 in the $34,000 allowance test, boosting her total to $68,313 on a record of 2-3-1 in 10 starts, all as a 3-year-old.

Following his final race of 2021 on Dec. 8, Yeudiel didn’t make his return to the track for more than six months, until June 6. After his victory at Mountaineer Casino & Resort last night, the 5-year-old Gone Astray gelding has racked up a record of 3-1-2-1 in seven starts in 2022.

Luciano Hernandez was in the saddle for last night’s score, which came in the gelding’s 29th career start in which he’s 5-9-7 with earnings of $50,792.

Yeudiel broke alertly in the one-mile race, went three wide around the first turn and raced third down the backstretch. Hernandez sent him after the leaders coming to the turn and Yeudiel put away three challengers and out-gamed them to the wire, winning by three-quarters of a length in 1:41.98. He paid $5.60 and collected a check for $4,930.