Turf News

After winning her final two races at Tampa Bay Downs, then adding No. 3 following a trip to Delaware Park, Sugar Fix went further north and made it four in a row yesterday with a stylish victory at Saratoga, the premier racetrack in North America.

The 3-year-old Treasure Beach filly is in the midst of a rare streak after she was able to muster up just one second-place finish in her first four starts. Since breaking her maiden at Tampa on Jan. 22, Sugar Fix has rolled up a record of 6-2-0 in eight tries and her earnings have increased to $110,868.

The filly bred by Ballybrit Stable ran in her breeder’s colors for her first nine starts before she was claimed away for a bargain $20,000 at Tampa on May 2. Yesterday, after a wire-to-wire beauty on the grass at the Spa under Jose Ortiz, which she won by 2 3/4 lengths and collected $34,100, Sugar Fix was taken again, this time for $40,000 by trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. on behalf of the Mad Dog Racing Stable.

Treasure Beach has had five U. S. winners in the last seven days and with progeny earnings of $741,678, he’s less than $4,000 short of seventh place on Florida’s sire list. In addition, the Argentinian-bred 3-year-old filly, Moya Beach, broke her maiden at Hipodromo De Monterrico in Peru.

Somebody with a bulging wallet must really like runners by Handsome Mike. Two weeks ago, at Delaware Park, La Flamenca was 5-1 on the tote board going to the gate and when she crossed the finish line in front her odds had plummeted to 5/2.

At Evangeline Downs last night it was more of the same. The 4-year-old Handsome Mike filly Keep America Great was seeking her first victory in her fourth start in a five-furlong main track race that was originally scheduled for the turf. Diego Saenz hustled her out of the gate and she took the lead going to the first quarter, which she passed in :22.92. She then opened a daylight lead, and midway on the turn, as Keep America Great continued to draw off from the field, her odds suddenly dropped to 2-1.

With Saenz hand-riding the entire length of the stretch, Keep America Great won by 5 3/4 lengths, paid $6.60, and became Handsome Mike’s 25th winner this year. The $12,600 first prize moved her sire up one spot into 11th place on Florida’s general sire list.

“A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum” opened a highly successful two-year run on Broadway in 1962 and in the 58 years since has spawned a myriad of “A funny thing happened on the way to” stories, editorials, columns, TV skits and much more.

With that in mind, a funny thing happened to Shar’s Treasure leaving the gate in the fourth race at Louisiana Downs yesterday. In his first four career races, three as a 2-year-old last year and the fourth in Louisiana on July 13, the Treasure Beach gelding had been taken so far back in the early going that he had been left with virtually no chance to win. The funny thing that happened yesterday in an $18,000 maiden special on the grass was that first-time rider Jose Guerrero shot Shar’s Treasure right to the lead, and except for a brief moment when a rival came up alongside him early on the backstretch, the outcome was never in doubt.

Shar’s Treasure opened up daylight on the turn and left the field behind in the stretch, completing his wire-to-wire score 3 1/2 lengths in front. He raced 7 1/2 furlongs in 1:33.87, paid a whopping $68.40, and collected a check for $10,800. He also gave Treasure Beach winner No. 26 this year, and vaulted the surging stallion past $704,000 in earnings.

Jockey Mike Allen was in the saddle when 3-year-old Whiskey Dash broke his maiden in his second start on July 1, first day of the new fiscal year for Tampa Bay Downs. Yesterday, Allen made it two straight for the Amira’s Prince gelding, this one about 1,000 miles north over the all-weather track at Presque Isle Downs.

Allen and Whiskey Dash tracked the pacesetter through swift fractions of :22.41, :45.68 and :58.20, then ran down Arba in deep stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:04.53 for the 5 1/2 furlongs. It was nearly five lengths back to the third-place finisher.

Bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon, the $13,000 OBS June 2-year-old paid $5 and earned a check for $9,600, raising his total for three races to $16,395.

Couple of Nikki’s set herself up for yesterday’s one-mile turf race at Gulfstream Park by finishing second in her previous two starts and the public responded by sending her off as the 8/5 favorite.

With Emisael Jaramillo aboard, the 3-year-old filly broke her maiden in her 11th try, becoming Treasure Beach’s 25th winner this year and solidifying his hold on eighth place on the Florida general sire list.

Couple of Nikki’s was off third and sat in a stalking position outside the two pacesetters down the backstretch. When Jaramillo sent her after the lead three wide, the filly took over after three-quarters and continued on for a two-length victory, worth $11,600 and a breeder’s award for owner Patricia Generazio, a long-time Pleasant Acres client.

A pair of come-from-behind turf victories vaulted Treasure Beach back into eighth place yesterday on Florida’s general sire list, the first coming at Woodbine and the other at Penn National.

In Canada, Cerrado was making his first start since a losing effort on Nov. 1, prior to which he had won his last two. With Justin Stein riding, the 4-year-old gelding was off slowly in the one-mile race over the inner turf course, and he was still sixth after three-quarters of a mile. Stein sent Cerrado up five wide on the turn, and the gelding bred by Stroud Lane Farm closed with a rush, getting up to win by a head in 1:35.67.

A $15,000 OBS June 2-year-old, Cerrado collected $13,800 in Canadian funds ($10,294 U. S.) and is now 3-0-1 in 14 starts with earnings of $42,179.

New Found Treasure was the 9/5 favorite racing a mile and 70 yards at Penn National, and Julio Hernandez also took her off the pace at the outset. The 4-year-old filly bred by Stonehedge Farm came off the rail on the turn, closed in the three path into the stretch and was easily best late, gaining her fifth victory by 2 1/4 lengths. She earned $9,240, which boosted her career total to $81,034.

Treasure Beach now has 24 winners this year with progeny earnings of $658,106.

At the age of four, Running for Riz continues to run well and increase his career earnings for owner and co-breeder Linda Riznick.

The 4-year-old son of Handsome Mike went wire-to-wire in a $48,000 allowance optional claimer yesterday, raising his record to 3-2-2-4 in 20 starts, all of them contested at Gulfstream Park. From the rail, Cristian Torres sent Running for Riz to the front out of the gate, and they passed the furlong markers in :22.86 and 45.69 en route to a 3 3/4-length victory in 1:11.69, turning away a single challenge along the way from Hydraulic.

Running for Riz paid $10.80 as he became winner No. 24 for Handsome Mike this year. It increased the colt’s bank account by $29,500, and raised his career total to $151,730.

The race to become the first Florida freshman sire of 2020 to get a winner came down to a battle today between Sophisticurl, by Pleasant Acres stallion Ride On Curlin, and Frankly My Dear, by Ocala Stud’s Jess’s Dream, in the fourth at Gulfstream Park. The two fillies had met previously on June 21, with Frankly My Dear finishing second and Sophisticurl right behind her in third.

Frankly My Dear left from the No. 6 post with Rajiv Maragh in the 5 1/2-furlong maiden special, while Sophisticurl was in the eighth slot with Samy Camacho.

The two broke out of the gate in unison, 7/2 Frankly My Dear on the inside and 15-1 Sophisticurl right on her neck in the two path, and they remained that way through fractions of :22.81, 46.39 and :58.94. Frankly My Dear had her neck in front down the lane, but under a strong ride by Camacho, Sophisticurl edged past her rival nearing the wire and she won by a head in 1:05.65.

The maiden-breaking victory by Sophisticurl was worth $36,000 for owner Rolling Meadows Farm and a breeders’ award for Pleasant Acres owners Joe and Helen Barbazon, who have been on fire in the last month; this is their ninth award in that span. The winner is now 1-0-2 in four starts with earnings of $45,250.

Somebody had some good information concerning La Flamenca prior to the second race at Delaware Park yesterday.

As the field walked slowly toward the starting gate in the six-furlong race, the 3-year-old daughter of Handsome Mike was sitting on the tote board at odds of 5-1. Shortly after she broke second with Huber Villa-Gomez and settled into a stalking position right off the pacesetter, the odds changed and La Flamenca was no longer 5-1 – she was 5/2.

After tracking the leader down the backstretch, she made a bold move in the two-path, took the lead midway on the turn, and proved to be a ton the best in the run to the wire, winning by nearly four lengths in 1:11.65. La Flamenca paid $7.60, and earned a check for $9,000 for her second victory this year, raising her total to $39,990.

On March 21, Blue Mistress broke her maiden on the grass impressively at Tampa Bay Downs while racing for a claiming price of $16,000. So it would seem that trainer Lester Barbazon Jr. sliding her way up the ladder into the $60,000 Portofino Bay Stakes at Gulfstream yesterday was a very ambitious move.

Considering the major jump in class, the 3-year-old daughter of Handsome Mike handled herself well, finishing third in the 1 1/16th-mile race on the grass that went in 1:43.30. Harry Hernandez took her away quickly and Blue Mistress settled into third place down the backstretch. Hernandez moved her on the turn, and – at odds of 27-1 – she made a strong run at the leaders and actually took the lead at the top of the stretch. However, she was unable to hold off the first two finishers in deep stretch.

The improving filly bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon earned a check for $5,880.