Turf News

On September 6, Happy Hill Lil broke her maiden at Saratoga under Eric Cancel and paid $35.40. When the 4-year-old Handsome Mike New York-bred filly returned at Belmont Park yesterday and made it two in a row with Cancel, she must have attracted all the same backers, because this time she paid $35.20.

Happy Hill Lil left from the No. 12 post in the six-furlong race over the inner turf course, and the filly owned and bred by Roger Cimbora Jr. broke in stride and took up a position in fourth place off the rail. Cancel sent her after the leaders coming to the turn, and she took the lead heading down the lane with only 3-1 Theodora Grace chasing her. It was a two-way battle to the wire, and Happy Hill Lil won it in a head-bob.

Happy Hill Lil completed the six furlongs in 1:09.28 and increased her earnings to $64,598. The two victories resulted in Equibase ‘E’ speed figures of 85 and 81, two best of her 11-race career.

After finishing third in a 7 1/2-furlong turf race at Gulfstream Park back on Dec. 13, Circle 8’s Toretto was laid up by trainer Michell Nihei for more than nine months. Yesterday, he made a successful return at Gulfstream in a $52,000 maiden special weight test at a flat mile on the grass with Luca Panici.

The 3-year-old son of Handsome Mike had been doing well in the morning at the Palm Meadows training center – including a pair of bullet works on the grass on Aug, 1 and Aug. 10 – and was sent off at odds of 7/2 despite the layoff. Panici settled Toretto into a comfortable sixth on the first turn, six lengths behind the leaders, then began moving him closer down the backstretch. Panici swung him wide on the turn and Toretto ate up the pack, and from there on it was no contest. Announcer Pete Aiello brought him home with, “Toretto now gets serious and puts ’em away,” as the gelding reached the wire 1 1/4 lengths in front.

Toretto, bred by Tropical Racing, collected a check for $31,900, breaking his maiden in his fifth start. He paid $9.20 after getting the mile in 1:36. 99, and earned an excellent personal best ’81’ speed figure from Equibase.

In just his third start, Cattin became the first stakes-placed runner for freshman sire Neolithic, finishing third in the $400,000 In Reality Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

The 2-year-old colt bred by Curtis Mikkelsen and Patricia Horth had broken his maiden in his career debut, then finished fourth in the $200,000 Affirmed. second leg of the Florida Stallion Stakes series. In the third leg, the mile-and-one-sixteenth In Reality, Cattin came up against Dr. Fager winner Cajun’s Magic and Affirmed winner Octane and gamely fought the pair for three-quarters of a mile. In the stretch the two stakes-winners proved best, but Cattin gamely held on for third, 7 1/2 lengths ahead of the third-place finisher.

Cattin earned $44,000, and increased his three-race total to $84,550.

It was easy to find where Where U B was hanging out after the fourth race at Delaware Park yesterday – he was prancing around in the winner’s circle.

The 3-year-old gelding by Ride On Curlin boosted his record to 2-2-0 in five starts with an ‘almost’ wire-to-wire performance, adding $9,000 to his earnings. Jaime Rodriguez, Delaware’s leading rider, put Where U B on the lead at the outset of the six-furlong race, briefly gave it up starting down the backstretch, then regained it for good passing the quarter in :22.90. The gelding went by the half in :45.91 and held on gamely down the lane, winning by half a length in 1:11.56.

The $5,000 OBS July 2-year-old, who had previously won at Parx and added seconds at Delaware and Pimlico, paid $9.40 and raised his bank account to $26,725.

Everything was coming up roses for My Little Rosy at Delaware Park yesterday, as the 5-year-old daughter of Handsome Mike picked up her second victory in her last three starts with a powerful wire-to-wire performance.

Erasmo Martinez was aboard My Little Rosy, who broke on top from the rail in the race at about a mile and 70 yards on the turf and never gave it up. She turned away a brief challenge on the first turn, then skipped away down the backstretch and was in front by 10 on the final turn. At one point in the backstretch, it was 20 lengths from front to back.

The mare bred by Ponder Hill coasted home by 2 1/2 lengths in 1:43.28 and earned a check for $10,800.

Caffeine Rush closed with a rush in the eighth race at Gulfstream Park yesterday, leaving the field in her wake and giving Handsome Mike his 24th winner of 2021.

The 4-year-old filly bred by Just For Fun Stable was coming off an excellent work of :48.35 for four furlongs at Palm Meadows and went off as the 2-1 favorite in the 5 1/2-furlong race contested over a sloppy track. Leonel Reyes broke her quickly from the rail and she settled in second behind pace-setter Foolish Heart.

After a :22.39 first quarter, Reyes drove Caffeine Rush through inside Foolish Heart and easily took the lead into the stretch. From there, it was all but over as she cruised away to a 6 1/2-length score, raising her record to 2-6-1 in 14 starts.

Caffeine Rush paid $6.80 and collected a check for $20,900, raising her total to $70,840. She earned her best ‘E’ speed figure from Equibase – an 86.

The “light bulb effect” is a theory that a great many sharp racing analysts have long embraced, and Happy Hill Lil joined the club yesterday at Saratoga.

The theory goes that some horses who have raced poorly for a time, have a light bulb click on over their heads (as in so many of the old cartoons) and they suddenly realize why they’re in the race. Happy Hill Lil fits the profile perfectly.

In her first eight career starts, the best the 4-year-old daughter of Handsome Mike could muster up was a third-place finish at Belmont Park back in June of 2020. In every race, she trailed near the rear of the pack, sometimes making up an insignificant bit of ground in deep stretch. In start No. 9, the light apparently came on somewhat and Happy Hill Lil came from way back to finish fourth, only four lengths behind the winner.

Yesterday, Happy Hill Lil completed her racing transformation. With Eric Cancel aboard in a race at 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass, she broke slowly from the 12 post, trailed by some 9 or 10 lengths down the backstretch, then uncorked a monster wide run on the turn and ran down the leaders as announcer John Imbriale bellowed, “Happy Hill Lil is putting in a furious run . . . here is Happy Hill Lil to win the finale . . . at a price.”

That price for the first career victory for the New York-bred filly was $35.40, and she earned $27,500 for owner/breeder Roger Cimboya Jr., enough to buy a truckload of light bulbs.

In her first 27 career starts, And I Know was able to produce just one victory. In her last nine, she’s upped the total to four.

The 5-year-old daughter of Handsome Mike raised her record to 4-8-6 in 36 tries yesterday at Belterra Park, and it was probably her easiest score. Veteran Perry Ouzts sent And I Know out second from the No. 4 post, but she quixkly took over the lead around the first turn and never gave it up.

The mare bred by Adolpho and Felicia Exposito led by two lengths down the backstretch and into the final turn, where she received a minor challenge from 6-1 shot Maliced. But And I Know stepped it up and drew off as announcer Ed Meyer chimed in with, “And I know has more in the tank.” She coasted away to win by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:44.48 for the mile and 70 yards, paid $6.60, and earned $5,580, increasing her lifetime total to $53,398 while sending Handsome Mike’s progeny earnings to $803,960.

Handsome Mike picked up his 22nd winner of 2021 with the stylish victory of Handsome Prince in a 5 1/2-furlong race at Gulfstream Park yesterday.

The 4-year-old bred by Just For Fun Stable had little-known Ronney Betancourt in the irons, but it mattered little as he guided the gelding to a 4 3/4-length score while getting the best out of him – a career-topping Equibase ‘E’ speed rating of 89.

Handsome Prince was off fourth and Betancourt was content to keep him out in the four path down the backstretch. He cruised up to third coming to the turn, challenged the leader turning for home, and coasted to the wire without a challenge as announcer Pete Aiello shouted, “They’re all left in the wake of Handsome Prince.”

The gelding was clocked in 1:04.68, paid $20.80 and earned a check for $11,600, which bumped Handsome Mike up to $791,406 as he heads for his third straight $1 million season. Handsome Prince is 3-3-5 in 20 tries with earnings of $71,290.

Handsome Mike is eighth on Florida’s leading sire list among active stallions.

Handsome Mike picked up two more winners yesterday, Do What It Takes at Finger Lakes and Mike Mike at Mountaineer Casino and Resort, giving the stallion 21 for the year and moving him into 10th place among Florida’s active sires with 2021 progeny earnings of $745,829.

Michael Davila Jr. was aboard Do What It Takes, who raised her record to 6-6-8 in 34 starts with a strong finish after a five-horse cavalry charge to the first quarter. The 5-year-old mare bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon went three wide on the turn and won a three-way duel to the wire by two lengths. The $10,000 OBS April 2-year-old paid $7.90 and earned a check for $7,560, boosting her total to $78,968.

Mike Mike gained his first victory this year with Angel Diaz emulating the ride by Davila on Do What It Takes. The 5-year-old gelding bred by Judy Carlin was up close while five-wide down the backstretch and into the turn, and still had the most left in the battle down the lane, scoring by 1 1/4 lengths. The victory was worth $8,869 and he paid his backers a healthy $18.80.