Turf News

After Zaddy left Florida and arrived in Ohio in May, he finished fifth in his first try at Belterra Park. Then, Albin Jiminez jumped aboard and the 3-year-old Neolithic gelding responded with a victory and two seconds. However, when his next start came, Jiminez was scheduled to ride the 3/10 favorite in the same race, and Zaddy’s ride went to apprentice Summer Pauly. Jiminez won the race, but Pauly guided Zaddy into second place, and she’s been aboard ever since.

Four starts with the apprentice in the irons and Zaddy has posted two victories and two seconds, the latest a score at five furlongs on the grass with the gelding prevailing in a three-horse photo. The $20,000 OBS October yearling was clocked in :58.42, paid $24, and the check for $7,200 increased his total to $40,317 on a record of 3-5-0 in 17 starts.

Zaddy’s record in his last seven starts is a smart 3-4-0 and apprentice Summer Pauly looks like she has a steady ride.

After an enforced vacation put him out of action for 10 months, Neon Sign has returned in top form for trainer Tim Kreiser. The 5-year-old Neolithic gelding finished fifth in his return, but has since added a second and a first at Penn National, followed by another score in his latest at Delaware Park.

The Delaware race was a $26,650 starter optional claimer at six furlongs, and Carlos Lopez gave the $15,000 OBS June 2-year-old a perfect heads-up ride. From the No. 2 post, he settled Neon Sign in third place down the backstretch, went wide after the leaders on the turn, and proved best of several rivals down the lane, winning by one length in 1:11.62. The gelding bred by Southern Comfort Farm paid $7.80, and the winner’s check for $16,200 raised his earnings to $124,345 on a record of 7-4-0 in 20 starts.

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Leonel Reyes had a monster day with females at Gulfstream over the weekend, winning four races with the young ladies, including two by daughters of Neolithic.

I LOVE VENEZUELA – In the race at 1 1/16 miles over the Tapeta surface, under co-highweight of 125 pounds, Reyes had the 4-year-old filly sitting a stalking second heading down the backstretch. He let her out coming to the turn and I Love Venezuela caught the leader, wrested the lead from her in the stretch and ran away to core by four lengths, clocked in 1:43.63. The filly bred by Orlyana Farm paid $4.40 and earned a check for $14,550, boosting her bank account to $53,962 on a record of 2-5-0 in 20 starts.

WILLOW CASE – Three races later, Reyes guided the 2-year-old filly to an upset victory in the $75,000 Sharp Susan Stakes, giving Neolithic five black-type winners in 2025 and nine overall. In her third start, the filly bred by Sherry R. Mansfield and Kenneth H. Davis went off at 27-1, highest price in the field of seven going six furlongs. She sat third down the backstretch, fanned out wide on the turn and was easily best in the run to the wire, winning by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:11.51. She paid $56 and earned a check for $44,100, jumping her bank account to $86,300.

Neolithic is less than $52,000 from reaching $8 million in career progeny earnings.

Another highly successful several days for Neolithic resulted in four more winners, two stakes-placed runners and one third, and his progeny earnings have reached $2,030,097. He’s a cinch to reach his first $3 million season by year’s end.

NEW ROME – The 5-year-old Kentucky-bred is approaching $200,000 in earnings after an easy score in a $72,764 allowance test at Ellis Park. The mare bred by Suzanne Sackleh and Michael Masters went wire-to-wire in the race at one mile over the turf course, and her clocking of 1:32.46 is just seven-tenths of a second off the course record.

Adam Beschizza was in the saddle for the rocking-chair ride, with New Rome opening up a five-length lead in the stretch, then coasting home by 3 1/4 lengths. She paid $7.78 and earned a check for $30,354, increasing her lifetime bank account to $194,568 on a record of 7-2-1 in 16 starts. She received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 101, best of her career.

KIP THE DISTANCE – Angel Rodriguez has the best of all worlds: he’s the breeder, owner and trainer of the 3-year-old filly who went wire-to-wire in a $30,000 claimer at Colonial Downs, and luckily he didn’t lose her. With Jose Lopez aboard in the 5 1/2-furlong test that was originally scheduled for the turf, Kip the Distance set a blazing pace – :22.31, :44.69 and :56.27 – and went on to win by two lengths in 1:02.61, just over one second off the track record. She paid $3.20 and Rodriguez collected a check for $21,000, bringing her career total to $163,670 on a record of 2-4-3 in 18 tries.

STAKES-PLACED – Camigol’s connections were the recipient of a gift when two scratches left a field of four in the Gr. II, $200,000 Saratoga Special. Under Jose Lezcano, the 2-year-old colt finished third at odds of 18-1, and the check for $24,000 boosted his earnings for three races to $70,200.

GREAT VENEZUELA – The 4-year-old filly kept her in-the-money record intact – she’s an awesome 8-4-2 in 14 starts after her runner-up finish in the $100,000 Incredible Revenge Stakes at Monmouth Park. At odds of 8/5, she lost by one length and collected $20,000, jumping her bank account to $355,120, with $176,920 coming in 2025.

BARBAZON BONANZA – After bringing home a second-place breeder’s award for Joe and Helen Barbazon in her first of two starts, Bayou Brigid struck big-time in outing No. 3, breaking her maiden in impressive style at Gulfstream Park with the Pleasant Acres owners receiving a healthy award based on the $70,000 purse.

In a race at a mile and 70 yards that had come off the turf, Luca Panici sent the $20,000 OBS April 2-year-old three wide into the stretch and Bayou Brigid went on to win by 2 1/2 lengths. She paid $13, and the $50,000 payoff jumped her earnings to $62,600.

NEOLITHICA – Another wire-to-wire victory, this one at Charles Town by the 4-year-old filly bred in Maryland by Maria M. Haire. A $30,000 Timonium October yearling, Neolithica earned her best Equibase ‘E’ speed figure, an 89, after scoring by 9 1/2 lengths in a $31,700 allowance test at 6 1/2 furlongs. Winner of four of seven efforts this year, she’s 8-2-1 in 20 career starts with earnings of $170,576 after adding her latest check for $18,936.

Ballybrit Stables’ patience with Loop of Henle paid off at Monmouth Park with the 3-year-old Gunnevera filly breaking her maiden under Paco Lopez in her 11th start.

Loop of Henle didn’t start at two and after coming up to her latest following a pair of seconds, she went to the post as the heavy 1/2 favorite. After a quick start, she sat a comfortable third down the backstretch, slipped through into contention on the inside, then bested 5/2 Princess Norman by a neck in the run to the wire. She was clocked in 1:13.31 for the six furlongs, paid $3 and earned a check for $10,500, raising her bank account to $25,150.

Attorney David Romanik and his trainer, Ron Spatz, have enjoyed great success in recent seasons with runners sired by stallions from Pleasant Acres. On Friday, they made a $25,800 score at Gulfstream Park with Private Thoughts, a 4-year-old gelding by Neolithic who also earned a healthy breeders’ award for Joe and Helen Barbazon.

Romanik and Spatz purchased Private Thoughts for a bargain $11,000 at the 2023 OBS March sale and he has now earned $187,574.

Private Thoughts had not raced in nine months, but he broke quickly and Leonel Reyes was able to settle him in comfortably along the inside heading down the backstretch in the race at one mile over the turf course. Reyes shook him up coming to the final turn and the gelding went up for the lead in the lane, then out-gamed even-money favorite Smart Striker by a head at the wire.

The race went in 1:33.27, less than two seconds off the course record and Private Thoughts rewarded his backers with a $9.40 win price. He raised his record to 5-2-2 in 13 starts and received an Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of 94.

Coming off a second-place finish at Penn National, where he missed by a head in a six-furlong race that went in 1:09.45, this week Neon Sign rebounded at the same distance and went wire-to-wire under Jomar Torres, scoring by three lengths, and posting the best Equibase ‘E’ speed figure of his 19-race career.

The 5-year-old Neolithic gelding bred by Southern Comfort Farm zipped past the poles in :22.67, :45.40 and :57.17 and rolled past the finish line in 1:09.74. Those who for some reason ventured to wager on the $15,000 OBS June 2-year-old collected $2.40 to win. His new top ‘E’ speed figure is 94, and he collected $13,200 for the impressive effort, which increased his career total to $108,145 on a record of 6-4-0 in his 19 starts.

Monumental. “Great in importance, extent, or size.” That’s the only way one can describe the four-day period winding up Saturday featuring Pleasant Acres Stallions, owners Joe and Helen Barbazon and the stallion Neolithic.

From Wednesday to Saturday, Neolithic had three winners, including one in a $100,000 stakes race, plus four seconds. The total haul for the magnificent seven amounts to $101,864. The Barbazons were breeders/co-breeders in three of them.

First on the list is Sir Banana Brian, who won at a mile-and-70-yards at Delaware Park and paid a juicy $25. The $10,000 OBS June 2-year-old bred by Patricia Generazio scored by nearly five lengths in 1:44.15. The 4-year-old colt became Neolithic’s 33rd winner of 2025, earning a check for $9,000 and raising his total to $53,840 on a record of 2-3-5 in 26 starts.

The first of the runners-up is Big Bucksalot, second by three-quarters of a length in a starter optional claimer at Thistledown. The 5-year-old gelding bred by Julie Jackson came from just off the pace in a six-furlong race that went in 1:11.77. He earned $4,000 and is just $433 short of reaching $100,000.

Next came Spotlight Girl, a West Virginia-bred 2-year-old filly owned, bred and trained by Angel Rodriguez. In her 5 1/2-furlong third start, at Charles Town, she led all the way into the stretch before being caught by the even-money favorite, and collected $6,064, jumping her total to $12,624.

On Friday, Neoequos, coming out of four straight graded stakes, including the Kentucky Derby, ran away and hid in the six-furlong, $100,000 Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park. Sam Marin was aboard for the first stakes victory for the 3-year-old colt, accomplished by nearly four lengths in 1:09.51. Bred by Joe and Helen Barbazon in partnership with Matalona Thoroughbreds, and with seven owners, the $22,000 OBS October yearling paid $2.60 and raised his record to 3-2-2 in 10 starts. The $60,000 check increased his earnings to $354,050, second best among all Neolithic runners.

Earlier in the day, Miss Neo, making her first start in 6 1/2 months, finished second to a 7/10 favorite at Delaware Park. The 5-year-old mare bred by the Barbazons in partnership with Ed Seltzer and Beverly Anderson earned $3,200, boosting her earnings to $43,050.

The streak wound up in the 11th race at Gulfstream Park, when Dialithic and I Love Venezuela finished 1-2 in a race at a mile and 70 yards over the Tapeta surface. Dialithic is a 4-year-old filly bred by the Barbazons without partners, and she won by two lengths over I Love Venezuela, who had 7 1/2 lengths over the third-place finisher. Dialithic, a $25,000 OBS October yearling, paid $8.40 and earned $14,550, becoming winner No. 34. I Love Venezuela picked up $5,050 for second.

Neodera raced twice as a 2-year-old in July of 2024 and collected a pair of thirds. The Neolithic filly then took a vacation of one year, returning at Gulfstream Park for owners SCF Inc. and attorney David Romanik and registering a wire-to-wire score to become her sire’s 32nd winner of this year.

Emisael Jaramillo was aboard Neodera in the $56,000 maiden special at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Tapeta surface. She passed the markers in :22.72, :45.29 and :57.58, then held off her rivals in the lane to win by one length. She was clocked in a quick 1:03.94, paid $10.20, and earned a check for $33,000 plus a breeder’s award for SCF Inc. Her three-race bank account jumped to $42,900.

At Belterra Park the same day, Zaddy also went wire-to-wire, this one at six furlongs under Summer Pauly. Since leaving Florida, where he could only muster up a single third in seven tries, the 3-year-old Neolithic gelding has had six races in Ohio, posting two victories and three seconds.

The sharp local record was enough to send Zaddy off at an unbettable 1/5, and he paid $2.40, although he won by just a head. Clocked in 1:12.77, the $20,000 OBS October yearling bred by Paradisus Acres Thorougbreds earned a check for $6,262, upping his total to $30,717.

Neolithic now has 2025 progeny earnings nearing $1.7 million, in third place on Florida’s general sire list.

Add Saffie Joseph Jr. to the list of trainers who like to take advantage of the cash handed out at the Colonial Downs meeting. Saffie struck quickly in a $72,000 allowance race with his consistent 5-year-old Neolithic gelding, Mister Abarrio, and owner Skymac profited to the tune of $43,200.

Micah Husbands was in the irons aboard the $30,000 OBS October yearling, who was coming into the one-mile test over the inner turf course off a second and a first, and went off at 5/2. Micah allowed the gelding to sit comfortably in mid-pack on the rail down the backstretch, and Mister Abarrio began to close coming to the final turn. He was blocked briefly, then swung wide for the stretch run where he inhaled the leaders and won going away by 1 1/4 lengths.

He was clocked in 1:35.94, paid $7.60, and raised his earnings to $251,510 on an imposing record of 5-7-11 in 31 starts, with $85,370 coming this year.