HALLANDALE BEACH - Magic Cap Stables, Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch, Castle Gate Farm, Kuehne Racing and John Reinhardt’s Tessellate, stakes-placed in each of her last two starts, will get another chance to break through when she returns as a leading contender in Saturday’s $75,000 Juvenile Fillies Sprint at Gulfstream Park.

    The Juvenile Fillies Sprint, going 6 ½ furlongs on the main track, is the headliner on an 11-race program that begins at 12:20 p.m.

    Bred in Florida by Castle Gate Farm and trained by Sunshine Meet leader Saffie Joseph Jr., Tessellate shortens up in distance after running third behind Willow Case in the one-mile Hallandale Beach, a race where she dueled for the lead nearing the stretch and wound up beaten 6 ¼ lengths.

    In her prior start, the $170,000 yearling daughter of multiple Gr. 1 winner McKinzie came from off the pace to be second as the favorite in the six-furlong Sharp Susan, 3 ¼ lengths behind Willow Case in a race contested over a sloppy main track.

    “Last time we stretched her out. We didn’t think she wanted to go that far, but we wanted to give it a try. The cutback should help her a lot,” Joseph said. “This is the logical spot. There wasn’t anything around so we stretched her out going a mile last time just to see what happened, but she wants to be a sprinter.”

    A front-running debut winner against state-breds going five furlongs, Tessellate drew Post 2 of eight and will be ridden by Edgard Zayas. They are rated as the 5-2 second choice on the morning line.

    “She’s fast, but she doesn’t need the lead. She can sit and make a run,” Joseph said. “I think she goes in there with a very good chance.”

    Joseph also entered La Dolce Vita and Mystical Belle. After two unsuccessful tries on the turf, Peachtree Stable homebred La Dolce Vita graduated with a popular 1 ¾-length maiden special weight triumph Oct. 24 sprinting six furlongs on the main track. “She won well last time,” Joseph said. “She’s coming back obviously a little quick, but I think if she runs her race she should be a big factor.”

    La Dolce Vita has been favored in each of her three races, running second in her debut going five furlongs at Gulfstream, beaten four lengths by subsequent Hollywood Beach runner-up The Princess Bro. Fourth in a one-mile maiden spot at Kentucky Downs, she is the Juvenile Fillies 2-1 program favorite from Post 1.

    “She showed promise right away. When she got beat the first time we were a little surprised, but the horse that beat her turned out to be a nice horse,” Joseph said. “She ran big last time in her first time on the dirt. I’m still not convinced that she doesn’t want the grass, but for now we’ll stick to the dirt.”

    Joseph indicated MyRacehorse, P T Racing, Clay Sides and John Reinhardt’s Mystical Belle (Post 5, 3-1), a good-looking maiden winner over the all-weather Tapeta course at Gulfstream, would likely scratch in favor of an optional claiming allowance for 2-year-olds on Sunday. In her two races, Mystical Belle was second behind her stablemate and subsequent Gr. I Frizette runner-up Rileytole and then a 1 ¼-length winner over next-out winner Flowko.

    “She’s run well,” Joseph said. “She ran second first time out to a nice horse that ran second in a Grade 1, and then she won second time and beat a filly that came back to win, also.”

    Oliver Gray’s Dakota’s Little Auror (Post 4, 15-1) is the other horse in the field with stakes experience, having run third in the Sharp Susan and fourth in the Hallandale Beach. She has lost three straight following a maiden triumph against Florida-breds sprinting 4 ½ furlongs.

    Make Your Wish, Lady Chance and Epigram all enter the Juvenile Fillies Sprint off victories. Amanda Hernandez Zorilla’s Make Your Wish (Post 6, 30-1), trained by Ramon Minguet, comes from the same connections that campaigned Willow Case before the filly was sold via digital auction for $340,000.

    After placing in each of her first three races, including a back-to-back runner-up finishes, William Law Jr.’s Florida homebred Lady Chance (Post 7, 20-1) graduated by 2 ½ lengths against state-bred company.

    Epigram (Post 8, 3-1), owned and trained by Jose Castro, will be making her stakes debut off one race, an eye-catching 9 ¾-length open maiden special weight triumph Aug. 15 sprinting five furlongs on Gulfstream’s main track.

    “She’s doing good. She had a good race last time, exactly like we hoped. We hope that she can run the same race. She’s a good horse, very talented,” owner-trainer Jose Castro said. “We hope she can win again. She’s in good condition, she’s training good, she’s working good, she came out of the race good. She’s very, very happy.”

    Castro, who purchased Epigram for $38,000 in April as a 2-year-old in training, said the gap between starts was by design. Her multimillionaire sire, Code of Honor, was a Grade 1 winner whose first of four graded stakes triumphs came in the 2019 Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream.

    “She is very fast. She has a nice pedigree. When we bought her at the auction, the first time we saw her at the barn we were looking for the good confirmation. That’s the reason we chose her,” Castro said. “She’s still a baby so we have to try to just go little by little with her. We try to get her ready for this moment and right now she’s ready to run again.”

    Completing the field is Sultan Racing’s Nour (Post 3, 10-1), who ran second in an optional claimer at Gulfstream but finished ahead of both Willow Case (third) and Dakota’s Lil Auror (fifth).

    The 3-year-old Florida-bred gelding Mad House left Tampa Bay Downs last spring with an 0-for-4 record, filling his trainer David VanWinkle with uncertainty about what came next.

    VanWinkle, who began training thoroughbreds in 1989, knew Mad House had potential. The well-bred son of Vekoma out of the Munnings daughter Stifled Heiress finished second in his career debut on Jan. 8 sprinting 6 furlongs to John Hancock, the Brad Cox-trained colt who won the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes in his next start.

    But after that promising debut, Mad House turned in a trio of perplexing performances, including an uninspired fourth on March 30 in the 7-furlong Florida Cup Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes. As he prepared to take Mad House to Canterbury Park in Minnesota for the late spring and early summer, VanWinkle probably felt like a game-show contestant holding 100 keys, only one of which unlocks the door to an elusive victory and continued success.

    “We had tried to stretch him out in distance at Tampa, and I don’t think that was his cup of tea,” VanWinkle said. “He was always sound and didn’t have any setbacks, but he was a little bit high-strung and it took him time to figure things out. It took him a while to put everything together mentally.”

    If you’re a serious horse racing fan, you already know Mad House has developed into one of the sport’s leading Cinderella stories of 2025. Owned by South Dakota resident James Thares, Mad House has won four races in a row since breaking his maiden on June 29 at Canterbury, including the Gr. II, $400,000 Gallant Bob Stakes on Sept. 20 at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania.

    The front-running victory, in which the 23-1 shot sped six furlongs in 1:08.77, earned Mad House a spot in Saturday's $2 million, six-furlong Cygames BC Sprint at Del Mar.

    Luis Saez will ride Mad House, who drew the No. 13 post in the 14-horse field. The race is the sixth on the card, with a scheduled post time of 1:21 p.m. Pacific Time (4:21 for Tampa Bay Downs simulcast viewers).

    Tampa Bay Downs will simulcast all of the Breeders’ Cup races Friday and Saturday, with Friday’s Del Mar action starting at 11:35 a.m. Pacific Time and Saturday’s races getting underway at 10:05 a.m. Pacific Time.

    Mad House flew to southern California on Thursday from south Florida, where he worked a sharp 4 furlongs last week in 47.10 seconds. VanWinkle arrived on Saturday, jogging the horse about a mile on Sunday and galloping him a mile-and-a-half Monday and Tuesday.

    “He is fit and feeling good. He has adapted well to being out here,” said VanWinkle, who will return to Oldsmar for the upcoming Tampa Bay Downs meet when he descends from the clouds.
The 63-year-old conditioner, who hails from the small Nebraska town of Burchard (population roughly 120), has found preparing his first Breeders’ Cup entry an exhilarating experience. Being surrounded by celebrities from the racing world and beyond has taken some getting used to.

    The Gallant Bob was the first graded-stakes victory of VanWinkle’s career, and all of a sudden he and his horse have graduated to racing’s biggest international stage.

    “I’ve seen a few (A-list racing personalities) since I got here,” VanWinkle said, referring to the top practitioners in his profession. Bill Mott, Todd Pletcher, I saw them at the (post-position) draw. It is quite a good feeling to be here. It is something you never plan on – I didn’t.”

    VanWinkle, who is a three-time leading trainer at Canterbury, will be joined at the event by his wife Pam and daughter Taylor, his assistant.

    After serving notice that sprinting was his thing in his first career victory, an 11 ½-length romp in a 5 ½-furlong race, Mad House won a pair of 6-furlong allowance races at Canterbury in July and August, but his three-race winning streak up north didn’t hold much weight with Gallant Bob bettors.

    VanWinkle admits he wasn’t sure what to expect. “He was stepping up against much tougher competition, and I’d have been happy to have him hit the board,” the trainer said. Despite early pressure from another longshot, eventual third-place finisher Fire Pit, Mad House was able to stay comfortable on the lead under jockey Paco Lopez through taxing opening fractions of :21.58 seconds for the quarter-mile and :43.94 for the half.

    Mad House drew off late to defeat runner-up Gateskeeper, an 83-1 shot, by 2 ¾ lengths.
The quality of the performance, and the winner’s share of $217,500, made the decision to try the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint relatively easy. “When he won a couple at Canterbury, his heart got built up and we could tell he was liking his job. You could say he is peaking at the right time,” Van Winkle said of Mad House, who was bred by Jean White, Wavertree Farm and SGV Thoroughbreds.

    “He’ll be going up against a lot of older, more seasoned horses, but he has developed well so hopefully that won’t be an issue. Paco said he wasn’t pushing hard on him early (in the Gallant Bob) and that he knew he had horse left late if he needed it, so that was encouraging.”

    In Saez, another of the sport’s most accomplished jockeys, VanWinkle believes the No. 13 post will not be an obstacle to performing his best. “With his running style, he is probably better off out there than down on the inside if something were to happen,” VanWinkle said.

    Mad House’s morning-line odds are 30-1. The prerace favorite at 5-2 in last year’s Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up, 4-year-old Florida-bred Bentornato (last year’s Gallant Bob winner). Bentornato is trained by another Tampa Bay Downs conditioner, Jose Francisco D’Angelo, and will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr.

    Two Sprint entrants besides Mad House have competed at Tampa Bay Downs. One, 4-year-old colt Patriot Spirit, won the 2023 Inaugural Stakes and was unplaced as a 3-year-old in the Gr. III Sam F. Davis Stakes. Patriot Spirit is trained by Michael Campbell and will be ridden by Javier Castellano.

    The other is trainer Wesley Ward’s 6-year-old gelding Nakatomi, who finished third here in the 2024 Pelican Stakes. He will be ridden by Jose Ortiz.

    Trainer Mark Casse’s 3-year-old filly Nitrogen, the winner of this year’s Gr. III Florida Oaks on the turf at Tampa Bay Downs, and trainer George Weaver’s 5-year-old Florida-bred mare Dorth Vader, the 2022 Sandpiper Stakes winner, will compete in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Jose Ortiz will ride Nitrogen and John Velazquez will be aboard Dorth Vader.

    Trainer Chad Brown’s second and third-place finishers in this year’s Gr. III Tampa Bay Derby are also Breeders’ Cup competitors. Chancer McPatrick, the Tampa Bay Derby runner-up, will be ridden by Jose Ortiz in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Brown’s gelding Hill Road, third in the Tampa Bay Derby, competes in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf under David Egan.

     OLDSMAR - A visitor to the Tampa Bay Downs barn area this morning needed to spend only a short bit of time with first-day arrivals Alison Arriagada and Alejandro Mendieta to realize both are living the dream.

    Arriagada, an assistant and the exercise rider for husband Juan Arriagada – last year’s second-leading trainer and the track’s three-time defending leading owner – cheerfully oversaw the unloading of 10 horses from Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania as the sun tried to peek through the clouds above their barn.

    “I love being here,” said Alison, who remained at their nearby home most of the summer with their daughter while Juan was winning the trainer and owner titles in his first season at Presque Isle Downs. “I’ve been coming here 21 years as a trainer or galloping horses or working for people, and it’s pretty exciting every year to come back. And the horses seem to love it. The backside is wide open and you can take a little more time with them.”

    The track opens for training on Wednesday at 6 a.m. The 2025-26 Tampa Bay Downs meet begins Wednesday, Nov. 19.

    Even on days when Juan doesn’t have a horse competing, the couple gets to enjoy the thrills of Thoroughbred competition vicariously while working on the backstretch. “It’s one of the few racetracks I’ve been at where you can hear fans cheering from your barn,” Alison said. “There is no casino here and there are always people at the racetrack, and that makes it fun to run horses. It’s almost like a small Keeneland, maybe, where you can hear people screaming for the horses.”

    Mendieta hopes it isn’t long before spectators are cheering for his 2-year-old colt My Boy Star, who he spent time grazing outside his barn upon arriving from Belterra Park in Ohio with five other horses following a 16-hour trip. The Florida-bred, a son of the two-time Gr. II winner and fine stallion Bucchero, is the first horse the owner and trainer has ever bred.

    He is out of Mendieta’s 9-year-old broodmare My Sarasota Star, who won seven races and $230,120 in her racing career and resides in Ocala.

    “He (My Boy Star) had some good workouts at Belterra, but I decided to wait to run him so my wife and our daughters could watch him race,” said Mendieta, who trained 14 winners at Belterra. “I’m real excited to see him run for the first time. Plus, he’s a Florida-bred, so he can run for more money.”

    Mendieta, a trainer since 2023, loves spending the late fall and winter months in Oldsmar and is sure his 20 horses do as well. “The weather is beautiful and the horses can relax and come outside their barns and eat good grass,” he said.

    Tampa Bay Downs has released its stakes schedule, which consists of 24 races worth $3,535,000 in purse money. The track’s showcase race has a new sponsor, with the Gr. III, $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby for 3-year-old Kentucky Derby prospects highlighting the Festival Day 46 card on Saturday, March 7.

    Esmark is a diversified, privately-held family company with a portfolio of industrial companies with strong roots in the steel industry. Over the years, Esmark has diversified its interests and operations into a number of businesses engaged in the industrial and commodity sectors, focusing on several key industries including steel services, oil and gas exploration, aviation, real estate, business services, technology and sports management.

    The ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby is one of five stakes on the Festival Day 46 card, along with the Gr. II, $225,000 Hillsborough Stakes for older fillies and mares on the turf; the Gr. III, $200,000 Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on the turf; the Gr. III, $125,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes for older horses; and the $125,000 Columbia Stakes for 3-year-olds on the turf.

    The track’s other graded stakes, both on Jan. 31 on the turf, are the Grade III, $175,000 Tampa Bay Stakes for older horses and the Grade III, $175,000 Endeavour Stakes for older fillies and mares.

    Lambholm South, which had sponsored the Tampa Bay Derby since 2016, has shifted its stakes sponsorship to Sunday, March 29 – Florida Cup Day – and the $110,000 Lambholm South Sophomore Turf for 3-year-olds.

    A new Florida Cup Day sponsor is the AAA Feed & Tack Store, a Tampa Bay Downs fixture on the backside since 1976. Owned and operated by Jerry Porrello and his wife Nancy, the business will sponsor the $110,000 AAA Feed & Tack Turf Classic for older horses.

    The first stakes Saturday of the meet is Dec. 6, featuring the $125,000 Inaugural Stakes for 2-year-olds and the $125,000 Sandpiper Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.

    Officials and staff of Tampa Bay Downs invite Thoroughbred lovers and newcomers alike to share the excitement of the Oldsmar oval’s meet-long centennial celebration, marking the track’s opening on Feb. 18, 1926.

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Journeyman Leonel Reyes, less than a decade after coming to the United States as an accomplished rider in his native Venezuela, is poised to reach another career milestone as he continues the quest for a second meet title at Gulfstream Park.

    Reyes, 39, enters Friday’s 10-race program with 993 career wins in North America, ranking fourth in the current Sunshine Meet standings with 18 wins and $692,495 in purse earnings, respectively trailing Miguel Vasquez (26) and Edgard Zayas ($882,270).

    His success is nothing new for the soft-spoken but quietly confident Reyes, a year-round presence at Gulfstream who was a two-time national champion in Venezuela and a nine-time meet titlist at National Racetrack Valencia before venturing to South Florida in 2016. “I won a lot of races in Venezuela, and it was a great experience,” Reyes said. “In my country it is different than riding here, but I am very grateful.”

    Represented by agent Jose Sanchez, Reyes had more than 1,400 wins to his credit when he arrived at Gulfstream, where he made his U. S. debut Feb. 21, 2016. It was a month later, on March 24, when he picked up his first win aboard Virgen Morena.

    What has followed has been career that has seen Reyes win 100 or more races every year since 2021, with a personal best 166 in 2022. With more than two months left in 2025, he has 96 wins from 736 mounts and earnings approaching $3.8 million.

    Reyes has won four graded stakes in the U.S., all at Gulfstream. The first came with Gladiator King in the 2019 Gr. III Hutcheson, followed by Cool Arrow in the 2020, Gr. III Smile Sprint, Three Witches in the 2023, Gr. III Princess Rooney and Little Vic in the Gr. III Fred Hooper Jan. 24.

    In 2023, Reyes won a career-high $5.99 million in purses and earned his only U.S. riding title, leading Gulfstream’s Royal Palm Meet standings with 93 wins, 18 more than runner-up Edwin Gonzalez, and a $2.89 million bankroll.

    The previous year Reyes ranked second to Vasquez at the Royal Palm Meet while simultaneously competing at Colonial Downs in Virginia, a rare instance away from Florida where he finished as runner-up to Mid-Atlantic-based Jevian Toledo for the riding title.

    “I have ridden in some other places, but Gulfstream is like my home,” Reyes said. “I love being here.”

    Reyes has three two-win days during the Sunshine Meet – opening day Sept. 5, Sept. 26 and Sept. 28 – and owns three stakes victories: Khozalite in the FSS Affirmed Oct. 18, Willow Case in the Hallandale Beach Sept. 26 and Private Thoughts in the Jet Propulsion overnight handicap Oct. 4.

    Overall Reyes has helped 11 different trainers at the meet reach the winner’s circle, including multiple trips for Jose D’Angelo (four), Ramon Minguet, Ron Spatz and Frank Regalbuto (two each). Others have come for Diane Morici, Ronald Coy, Rafael Romero, Lisa Lewis, Heather Smullen, Eddie Plesa Jr. and Fausto Gutierrez.

    His winners have ranged from favorites like 3-year-old Divine Papi ($2.80) on Oct. 3 to 2-year-old filly Make Your Wish ($65.80), giving Reyes an average win payoff of $12.87. He also has 14 seconds and 11 thirds, putting him in the money at a 41 percent clip.

    “It has been a lot of hard work every day, every morning. The races are tough but we keep trying,” he said. “I am thankful to my agent and all the owners and trainers and everybody that gives me the support.”

    Reyes has been able to enjoy his success with wife, Daniela, and daughters Leona (15), Donna (12) and Lea (4 ½) and plans to put in the work to make it continue long past 1,000 wins. “I am grateful for the moment because this career is dangerous,” he said. “I keep trying every day, every week, every year and now we are close. I will be proud to get 1,000 wins.”

    Richard Kent isn’t one to lean on hyperbole when discussing the plethora of horses who have come through his care. But in the moments after a filly fittingly bearing the name of Expectations exited the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company ring during the opening session of the October Yearling Sale, the longtime consignor put some lofty hopes on the youngster who headlined his Kaizen Sales consignment Tuesday.

    “I sold Serena Song’s as a yearling and this filly has that kind of class,” Kent said. “That’s big words.”

    It remains to be seen if Hip 177 can come close to delivering in the manner of the Hall of Famer Kent sold during his tenure at Bridlewood Farm. During the first day of action at the two-day October exercise, however, the bay filly by Mo Donegal ended the day out front when she brought $240,000 from bloodstock agent Christophe Nouvellet on behalf of Dream With Me Florida to top the session.

    Bred by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, the bay filly has the pedigree to back up her elegant looks as she is out of the Speightstown mare On the Good List, a half-sister to Gr. 1 winner Dunbar Road. The female family is rich in success with Gr. 1 winner Secret Status, multiple graded stakes-winner Private Mission, and graded winner Alumni Hall also on the page.

    Since arriving on the sale grounds, Kent stated the filly did nothing but signal a high level of quality in her own right.

  “The price was excellent. The filly justified the price,” Kent said. “She was just a super star all week. She’d been scoped eight times and showed herself just brilliantly over 100 times. She’s a very classy filly. We had all the players in town bidding on her.”

    Nouvellet, who recently purchased the 200-acre McKathan Brothers’ Farm in Citra, was the player who ultimately won out, saying the winning bid was above what he expected to pay, but nonetheless was willing to stretch to.

    “She’s a good physical and we’re going to hope for the best,” said Nouvellet. “She’s a good mover and I think on paper she has everything to succeed. We just like to buy good horses.”

    The Mo Donegal filly was one of four horses to reach the six-figure level during the opening session of the sale.

    The day’s trade ended on a high note as Hip 251, a bay colt by Jack Christopher, elicited a final bid of $200,000 from DiBello Racing Stables. Consigned by Beth Bayer, the colt is out of the Hard Spun mare Madelyn’s Magic, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-winners Totally Boss and Super Steed.

    “We had been waiting all day for him to come up,” Bayer said. “I love Jack Christopher as a new sire. All the ones we’ve seen have looked like athletes and (this colt) had a nice pedigree as well and a very good mind. He showed really well every single time.”

    Champion Corniche, a graduate of the 2021 OBS April Sale, and multiple graded stakes-winner Bucchero, who sold at the 2014 OBS June exercise, again made their mark in the pavilion as they were responsible for two of the six-figure lots.

    HIP 48, a bay colt by Corniche out of the Take Charge Indy mare Mollyball, sold to MJB Stable for $200,000 while Hip 1, a daughter of Bucchero, got the sale off to a quick start when she hammered for $110,000 to Thorostock’s Nick Sallusto.

    Named Mr. Predicted, the Corniche colt is a half-brother to stakes-placed Lawyer Mason and hails from the female family of graded stakes-winners Adriano and Strike Power. He was consigned by his breeder, Edisley Soler, who is selling for the first time under the Soler & Soler Thoroughbred Corp. banner.

    “I thought he was going to bring more, that’s a good horse,” Soler said. “I raised him, he’s been my baby. I liked everything about him, he’s just a really nice colt.”

    Like her sire, Hip 1 wasted little time making a strong impression as she kicked off the day’s selling and set the tone for her connections. Consigned by Kaizen Sales and bred by Rivermont Farm, the chestnut filly is out of the winning Greatness mare Dagney’s Revenge and hails from the female family of graded stakes-winners Seeking Slew and Canadian Frontier.

    “She was just a real quality filly. Many people told us she was the best filly on the grounds,” said Kent, who led all consignors on the day with 18 head sold for $605,000. “We were not coming in with that high of expectations but once we were here, she really sold herself and did all the work. She looked fabulous, behaved great. We showed her 100 times, and she did as well on the 100th time as she did on the first."

    Other top prices for the day included Hip 144, a bay filly by Vekoma consigned by Bobby Jones Equine, who sold for $95,000 to Dennis Campbell, and Hip 169, a bay colt by Epicenter consigned by Summerfield, who brought a final bid of $90,000 from Red Wings.

    Tuesday’s session produced year-over-year gains in gross, average, and median compared to 2024. A total of 146 head sold for gross receipts of $3,255,600, up from the $1,713,900 generated by 104 during the first session a year ago. The average improved from $16,480 in 2024 to $22,299 with the median coming in at $15,000 compared to $10,000 last year.



Last year’s OBS October Yearling Sale had its sale sessions adjusted due to Hurricane Milton.



The RNA rate for the session came in at 32.4 percent compared to 35.4 in 2024.

     HALLANDALE BEACH - Multiple stakes-winning 8-year-old mare Choose Joy, unraced in 435 days, made a dramatic triumphant return by rallying from far back to edge Etrurian by a head in Friday’s feature at Gulfstream Park.

    Ridden by Miguel Vasquez for owner-trainer Steve Dwoskin, Choose Joy ($14.60) completed five furlongs on the all-weather Tapeta course in :55.93 seconds for her 10th win from 27 career starts. The optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares 3 and older was moved off the grass following overnight rain.

    “I’d rather it had been on the turf, but she’d had some good races on the Tapeta. I knew she was ready,” Dwoskin said. “She was fit, and she’s just a good horse.”

    Choose Joy was unhurried early, trailing all but one horse as Etrurian led her stablemate and narrow 2-1 favorite Beauty of the Sea through a quarter-mile in :21.53 seconds and a half in :43.76. Vasquez swung Choose Joy to the far outside leaving the far turn and they came with a steady run down the center of the stretch to catch Etrurian at the wire.

    In a career marked by stops and starts, Choose Joy hasn’t raced since she was third as the favorite behind a pair of next-out winners in a five-furlong optional claimer on Gulfstream’s all-weather Tapeta last July 26. She now has been third or better in seven of eight tries over Tapeta, with three wins.

    Dwoskin purchased Choose Joy for $35,000 at auction in 2019, and Friday’s $27,000 winner’s share of the purse pushed her career bankroll to $439,745.

    “I’m very proud of her,” he said. “She keeps getting closer to half a million [dollars].”

Rainbow 6 Solved Friday for $143,083 Jackpot Payout

    The 20-cent Rainbow 6 was solved by one lucky bettor for a $143,083.80 jackpot payout Friday.

    The last multiple mandatory payouts of $8,569.28 came on Sept. 14, and the multi-race wager had gone unsolved for five racing days.

    Joey Platts’ Call Me Angel ($13.40), ridden by Elijah Greenidge, captured Race 10 finale to complete the winning 2-7-3-3-3-8 combination. It was Ocala trainer Terry Oliver’s first win since April 10, 2011, also at Gulfstream

    Despite a less-than-ideal break following a six-plus month layoff, Speedway Stables’ Cavalieri (Nyquist-Stiffed, by Stephen Got Even) was unbothered as she remained unbeaten with a victory in the Gr. II, $200,000 Zenyatta Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita Park to lead the slate of stakes-winning OBS grads for the week.

    After hopping at the start and trailing the field, Cavalieri improved to 5-for-5 for trainer Bob Baffert while also earning a fees-paid berth to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. It was Cavalieri’s first start since winning the Gr. I Beholder Mile in March at Santa Anita. 

    “She is just so talented, the further the better for her,” Baffert said.

    A 4-year-old daughter of Nyquist, Cavalieri was purchased by Peter Fluor’s Speedway Stables for $900,000 from the Wavertree Stables consignment at the 2023 OBS April Sale after she breezed in :20 2/5.

    At Aqueduct, R. Lee Lewis’s Gun Song (Gun Runner – Nicole H, by Mr. Greeley) overtook Gr. 1 winner Randomized and powered away to a score in the Gr. II, $250,000 Beldame Stakes. By winning the Beldame, part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen series for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar, Gun Song receives a credit of $30,000 toward entry fees for the Distaff. Trained by Mark Hennig, the 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner enjoyed a tremendous sophomore season that included a win in the Gr. II Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico Race Course.

    Gun Song was purchased by her owner for $400,000 at the 2023 OBS March Sale out of the de Meric Sales consignment after breezing in :10 1/5.

    Also at Aqueduct, George Mellon’s Patriot Spirit (Constitution- Mistical Plan, by Game Plan) power away late to post a 1 1/2-length score in the Gr. III, $200,000 Vosburgh Stakes, earning himself a fees paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar.

    Trained by Michael Campbell, the 4-year-old Constitution colt was purchased by George Mellon for $235,000 out of the Clary Bloodstock consignment at the 2023 OBS March Sale after breezing in :10 flat. 

    At Santa Anita Park, Innovative (Complexity-Lantiz, by Tizway) roared through the stretch to win Saturday’s Gr. III, $100,000 John C. Harris Stakes on the hillside turf course. Innovative prevailed by a neck over Lee’s Baby Girl with another half-length back to morning line favorite and fellow OBS grad Warming in third.

    Trained by Phil D’Amato, the daughter of Complexity is owned by Little Red Feather Racing and Sterling Stables. She was purchased by Little Red Feather Racing for $230,000 at the 2024 OBS April Sale from the consignment of Longoria Training & Sales after breezing in :9 4/5.

    At Gulfstream Park, rising star Lennilu (Leinster – Lulu’s Pom Pom, by Pomeroy) booked her ticket to Del Mar for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint by capturing her third stakes victory in the $75,000 Hollywood Beach.

    Owned by Amy Dunne, Cailtin Dunne, Brenda Miley, Jean Wilkinson, Hoffman Family Racing, Tranquility Lake Farms, Maury Hamilton and Christopher Harrington, the daughter of Leinster was making her return to turf after prevailing by a nose in the $100,000 Desert Vixen. Trained by Patrick Biancone, Lennilu was purchased by Glencrest Farm for $23,000 from the Abbie Road Farm consignment at the 2024 OBS Winter Mixed Sale.

    At Remington Park, trainer Danny Pish sent out Essential Time (Essential Quality-Twilight Curfew, by Twirling Candy) to victory in the $150,000 Clever Trevor Stakes.

    Owned by Duffy’s Racing Stable and Heider Racing Stables, Essential Time was bred by D. J. Stable and offered at the 2025 OBS April Sale where he failed to meet his reserve after breezing in :10 1/5 from the consignment of 1880 Bloodstock.

    At Remington Park, Everything’s Cricket Racing’s Sabalenka (Good Samaritan-Darling Daughter, by Maria’s Mon) won the $75,000 Ricks Memorial Stakes as she rallied from sixth place to gain the victory over fellow OBS grad Neom Beach. Trained by Joe Sharp, she won by 2 3/4 lengths in a time of 1:42.12 over the firm course.

    Sabalenka was purchased by Four Quarters at the 2022 OBS April Sale and for $35,000 from the Harris Training Center consignment after breezing in :10 1/5.

    So There She Was (Munnings-Risk Premium, by Take Charge Indy) highlighted the Remington Park card when she put away heavy favorite Lemon Zest to take the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks. The 3-year-old filly pocketed $120,000 for owners Great Friends Stables and Mark Davis of Vista, Calif.

    Trained by Doug O’Neill, she was purchased by Mark Davis for $100,000 at the 2024 OBS March Sale from the Gene Recio consignment after breezing in :10 1/5.

    Another winner on the Oklahoma Derby Day card was Paradise Farms, David Staudacher, Gata Racing Stable and Turman Racing’s Woodstock (Yaupon-Hot Hippie, by Medaglia d’Oro) who captured the $50,000 E. L. Gaylord Memorial. The filly, trained by Michael Maker, was purchased by Maker from this year’s OBS March Sale for $100,000 from the Global Thoroughbreds consignment after breezing in :10 2/5.

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Amanda Hernandez’s Willow Case came with a steady drive through the stretch to reel in favored Vita Mia and edge clear by three-quarters of a length to extend her win streak to three races in Friday’s $75,000 Hallandale Beach at Gulfstream Park.

    Named for the city that Gulfstream has called home since it opened in 1939, the Hallandale Beach for 2-year-old fillies going a one-turn mile headlined a nine-race program to kick off September’s final weekend of the Sunshine Meet.

    Ridden by Leonel Reyes for trainer Ramon Minguet, Willow Case ($8) covered a fast main track in 1:38.01 to win her second consecutive stakes following Gulfstream’s six-furlong Sharp Susan Aug. 9.

     “I was very confident because she is a very professional, very focused filly,” Minguet said. “I thought that running a mile it would fit her very well. I think the longer distance is better for her than the short distance.”

    Reyes had Willow Case positioned in fourth as 45-1 longshot Triple Threat led along the rail through a quarter-mile in 24.02 seconds with Sharp Susan runner-up Tessellate between horses in second and Sept. 6 maiden winner Vita Mia cruising three wide in third. Tessellate inherited the lead pressed to her outside by Vita Mia when Triple Threat began to drop back after a half in 47.19.

     “This filly ran beautifully,” Reyes said. “It was the plan to sit behind the speed. I was behind two or three horses and at the eighth pole, I took her out and she finished good.”

    Reyes tipped Willow Case to the far outside approaching the stretch and, after Vita Mia put away Tessellate, the bay daughter of Neolithic continued to gain ground with every stride before moving up on even terms past the sixteenth pole and galloping past the wire.

    “That was the plan, to stalk the pace behind the speed horses. She was running well and I was happy with her position. She closed the way I expected,” Minguet said. “In the last half-furlong I got a little worried, but at the end she responded.”

    Vita Mia was second, followed by Tessellate, Dakota’s Lil Auror, That Police – who stumbled badly out of the starting gate – and Triple Threat.

    Reyes was encouraged with the way Willow Case galloped out in what was her fourth career race and first at a route of ground. “I think she can get more distance – a mile, a mile and an eighth, a mile and a sixteenth,” he said. “That will be OK for her.”

    Willow Case went off a 30-1 longshot when she ran a distant fourth behind subsequent Grade 3 winner Mythical in debut April 17, returning two weeks later to graduate by a neck at 14-1 odds going the same 4 ½-furlong distance. She went unraced until the Sharp Susan, which she won in a 27-1 upset. Friday she was the third choice in a field of six at 3-1.

    “We’ll see how she comes back to the barn. It’s been working for her to give her some time between races, four weeks to six weeks, and she responds to that,” Minguet said. “We’ll see in a few weeks what it looks like.

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Joe Bravo turned 54 during the three months he was sidelined with a broken right pinky finger, giving the journeyman rider with more than 5,700 career victories a brief glimpse into retirement. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t for him. At least not yet.

    “I could retire tomorrow, yes, but if you wake up and you have no purpose, it’s kind of tough,” Bravo said. “For the last quite a few years now, I’ve not tried to ride a lot of races. I want to kind of hold on to my job. By not riding a lot of races, I think I can keep my job going a lot longer.

    “Every day you go out, especially here at Gulfstream Park, you’ve got these maiden special weight races that come out and you never know who’s going to come out of here. I remember going back to a thing like Curlin coming down the stretch in his maiden victory. That horse was coming down the middle of the racetrack. Nobody knew who he was … and it was tomorrow’s superstar. I’m kind of hoping to team up with one of those again.”

    Bravo is named on Fausto Gutierrez-trained 3-year-old colt Rashid in Race 7 Friday at Gulfstream, a claiming event for 3-year-olds and up scheduled for one mile on the turf. They are rated at 4-1 on the morning line, third choice in a field of seven.

    On Saturday, Bravo is named to ride stakes winner Big Data for trainer Michael Lerman in the $70,000 Duke of Mischief overnight handicap and Gutierrez’s Show Off in the $75,000 Ginger Punch Handicap on the undercard of the $200,000 Princess Rooney (G3), a ‘Win and You’re In’ qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).

    “I was off three months so it took me like two weeks I was getting on horses. I’m going to take another two weeks here at Gulfstream before I start,” Bravo said. “I only ride one race [Friday]. I want to see how it all goes. I ride two on Saturday, both stakes races. I like that. Stakes are good.

    “It’s all going to be touch and feel,” he added. “To be honest, in the back of my head I’m thinking, ‘I carry a stick.’ I broke my little pinky so when I go to hit, it’s going to be pretty interesting. That’s like the only question, physically, I have. It seems like, ‘it’s just a pinky,’ but that little pinky kept me out all summer.”

    Bravo, whose 5,719th and latest victory came June 6 at Churchill Downs, has not ridden since June 13 at Gulfstream when he was hurt following Special Aviator’s fourth-place finish as the favorite in one-mile optional claiming allowance on the grass. A seemingly minor incident turned into an unplanned summer holiday.

    “Everybody’s asking, ‘What happened? Where’s Joe been all summer long?’ You don’t really hear [about] it because it was pulling up after a race. I was galloping a horse out, and this game is so dangerous,” Bravo said. “It was one of those things where you don’t think you’d get injured. All of a sudden the horse stopped and she decided to go the other direction. I came off and when I went, I tried to brace myself.

    “They ended up having to do surgery. They put a screw in it, so all summer long I’ve been on vacation. It was kind of a nice time to step back from racing, but then I looked outside the racing world and said, ‘What [have] I miss[ed]?’ It seemed like every trip I did it was Saratoga, Del Mar, Monmouth Park. I missed racing. I was born 5-[foot]-2 for a reason. I was born for this stuff. I’m a jockey. What do you do on vacation? I visit racetracks.”

    Though diligent in his recovery, Bravo got a quick reminder of the demands riders face on a daily basis once he returned to the irons to gallop during morning workouts.

    “The first day I got o horses, I was so sore,” he said. “That was the biggest frustration for me. Ever since the surgery on the hand, I had hand physical therapy but then I was lucky enough on the off days – it was like a seven-days-a-week process – of doing personal training, too. So I kept myself halfway in shape like that, but there’s nothing like being back on a horse.

    “You’ve got get your timing back and you’ve got to take baby steps. When the doctor releases you, you can’t just go do it,” Bravo added. “You’ve got to do the gym to get basic [fitness], you’ve got to get the fitness on a horse, but then you’ve got to get your timing down. Turning for home, throwing the cross and getting after them. It’s a baby-step process.”

    The son and grandson of jockeys, Bravo rode his first race March 6, 1988 at Calder Race Course, where his first winner came 11 days later. A 13-time meet leader at Monmouth, mere miles from where he was born in Long Branch, N.J., ‘Jersey Joe’ ranks ninth among active riders in victories and 26th overall. He has earned more than $204 million in purses from 32,035 mounts.

    “Everyone says, ‘Joe, how did you almost win 6,000 races?’ Well, when I was younger I was a little bit more ambitious,” Bravo laughed. “I feel really bad for the younger riders coming up these days, because there’s not as much opportunity just because there’s not as much racing going on. I was blessed when I came up. I was riding day and night. Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Garden State Parkway ran at night, Meadowlands ran at night. Many times I’d ride at Belmont [Park] during the day, go over and ride Meadowlands at night, sleep in Manhattan and go do it again.”

    During his down time this summer, when not working out or rehabbing Bravo did some television analysis during the Haskell (G1) program at Monmouth and also attended the prestigious yearling sales in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

    “Having the summer off, it gave me the chance to think, ‘What am I going to do the day that I can’t ride any races?’ I did dabble in a little bit of commentating and stuff like that, but another kind of passion that I thought about and I would love to try to get into is bloodstock,” Bravo said. “I went to all the sales at Saratoga and everything. Looking at horses and how they develop, it’s kind of what I’ve been doing every day for 30 plus years.

    “When I look at a horse I kind of look at what they could kind of develop into. It’s something I’d like to dabble with,” he added. “If I could kind of mingle that in with commentary and do some bloodstock … I don’t think I could ever walk away from horse racing. Horse racing’s pretty fun. Every day you don’t know what to expect.”

    Winner of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) with Blue Prize and third in the 2014 Kentucky Derby (G1) aboard Danza whose first Grade 1 win came on Formal Gold in the former Donn Handicap at Gulfstream, Bravo isn’t thinking about reaching 6,000 wins or any other career milestones.

    “All I can do is worry about trying my best on the next horse I ride,” he said. “Hopefully we have a couple more years left to enjoy this game. You can’t put a number on anything. You never know what’s going to happen. This is a crazy world. Be appreciative of what you’ve got around you at the moment. Everything else is cherry."

    HALLANDALE BEACH - More than 40 years ago, three-time Eclipse Award-winning owner and breeder Dan Lasater had an idea. Lasater sat down with Kenny Noe Jr., president of Calder Race Course, and suggested Calder play host to a three-pronged stakes series for 2-year-olds to promote the growing Florida breeding industry.

    Come Saturday, Lasater’s Florida Sire Stakes Series will celebrate its 44th running when Gulfstream Park plays host to the first leg of what is now the $1.2 million series.

    The 2-year-old series begins with the $100,000 Dr. Fager and Desert Vixen at six furlongs, continues with the $200,000 Affirmed and Susan’s Girl on Oct. 18 at seven furlongs, and concludes on Nov. 29, the opening weekend of the Championship Meet, with the $300,000 In Reality and My Dear Girl at 1 1/16 miles.

    The series has produced champions Holy Bull, Smile, Big Drama, Awesome Feather and Brave Raj along with other Gr. 1 winners Jackson Bend, Three Ringsand Mecke.

    Saturday’s $100,000 Dr. Fager drew a field of eight, including the likely favorite in Squire, co-owned and trained by Patrick Biancone. The gelded son of Leinster broke his maiden at first asking on the dirt going 4 ½ furlongs before finishing second on the turf in the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes, a ‘Win and In’ for Royal Ascot. The gelding worked a ‘bullet’ three furlongs on Aug. 30 in :35 3/5 from the gate. Jonathan Ocasio is named to ride.

    Trainer Michael Yates, who swept the Sire Stakes last year with St. Elias Stable’s Rated by Merit, will saddle Fourth and Central. The Shadybrook Farm homebred son of Cajun Breeze won his debut at 4 ½ furlongs before finishing a troubled fifth in the Proud Man over a sloppy six-furlong track. Marcos Meneses will ride. Trainer Jose Pinchin will send out Trelawny, fourth in the Proud Man, while trainer Antonio Sano will saddle Camigol, a winner here at 4 ½ furlongs in his second start before finishing third in the Gr. II Saratoga Special. Edwin Gonzalez will ride.

    Emisael Jaramillo will ride All to Win, who won his only race at six furlongs here, while Edgard Zayas has been named on first-time starter Jamalamadingdong for trainer Jose D’Angelo.

    In the $100,000 Desert Vixen for fillies, Biancone has entered Lennilu, winner of the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies and third in Royal Ascot’s Gr. II Queen Mary. Biancone could also run Lennilu in the $1 million Untapable at Kentucky Downs on Sunday, Sept. 7.

    If Lennilu heads to Kentucky, Yates could have the favorite in Finding Strength, a Khozan filly owned by LNJ Foxwoods and Church Street Stables. The filly finished third in her debut here before winning at 5 ½ furlongs by 4 ¼ lengths. Yates has entered Copper Creole, a daughter of Cajun Breeze who was third in her debut at five furlongs on the turf. Leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has entered Love Like Lucy, a $300,000 daughter of Win Win Win who won her only start at six furlongs. Zayas will ride.

    Saturday’s 11-race program will also include the $70,000 Mambo Meister, a mile turf event for 3-year-olds and up. The 11-horse field includes And Uwish, second in the Warrior’s Pride to Reef Runner, who was disqualified from victory Saturday in Del Mar’s Gr. III Green Flash, and Goes the Clown, who will be seeking his fourth consecutive victory.