OLDSMAR - The majority of bettors who came to Tampa Bay Downs yesterday to focus on the mandatory Ultimate 6 jackpot payout saw their hopes evaporate in the fourth race (the first race of the wager) when Noble Annie, the second-longest shot in the 10-horse field at 34-1, defeated 11-5 favorite Mistrial Wind by a nose in the 1-mile turf event.

    Those dreams out of the way, it is hoped investors got over their disappointment quickly enough to enjoy the latest in a series of picture-postcard afternoons that have postponed any signs of winter’s chill until at least next week.

    Others who used Noble Annie might not have paid as much attention to the weather. Things settled down for Ultimate 6 bettors sticking more closely to the form, with two of the remaining five races won by a betting favorite – Elusive d’Oro, who won the fifth race at odds of 9-5, and Real Savvy, who won the ninth at even-money – and two others by the second choice.

    Ultimately, 14 “survivors” selected the 2-1-1-5-4-4 combination on their tickets, earning $14,026 apiece.

    A pair of longshot winners made the early Pick-5 wager highly profitable for four bettors, including one on-track, who correctly nailed the 6/2/2/2/1, 7 combination to collect $27,564 each. The key longshots on the ticket were 5-year-old gelding St. Louie Louie, who paid $52 to win in the second race, and the aforementioned 2-year-old filly Noble Annie, who returned $71.20 for her victory in the fourth.

    Noble Annie was the only horse claimed from the race, with trainer Carlos Narvaez paying $16,000 for the juvenile lass for new owner Ladycaroly Stable.
In the featured seventh race, a 1-mile conditional allowance/optional claiming race on the turf, Britain’s Kitten, a 7-2 shot, overcame some bumping at the start to secure good position on the inside, then responded to jockey Israel Rodriguez’s urgings to post a head victory from betting favorite Tok Tok in a time of 1:35.24 for the distance.

    It was the first start in more than two years for Britain’s Kitten, a 6-year-old gelding who is owned by Bella Mia Stables and trained by Kevin Rice. The conditioner also won today’s third race with Kuku, a 3-year-old filly competing under his Rice Racing banner and ridden by Rosario Montanez.

    Leading jockey Samuel Marin won the final two races on Litigant and Real Savvy, surviving a claim of foul by Samy Camacho aboard runner-up Persisten in the finale.
Around the oval. The Oldsmar oval’s highly anticipated Calendar Giveaway Day is Friday. The gates will open at 11 a.m. The 2026 calendars, which celebrate the 100th anniversary season of Tampa Bay Downs, are free of charge (with paid admission) to the first 5,000 fans through the turnstiles.

    Friday’s nine-race card begins at 12:35 p.m. The first race is a $56,500, 6 ½-furlong allowance/optional claiming event, with trainer Gerald Bennett’s 5-year-old Florida-bred gelding Chrome Ghost the 6-5 morning-line favorite. Samy Camacho has the riding assignment.
Saturday’s program features the opening legs of the popular Tampa Turf Test starter handicap series, with both the fifth race for fillies and mares 3-years-old-and-upward and the seventh race for males 3-and-up being contested at a distance of 1 mile on the grass course. Full fields of 10 are expected for both races.

    The feature Saturday is the ninth, a $55,000, mile-and-a-sixteenth maiden special weight event on the turf for 2-year-old fillies. With two entries apiece from trainers Chad Brown and H. Graham Motion, the race should be a corker. Post time for Saturday’s first race is 12:35 p.m.

    As previously reported, Sunday racing at Tampa Bay Downs will begin on Jan. 4. Starting next week, there will be racing on a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule, with Thursday cards on Feb. 5 and Feb. 12 added to make up for the originally scheduled Sunday programs on Dec. 21 and Dec. 28.

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Robert Cotran’s Rezasrolex collected his eighth straight victory Friday at Gulfstream Park with a front-running performance in Race 5, a five-furlong optional claiming allowance on turf.

    The 4-year-old son of multiple Gr. II winner Bucchero entered the race off seven consecutive victories over Gulfstream’s all-weather Tapeta surface.

    “Today was the turf test. He’s by Bucchero. He’s a stallion I love. I knew he’d turf. He’d run one time [on turf] at Belterra with a 40 Beyer. It’s apples and oranges,” trainer Joe Orseno said. “The horse is doing great. He’s keeping himself together. I stop when it’s time to stop on him. I’ve given him time off before. He’ s doing great.”

    Rezasrolex ($4.60), a Florida-bred gelding who was claimed for $18,000 by his current connections out of his Gulfstream debut in December of 2023, went right to the front under Edgard Zayas and held off a late drive from favored Poseidon’s Law by a neck in the non-winners-of-one optional claiming allowance.

    “We’re going to have to figure out his next step. Now he’s a two-other-than. There’s some stakes coming up,” Orseno said. “He’s just a neat horse and we’re keeping him happy.” Since being claimed out of a winning Gulfstream debut for trainer Bill Morey in his third career race, Rezasrolex has won 10 of 13 for Cotran and Orseno.

    OLDSMAR - A pair of familiar names are off to quick starts in the training ranks this season.

    Tom Proctor, who trains for Ocala's Glen Hill Farm, sent out his fourth winner from seven starters in Wednesday’s sixth race on the turf as 4-5 favorite Wrigleyville posted a front-running, 3 ¼-length victory over Expecting a Winner. Wrigleyville, a 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief out of Glen Hill’s multiple-Gr. I winner Marketing Mix, toured the 1-mile distance in 1:37.58. She was ridden by leading jockey Samuel Marin.

    Proctor, the son of the late training great Willard Proctor, has saddled more than 1,400 winners. He is perhaps best known as the conditioner of Glen Hills' One Dreamer, upset winner of the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs.

    J. David Braddy, a two-time leading trainer at Tampa Bay Downs in 1983-84 and 1986-87 (tied with Norm Wismer), is 4-for-6 with one second after Rancho Vista’s runner-up effort to Unicycle in Wednesday’s seventh race, a 7-furlong claiming event. Rancho Vista was claimed from the outing, as was Braddy’s two-time winner Long Gone Sally on Dec. 12. Each of Braddy’s winners was owned by Joel W. Sainer. Braddy is closing in on 1,100 career victories.

    Marin and Ademar Santos each rode two winners on the card. In addition to his victory on Wrigleyville, Marin captured the eighth race aboard Blaze of Color, a 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by JC Racing Stable and trained by Jose M. Castro.

    Santos won the fourth and fifth races back-to-back. He scored in the fourth on Pando, a 5-year-old gelding owned by Happy Tenth Stable and trained by Tony Wilson. Pando was claimed from the victory for $5,000 by owner-trainer Ron G. Potts.

    Santos won the fifth with Battle Warrior, a 3-year-old gelding owned by Mellon Patch Inc., and trained by Michael Campbell.

    OLDSMAR - Tampa Bay Downs has tweaked its 2025-26 racing calendar, while maintaining a 90-day schedule.

    Sunday racing, originally scheduled to begin Dec. 21, will get underway Jan. 4. The “lost” dates (Dec. 21 and 28) will be made up on Thursday, Feb. 5 and Thursday, Feb. 12.

    Tampa Bay Downs currently races on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. With the exception of Christmas, Dec. 25, when the track will be closed in its entirety, Tampa Bay Downs is open every day for simulcast wagering, no-limits action and tournament play in The Silks Poker Room and golf fun and instruction at The Downs Golf Practice Facility.

    Friday, Dec. 26 is Calendar Day, with the first 5,000 patrons through the gates receiving the 2026 edition free of charge (with paid admission). The theme is the track’s centennial celebration, and a sneak peek reveals the calendar is an artistic triumph, with pictures from the track’s beginning years blending into more recent yet similar photographs. Gates will open at 11 a.m.

    Racing continues Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:20 p.m.

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Steve Landers Racing’s Destino d’Oro, benefitting from a brief freshening and some class relief after three straight graded stakes attempts, dueled with favored Gr. 1 winner And One More Time through the stretch before edging clear late for a hard-fought head victory in the $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks at Gulfstream Park.

    The 31st running of the Tropical Park Oaks for 3-year-old fillies shared top billing with the 50th renewal of the $125,000 Tropical Park Derby for 3-year-olds, each going 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

    Ridden by Edgard Zayas for trainer Brad Cox, Destino d’Oro ($9.60) covered a firm turf course in 1:40.02 to earn her fourth win from seven career starts and second in a stakes following the Aug. 3, Gr. III Pucker Up at Ellis Park, her most recent victory.

    Destino d’Oro was unhurried early settled near the back of a 12-horse field as 60-1 shot Miss Mary Nell was hustled to the lead from her outside post and was in front through a quarter-mile in :23.34 seconds and a half in :46.60, with Souper Zonda chasing two wide in second and It Ain’t Two saving ground along the rail.

    When And One More Time and Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano began to make their move from mid-pack rounding the far turn on the outside, Zayas gave Destino d’Oro her cue and tipped her to the center of the track. He was able to find room straightening for home and set his sights on And One More Time, who had forged a short lead, and the two favorites hooked up for a drive to the wire.

    “I thought it was an ideal trip and what it looked like she would get based off the form. It looked like there was speed in there, and there was,” Cox said. “Edgard was able to let her break well, kind fo let her find her way through the first turn and she settled well for him. It looked like going into the turn he kind of had his eyeball on the favorite and was able to get by late in the stretch.”

    And One More Time, who drifted out noticeably in deep stretch, was 1 ¾ lengths ahead of Ramsey Pond in third. Previously undefeated stakes-winner Souper Zonda, Souper Williwaw, Brown Sugar, Supa Speed, Miss Mary Nell, Smart Union, Nosleeptilbrooklyn, Mischief in Motion and It Ain’t Two completed the order of finish.

    “She ran huge. I was trying today to be not that far behind and not give her too much to do. My plan was to follow [And One More Time] the whole way and it worked out perfect,” Zayas said. “[And One More Time] at the end kind of like came out a little bit and bumped into me, but it didn’t bother her to win the race.”

    Destino D’Oro graduated in her debut last August at Kentucky Downs and was third, beaten a head, in the Gr. II Jessamine at Keeneland before going to the sidelines and missing the Breeders’ Cup. The Bolt d’Oro filly returned off the layoff in mid-August with a last-to-first rally over older horses at Churchill Downs to set up her run in the Pucker Up. From there she ran sixth in the Gr. III Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs and eighth in the Gr. I Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Oct. 11 at Keeneland.

    “We think she’s got a world of talent. She showed that last year as a 2-year-old with two really good starts,” Cox said. “We were pointing to the Breeders’ Cup and we had a setback. Her two runs off the layoff were really, really impressive and then we kind of hit a brick wall.

    “It was a little bit of not a clean trip at Kentucky Downs and just maybe not doing as well as we needed her to do to go into the Keeneland race. She wasn’t doing bad, just maybe not as sharp as she normally is. She ran a flat race,” he added. “We brought her down to Payson [Park] after the Keeneland meet and she’s done very well since. I think she showed that today.”

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Live Oak Plantation’s Souper Forces will bring an unblemished record into Saturday’s $125,000 Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park with little fanfare.

    “He’s one of those kind of horses that blends into the crowd,” trainer Michael Trombetta said. “He just does his job and when he races, he gives it his best.”

    Souper Forces will seek his fourth victory in as many career starts in the 50th running of the Tropical Park Derby, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds that will co-headline Saturday’s 11-race program with the $125,000 Tropical Park Oaks, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

    The homebred son of Laoban has won his three races at three different racetracks. After breaking his maiden in his debut over Presque Isle Downs’ synthetic surface at six furlongs with a late rally on Aug. 5, he stretched out to a mile on turf to capture an entry-level allowance with an off-the-pace performance at Colonial Downs a month later. In his stakes debut in the Nov. 1 Showing Up at Gulfstream Park, he surged from well off the pace at the top of the stretch to register an 18-1 upset victory in the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes.

    “The only thing I can say about this guy is: everything I’ve asked him to do, he’s done very, very well,” Trombetta said. “He’s been a very pleasant surprise.”

    Souper Forces, who drew the far-outside post position in a field of 12 and an also-eligible, is rated at 8-1. Trombetta, who saddled Live Oak Plantation’s Souper Blessing for a 12-1 upset victory in the 2023 Tropical Park Derby, has awarded the return mount aboard Souper Forces to Cipriano Gil.

    Arindel’s Tank will make a highly anticipated return to Gulfstream, where he won back-to-back races before shipping to Saratoga for his last three starts. The son of Adios Charlie followed up a victory in the Sophomore Turf Stakes at Tampa Bay with forwardly placed turf victories in the English Channel and Not Surprising during Gulfstream’s Royal Palm Meet.

    The homebred colt was shipped to Saratoga, where he set the pace in the Aug. 4 Belmont Derby before finishing fourth, beaten by just 1 ½ lengths. He followed up with off-the-board finishes in the Hall of Fame and Saranac without displaying his usual early speed.

    “He was going really good, but in the last race, he broke really bad for Jaramillo. He can rate, but he needs to be close. He needs to break,” trainer Carlos David said. “Those were really tough races against open company. I figured I’d give him a break and bring him back for this meet.”

    Emisael Jaramillo, who was also aboard for Tank’s English Channel and Not Surprising wins, has the return mount on the Florida-bred colt, who is 8-1 on the morning line and who will break from the gate one stall inside Souper Forces.

    Late-developing Chapman’s Peak is favored on the morning line at 5-2 after finishing second in the Nov. 22 Commonwealth Turf at Churchill Downs, where he dueled from the start of the 1 1 1/6-mile stakes for 3-year-olds only to come up just a head short of winning.

    The Brad Cox-trained Godolphin homebred had won his two prior starts, graduating at Kentucky Downs in his fourth career start before winning a Keeneland allowance with a front-running performance. Tyler Gaffalione is scheduled to ride Chapman’s Peak for the first time Saturday.

    Sackatoga Stable’s Tiz Dashing is rated second on the morning line at 7-2. The son of 2020 Florida Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Tiz the Law is coming off a victory in the 1 1/8-mile Hill Prince (G3) at Aqueduct. Trainer Barclay Tagg has given the return mount aboard Tiz Dashing to Hall of Famer Javier Castellano.

    Dominic Dilalla’s Church and State, a multiple-stakes winner at Woodbine, will take on Tiz Dashing again after finishing third in the Hill Prince, beaten by 1 ¾ lengths. Micah Husbands is slated to ride the Steve Owens-trained son of Caravaggio for the first time.

    Calumet Farm’s Candytown, rated at 8-1 on the morning line along with Church and State, Souper Forces and Tank, enters the Tropical Park Derby off a troubled fourth-place finish in the Showing Up, in which he encountered traffic before rallying to finish fourth, beaten just over a length. Edgard Zayas, who was aboard the son of Speightstown for a turf allowance victory at Saratoga as well as fourth-place finishes in the Gio Ponti at Aqueduct and the Showing Up, has the return mount on the Calumet homebred who is trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

    Kevin Doyle’s Layabout (10-1), who came up a half-length short of holding off Souper Forces after building a two-length lead in the Showing Up; Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Simulate (12-1), who has made his last three starts in graded company at Colonial Downs, Kentucky Downs and Keeneland; and James Conner’s Day and Age (20-1), who was a troubled seventh in the Showing Up after capturing a Churchill Downs allowance: are also entered in a highly competitive Tropical Park Derby.

    “I don’t know where he fits in there,” said Day and Age’s Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. “It’s a great race. He ran great in Kentucky. He didn’t have a great trip in his last start. He needs to have a great trip. It’s a strong field, so the trip can make the race.”

    Dastur Racing’s Thundering, (20-1), Lawson Racing Stables’ Roar of the Beast (20-1), and Eduardo Soto’s Discreet Dancer (30-1), round out the field. Joseph Allen’s McRavin (20-1) is also-eligible.

    OLDSMAR - Chris Fountoukis was about 90 minutes from Tampa Bay Downs Saturday morning when his new truck broke down, forcing him to call a tow truck and summon an Uber driver to take him back home to Miami. It wasn’t long before his day turned into seashells, balloons and rainbows.

    Fountoukis, a retired contractor, watched on his cell phone as his 2-year-old colt Solitude Dude demolished five opponents in the 40th running of the $125,000 Inaugural Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, contested as the second race. Under jockey Edgard Zayas, Solitude Dude defeated runner-up Max Capacity by 8 lengths in a time of 1:09.07 for 6 furlongs, breaking the stakes record of 1:09.13 set last year by Donut God.

    The Tampa Bay Downs track record is 1:08.67, set by It’s Me Mom in 2012. Solitude Dude paid $2.20 to win.

    The Inaugural was one of two stakes races on a 10-race card consisting of nine races for 2-year-olds. In the co-feature, the 48th edition of the $125,000 Sandpiper Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, Sneaky Good rallied from off the pace under jockey Antonio Gallardo, collaring Evolution at the sixteenth pole and withstanding a late charge from Blazing Brat to win by 2 ¾ lengths. Evolution held on for third, a head in front of My Miss Mo. Sneaky Good paid $4.80 to win as the betting favorite.

    As impressive as Sneaky Good looked, the day’s headlines were reserved for Solitude Dude.
“He’s awesome. I’m all excited,” said Fountoukis, who purchased Solitude Dude through trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., for $300,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s June Sale. “Saffie loves this horse. He thinks he has a good future.”

    Joseph isn’t the only one holding that opinion after the son of Yaupon-After the Party, by Into Mischief, improved to 2-for-2 in his career. Both Joseph, who watched the race from back home in south Florida, and Zayas began the day with guarded optimism that was realized about as well as could be hoped for.

    “He had a very encouraging workout (Nov. 28, 4 furlongs in :46.75 seconds at Palm Meadows Training Center), but he was facing winners for the first time today,” said Joseph, who also trains the third-place finisher, Langvad. “He moved a little early into a fast pace, but he still quickened away when (Zayas) asked him. I think he has a lot of ability and hopefully he will continue to build on it.”

    Joseph said he will consider the Jan. 10 Pasco Stakes at 7 furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs for Solitude Dude’s next start (and first as a 3-year-old), so there is sufficient time for the connections to savor this race (and get Fountoukis up and running again).

    Solitude Dude’s flirtation with the track record “tells a lot about what kind of horse he is,” Joseph said. “He has a lot of gears. That he can go into a fast pace and quicken like he did, we’re grateful to have him. He relaxes very well. His mind is probably his best attribute.”

    Indeed, Solitude Dude appeared to be unfazed as Super Kick broke to a 2-length lead, running the opening quarter-mile in "21.68 seconds. The half went in :44.31, but it didn’t seem to tax Solitude Dude.

    “He’s an amazing horse, a very nice horse,” said Zayas, who was aboard him for the first time. “I’m very excited to see how he runs in the future. It looks like he has a lot of ability. He broke good and I could tell he was a classy horse. He sat second and was on cruise control the whole time until I asked him about the 3/8 pole.

    “Once he got momentum, he opened up a couple of lengths and I let him go all the way to the wire. (The time) was without even using the whip on him. He probably would have broken the track record, but we’re not looking at that. We’re just saving it for the bigger races.”

    A brief rainstorm began about five minutes before post time for the Sandpiper, but had let up by the time the race went off. Sneaky Good, who is owned by NK Racing and LNJ Foxwoods and trained by Brad Cox, asserted her superiority late to improve to 2-for-2.

    Less than an hour earlier, Cox won the Gr. II Cigar Mile at Aqueduct with 5-year-old horse Bishops Bay.

    Sneaky Good’s time of 1:10.70 was 1.35 seconds off Dorth Vader’s 2022 stakes record. “I had a lot of confidence in her, and the race set up perfect,” Gallardo said of the daughter of Into Mischief-Gale, by Tonalist. “There was a lot of speed, and I think the outside (No. 9) post position helped because she had enough speed to be close but she didn’t have to go to the lead.

    “I pushed the button a little early because the track has been playing fast, but not as much for this race because of the rain. I asked her with my mouth,” he said, making a smooching noise, “and she gave me a little kick, so I knew I had a lot of horse left.”

Around the oval - Leading Oldsmar jockey Samuel Marin rode three winners for the second consecutive day. He captured the first race on Teddy Bear, a 2-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by Robert Cotran and trained by Joseph Orseno. Marin and Orseno doubled up in the fifth race with Hades, a 4-year-old Florida-bred gelding owned by D. J. Stable and Robert Cotran. Marin then won the seventh with Lightscape, a 2-year-old filly owned by Glen Hill Farm and trained by Tom Proctor.

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Two-time defending leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr., fellow Eclipse Award winner Tyler Gaffalione and British champion David Egan will make their first appearances of the 2025-2026 Championship Meet when the country’s premier winter stand resumes with a nine-race program today.

 First race post time is 12:20 p.m.

     Ortiz, fresh off topping the Churchill Downs fall meet standings, is named in four races today and seven on Friday to begin the quest for his record-extending seventh Championship Meet title, having broken the mark set by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who won five in a row from 2011-2012 to 2015-2016. Ortiz also surpassed Castellano’s single-season standard with 140 wins in 2020-2021.

    A 33-year-old native of Puerto Rico and five-time Eclipse Award winner (2018-20, 2022-23), Ortiz ranked first with 109 wins and $6.6 million in purse earnings last winter at Gulfstream with 12 stakes wins led by White Abarrio in the Ghostzapper (G3) and $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) and Mindframe in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2).

    Gaffalione, born and raised in Davie, Fla., is named in three races today and Friday and six on Saturday including Summer Cause for trainer Miguel Clement in the $100,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Handicap scheduled for two miles on the grass.

    Last winter the 31-year-old Gaffalione, the champion apprentice of 2015, was second at the Championship Meet with 74 wins and third with nearly $4.2 million in purse earnings whose stakes wins were highlighted by Spirit of St Louis in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1).

    Based in England, where he was the champion apprentice of 2017, Egan was born in Kildare, Ireland and returns for the third straight winter. He is named in five races today, four races Friday and five on Saturday including stakes-placed I Know I Know in the Jerkens for 3-year-olds and up.

    Egan, 26, won 18 races and $707,450 in purses from 149 mounts at the 2024-2025 Championship Meet before returning for the British season. The winner of several major international Group 1 races including the Saudi Cup, Dubai Sheema Classic, Irish St. Leger and the St. Leger in England, he is a contract rider for Kia Joorabchian’s AMO Racing through 2028.

    Soon to arrive at Gulfstream are Hall of Famer John Velazquez, North America’s all-time leader with more than $513 million in purses earnings, and Corey Lanerie, a lifetime winner of 5,150 races.

    Jockey Rajiv Maragh sits one win shy of 2,000 for his career. He is named in two races today, five on Friday and six on Saturday.

     Spendthrift Farm’s Further Ado (Gun Runner- Sky Dreamer, by Sky Mesa) drew away late to win the Gr. II, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs by 1 ¾ lengths and lead the slate of stakes-winning OBS grads for the week.

    Further Ado verified his 20-length, two-turn maiden win 50 days ago at Keeneland. He earned $242,470 and collected 10 points as part of the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series, which offered points on a scale of 10-5-3-2-1 to the top five finishers.

    “This was a really good test for him,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He won very impressively last time. Today he had to show a different dimension and really dig down late to get by. It’s very important to get a horse like this started early on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Hopefully he can bring us right back here in the spring.”

    Further Ado was purchased by Spendthrift at the 2025 OBS April Sale for $550,000 from the Six K's Training & Sales consignment after breezing in :21 1/5. 

    At Churchill Downs, Moonlight (Audible- Sundown, by Tapit) rallied past 6-5 pacesetting favorite Dragoon Guard in deep stretch to win the second running of the $249,835 Cherokee Mile by 1 ½ lengths. Moonlight, a 4-year-old son of Audible, earned his first stakes win and third win in five starts at Churchill Downs for trainer Chris Block and owner Kiki Courtelis’ Town and Country Racing.

    Moonlight was purchased at the 2023 OBS April Sale by his owners for $285,000 from the Eddie Woods consignment after breezing in :21.

    At Zia Park, Lookinforbargains (Practical Joke-Mixed Up Kid, by Lemon Drop Kid) won the $100,000 Zia Park Distaff Stakes in her second stakes attempt. Owned by Paul Jenson and trained by Todd Fincher, Lookinforbargains was purchased by H & R Bloodstock for $85,000 at the 2022 OBS April Sale from the Scanlon Training & Sales consignment after breezing in :10.

    The Nov. 25 Zia Park card also saw Bryon Seymore’s A Thousand Miles (Thousand Words – Swiss Army Wife, by Colonel John) take the $300,000 Zia Park Oaks for trainer Bart G. Hone. The daughter of Thousand Words was purchased for $27,000 by Dennis O’Neill out of the Pick View consignment at the 2024 OBS March sale after breezing in :10 3/5.

  HALLANDALE BEACH - John Oxley’s Strategic Risk took advantage of a dream trip under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano to capture Saturday’s $300,000 In Reality at Gulfstream Park, breaking though with a performance Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse always thought he had in him.

    Strategic Risk ($14.60), who won at first asking at Gulfstream Park by 8 ¼ lengths before disappointing in his next three starts, appreciated every inch of the 1 1/16-mile third and final leg of the Florida Sire Stakes, scoring by nine lengths in the race for 2-year-olds sired by accredited Florida-bred stallions.

    The son of Noble Bird settled well off the pace set by Roger That Dana and closely attended by 6-5 favorite Khozalite and Trelawny past fractions of :23.54 and :47.98 seconds for the first half-mile. As Roger That Dana and Khozalite hooked up on the turn into the homestretch for the stretch run, Strategic Risk hit his stride with a menacing run a few lengths back before sweeping to the lead at the top of the stretch and drawing clear.

    “He was very relaxed early in the race. I knew when I asked him, he was going to explode. I was waiting for the best opportunity to ask him, and he did it. He did an amazing job. He handled everything very well,” Castellano said.

    Strategic Risk followed up his winning debut at five furlongs with a distant fourth-place finish in the six-furlong Sanford (G3) and a sixth-place finish in the 1 1/16-mile With Anticipation (G2) on turf at Saratoga. He returned to South Florida to finish an even third in the Oct. 18 Affirmed, the seven-furlong second leg of the Florida Sire Stakes series won by Khozalite.

    “We thought early on he was a really good horse. He broke his maiden. I thought he was about 80 percent at that time. We took him to New York and he just didn’t do great there. He didn’t train that great. He worked on the grass and I tried him on the grass. I brought him home and gave him a little break in Ocala,” Casse said by phone from his Ocala farm. “I said, ‘You know what? He’s trained well enough, I think I’ll try him in the [Sire] Stakes,’ the last one. He ran OK. I told Mr. Oxley, ‘I think this horse is better than he ran.’ He trained well into this race.  Mr. Oxley asked me how I thought he’d run, and I said, ‘I think he’ll run really well.’ I didn’t know he’d win the way he won, but it was nice.”

    Casse was hardly surprised that Oxley’s homebred colt made great strides forward while stretching out two turns on dirt for the first time.

    “I trained his dad. I trained his mom, too, but I don’t think she ever ran. She was by Afleet Alex. His dad held a track record at Pimlico. He won the Pimlico Special at a mile and 3/16ths. He was a multiple Grade 1 winner for Mr. Oxley,” Casse said. “There’s no reason this horse shouldn’t run all day.”

    Brad Cox-trained The Town, who entered the In Reality off a late-closing second in his Oct. 24 debut at Keeneland, recovered from a disastrous start to finish second. Roger That Dana held on to finish third, 1 ¼ lengths back.

    Casse has no specific next-out plans for Strategic Risk, who ran the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:44.85.  “This was impressive. We don’t have a lot of options after this, so we’ll try some open company,” he said. “The only think I can tell you for sure, it will be around two turns.”

    HALLANDALE BEACH - After declaring a dead-heat for first in the $100,000 Pulpit, the stewards at Gulfstream Park proclaimed Centurion Thoroughbreds Club’s Glorious Boy the sole winner of the Friday’s stakes for 2-year-olds.

    Before finishing on even terms with Bronze Bullet at the wire, the Carlos Martin-trained Glorious Boy ($19.20) bumped with the 2-1 favorite, who was found responsible for the contact nearing the completion of the mile-and-70-yard feature on Tapeta and placed second.

    “I objected because there was some contact that I felt impeded my horse. In the moment, it was so close I wasn’t sure if I won, so I made sure I claimed foul,” Glorious Boy’s jockey Rajiv Maragh said.

    Shipmate set the pace in the Pulpit, originally scheduled to be renewed at 7 ½ furlongs on turf, pressed by A Million Dreams and Behold the King past fractions of 23.40 and 47.57 seconds for the first half-mile. Bronze Bullet, who rated kindly in fourth for jockey Emisael Jaramillo, made a four-wide sweep on the turn into the homestretch to take the lead turning for home. Meanwhile, Glorious Boy put in his run to loom as the sole threat to Bronze Bullet, who drifted out in mid-stretch before dropping down toward the inside rail. Glorious Boy had shifted to the inside to make his stretch run and was put in tight quarters by the favorite nearing the wire.

    “I wasn’t sure about the DQ because it seemed like there was some incidental contact both ways,” winning trainer Carlos Martin said. “But Stacy Prior, trainer Joe Orseno’s assistant who helped us with the horse – Joe and her have been great the whole time we’ve been here, about 10 days – she said to watch it again because the second time our horse’s [behind] kind of went out from underneath him, maybe just enough. A tie is great, but it’s better to have the win.”

    Three Diamonds Farm’s Bronze Bullet had run on Tapeta in his two starts, breaking his maiden at five-furlongs first time out before finishing second in a 5 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance.

    “It was a tough call,” Bronze Bullet’s trainer Jose D’Angelo said. “I think he was tired. They are babies going two turns for the first time.”
    Glorious Boy was coming off a second-place finish in the six-furlong Awad Stakes on turf at Aqueduct after breaking his maiden in his third start.

    “He’s a nice horse. Anytime you stretch them out…we were talking about it a couple days ago and were a little bit leery. Is he just going to be a good closing sprinter, or is he going to stretch out?” Martin said. “My uncle, Greg, did a great job buying this horse as a yearling. The owners are new in the business so it’s exciting. To get the horse to relax and settle [helps] and now you can go turf and Tapeta. There’s a good series of races here. Initially I was thinking I was going to give him a break but if he runs good, I may have to rethink that. Maybe now I’m going to rethink it.”

    Glorious Boy, as well as Bronze Bullet, ran the mile and 70-yard distance in 1:40.74.

     “This horse ran a really great race today. We were expecting a top performance. This hit the point or exceeded the expectations,” Maragh said. “To win the Pulpit Stakes – there’s never been a bad horse that’s won this race. He seems like he still has room to improve and mature.”

    Friday’s Pulpit score moved Maragh within two victories of the 2000-win milestone. “I’m chipping away, and I have some really good mounts this weekend, so I’m really sweating it,” Maragh said.

    A Million Dreams finished third, 3 ½ lengths behind the dead-heated Glorious Boy and Bronze Bullet.

    OLDSMAR - The Tampa Bay Downs stakes schedule kicks off Saturday, Dec. 6 with the 40th running of the $125,000 Inaugural Stakes for 2-year-olds and the 48th edition of the $125,000 Sandpiper Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Both races will be contested at a distance of 6 furlongs on the main track.

    The Inaugural drew 29 nominations – 27 colts and geldings, plus a ridgling and a filly – while the Sandpiper drew 30 nominations. The Inaugural is a prep race for the 7-furlong Pasco Stakes on Jan. 10 for newly-turned 3-year-olds, while the Sandpiper is a prep for the 7-furlong Gasparilla Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Jan. 10.

    Among the nominees for the Inaugural is Kentucky-bred colt Hammond, whose two victories include the Juvenile Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Hammond is trained by Saffie A. Joseph Jr., who will determine whether two weeks is sufficient time between starts for the son of Charlatan.
Joseph has nominated three other horses for the Inaugural: Langvad, a maiden winner on Nov. 8 at Gulfstream; Solitude Dude, whose lone start on Nov. 1 at Gulfstream produced a 9 ½-length victory; and stakes-placed Strategic Reserve.

    Trainer Brian Lynch, who won last year’s Inaugural with Donut God, has nominated two colts. Both are owned by Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, the owners of Donut God and last season’s Gr. III Tampa Bay Derby winner Owen Almighty. The Lynch nominees for the Inaugural are Mob, who captured his career debut on Sunday at Churchill Downs, and Roger That Dana, an easy winner in his debut on Oct. 25 at Gulfstream.

    Top trainer Brad Cox has two Inaugural nominees. His colt Commandment broke his maiden on Nov. 1 at Churchill in his second start, while his other nominee, Zun Day, broke his maiden on Nov. 5 in Louisville.

    Tampa Bay Downs’s leading trainer the last two years, Kathleen O’Connell, won back-to-back runnings of the Sandpiper Stakes with Lindsey Lane and Shananie’s Beat in 1993 and 1994, and has nominated breeder-owner James Chicklo’s filly Gerrards Cross to this year’s race. The Florida-bred is 2-for-2 and won the Colleen Stakes on the turf at Monmouth Park on July 27 in her last start.

    Joseph is represented by five Sandpiper nominees. That quintet includes Tessellate, who won the Nov. 15 Juvenile Fillies Sprint Stakes at Gulfstream by 13 lengths, and My Miss Mo, who broke her maiden by 12 lengths on Nov. 9 at Gulfstream.

    Lynch, who won last year’s Sandpiper with Mrs Worldwide for Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, has nominated two fillies: Flying Dutchmen’s Slay the Day, who broke her maiden on Nov. 16 at Churchill, and owner William K. Werner’s maiden Betty’s Pearl.

    Cox has nominated three, including two-time winner On Time Girl, second in her last start on Oct. 24 at Keeneland in the Dean Dorton Myrtlewood Stakes. 

 Around the oval.

    Long known for his success with 2-year-olds, trainer Wesley Ward sent out Augustin Stables’ gelding Distinct to win the fifth race on the turf by 3 ½ lengths from Giulio Cesare. Pablo Morales rode the winner, who completed the 1-mile distance on the firm course in his first career start in 1:37.25. Distinct was claimed from the race for $16,000 by trainer Jose A. Gallegos for his new owner, Amaty Racing Stables.

    Morales also won the seventh race on the turf on 4-year-old gelding Chicago Theatre. The Glen Hill Farm homebred is trained by Tom Proctor.

    Another impressive performance was turned in by 3-year-old Florida-bred gelding El Chispazo in the second race on the main track. Owned and trained by Juan Arriagada, he won by 13 lengths under jockey Ademar Santos in a time of 1:39.47 for the mile-and-40-yard distance, 1.33 seconds off the track record.

    Tampa Bay Downs is closed in its entirety today. Racing continues Friday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:45 p.m. The fifth, seventh and ninth races are slated to take place on the turf.

    In his first 28 starts in this, his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Gator All-American Ricky Castillo made 15 of 28 cuts, and earned $961,455. His best two outings were a tie for fifth in the CJCup Byron Nelson, good for a $305,971 payday, and a tie for 12th in the Valspar Championship in Tampa, worth $178,350.

    The 24-year-old rose to new heights in the RSM Classic concluded at Sea Island yesterday, shooting rounds of 7 under, 5 under, 1 under and 8 under in the finale, for a 21-under-par 282. He finished third, just two strokes behind first-time winner Sami Valinaki. Castillo collected a healthy $483,000 for the effort, and was in contention in the finale after making seven birdies on the front nine. But he was unable to keep it going on the final nine.

    He wound up with earnings of $1,444,454, and finished 138th on the money list and 116th on the FedEx Cup points list, which puts him in jeopardy for the new season. Only the top 100 FedExers get to keep their cards for 2026 and he needed a second on Sunday to make that happen. 

    Gator Camilo Villegas finished 155th on the FedEx list but with two victories in recent seasons he should be able to get in a number of events. Gator Alejandro Tosti finished 137th and has lost his privileges.

    Of the Seminoles, Daniel Berger tied for 51st at Sea Island with 11 under par and picked up $16,399, but rookie Luke Clanton missed the cut. Several veterans lost their cards, including Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson and Brandt Snedeker, but all three should have no trouble getting 2026 entries. Kuchar is 13th on the all-time money list, Johnson is a 12-time winner, including the Masters and the Open, and Snedeker is a 9-time winner and captain for the next President's Cup.   

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Peachtree Stable homebred Spirit Doll, dominant in her grass debut last month, is among seven last-out winners and one of three entries from four-time defending Championship Meet leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. in the $100,000 Wait a While on Thursday’s opening day program at Gulfstream Park.

    The eight-race Thanksgiving Day holiday program has a special post time of 11:15 a.m.

    For 2-year-old fillies on Gulfstream’s newly refreshed turf course, the 7 ½-furlong Wait a While going two turns is the first of 68 stakes, 27 graded, worth $15.2 million in purses during an 84-day Championship Meet that runs through March 29.

    Spirit Doll, by Tiz the Law, graduated in debut sprinting six furlongs Aug. 7 at Saratoga, where she next endured a troubled trip finishing sixth in the seven-furlong Spinaway (G1). Joseph brought her back to Florida, stretched her out to a mile and put her on the turf for the Oct. 25 Our Dear Peggy, where she came from off the pace to win by 6 ¼ widening lengths.

    “I ran her back quick in the Spinaway but I actually thought she was going to be competitive in that and she didn’t run. I think it was just too quick after the first race,” Joseph said. “She was very impressive the other day and I feel she goes in there, in my opinion, a deserving favorite.

    Spirit Doll drew Post 7 with jockey Edgard Zayas at topweight of 122 pounds and is rated the 5-2 second choice on the morning line.

    “She has grass pedigree from the dam [Pakhet] and the Tiz the Laws have run on the grass,” Joseph said. “You’re just kind of hoping she takes to the grass but you never envision that kind of performance, especially the way she quickened. I thought it was very, very impressive so the future is very bright for her.”

    Averill Racing’s R Slew of Cash (12-1) already owns a win at the course and distance, graduating by 1 ¼ lengths on the same card as Spirit Doll’s stakes victory. She pressed the early pace in her one-mile unveiling before fading to eighth Sept. 4 at Kentucky Downs.

    "I thought at Kentucky Downs she ran a good race. She looked like she was going to run good and she got tired,” Joseph said. “Last time she tracked and she quickened nicely. It’s the right race for her. I think the distance is ideal, but she’ll have to show she’s good enough. She’s going to need to improve to be competitive but I think she is eligible to improve.” Micah Husbands, up for the maiden win, rides back from Post 3.

    C2 Racing Stable, BAG Racing Stables, Barry Fowler, Charles Deters and Mark Taylor’s Day to Day (12-1) is winless in three tries since joining Joseph over the summer with one grass start, beaten 5 ½ lengths when eighth in the 1 1/16-mile Miss Grillo (G2) Oct. 4 at Aqueduct. Fourth in the Spinaway, she has Edwin Gonzlaez named to ride from Post 8.

    “Her grass race wasn’t that bad in the Miss Grillo. She broke well and then kind of lost position and ended up out wide and kind of ran even,” Joseph said. “We’re going to decide closer to the race if we’re going to run.”

    The 2-1 program favorite for the Wait a While is Woodslane Farm homebred Sister Troienne (Post 5), the Brian Lynch trainee that joins Spirit Doll and French import Special Wood as two-time winners in the field. Sister Troienne, by Munnings, has won back-to-back starts since being moved to the turf by eight combined lengths, the latter around two turns, and will have the services of regular Kentucky-based rider dual Derby-winning jockey Mario Gutierrez.

    Brody Racing’s Devilish Grin (20-1) is another horse with stakes experience, having run third in the Aug. 27 P.G. Johnson at Saratoga third time out before graduating in an Oct. 4 maiden optional claimer at Aqueduct, both going 1 1/16 miles. JSM Equine’s Haute Diva (10-1) has three seconds from five starts with a lone win coming at one mile Sept. 27 on the Gulfstream turf.

    Both Amberglen and Slippers step up to stakes company off impressive debut victories. Stonestreet Stables’ Irish-bred Amberglen (Post 1, 8-1) overcame somewhat of a slow start to rally for a three-quarter-length triumph Oct. 23 going one mile on the Keeneland turf for trainer Brad Cox. Following the race she was sent to South Florida where she shows three breezes at Payson Park.

    DJ Stable’s Slippers (Post 4, 9-2) fetched $225,000 as a yearling last fall and didn’t launch her career for more than a year, rallying for a popular three-length maiden special weight triumph sprinting five furlongs Oct. 18 on the Gulfstream turf.

    “She had always shown talent,” DJ’s Jon Green said. “She was a little slower developing than the rest of the group. Thankfully, the way [Hall of Fame trainer] Mark Casse has his farm set up, they can go in tranches so she didn’t have to get rushed or get ahead of where she was mentally. But once she put it together at the farm, it took her the matter of a month or two before she really started showing it on the racetrack.

    “So, going into that first race we were pretty confident,” he added. “Mark is a two-time Hall of Famer. He doesn’t do too much to get a horse ready first time out because as he likes to say, he’s training a horse for its career not its maiden win. Whenever we win first time out it is kind of a pleasant surprise, but we were pretty confident that she had talent going into that first race.”

    Slippers has breezed twice over the all-weather Tapeta course since her race, and will have Miguel Vasquez back in the irons.

    “We’re going against winners and winners that have run two turns, so it’s a little different scenario than her first asking,” Green said, “but she’s also had that first experience, she’s a little more mature, and we don’t have to ship her anywhere. For all intents and purposes the majority of the field is in the same boat as we are … a-other-than allowance types running for black-type on opening day.”

    Casse also entered Lighthouse Racing’s Backgammon (Post 9, 30-1), a front-running maiden winner going one mile Oct. 18 at Keeneland in her fifth start. Completing the field are Special Wood (Post 10, 20-1), making her North American debut after winning two of three starts in her native France; and the also-eligible Girvana (Post 11, 30-1).

    Gator Camilo Villegas enjoyed a good weekend at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, adding a 68 and 67 onto his first two rounds of 71-70, and he finished in a tie for ninth at 9 under par. He was just three strokes behind winner Adam Schenck, whose 12-under finish earned him a $1,080,000 paycheck.

    Camilo's check for $169,500 jumped his 2025 earnings to $733,785.

    Certainly, there has never been an event that effected the PGA Tour like the advent of LIV Golf. It took away many of the biggest names in the sport  and spread them over several continents - for money - as if the millions they had earned over the years wasn't enough to keep them, and their families, happy.

    The results of the defections of Rahm, Mickelson, DeChambeau and the rest can easily be detected in many ways, but none as evident as the massive loss of fan participation on both tours - they aren't coming out in droves like they used to. 

  And, after the conclusion of the Tour Championship, waiting for the January opener in Hawaii, the PGA fields are represented mostly by graduates of the Korn Ferry Tour, and all the players who couldn't get in to the events of the spring and the summer. Stewart Cink, Matt Kucher, and Brandt Snedeker are a few who are trying the youngsters, but Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and the other new set of leaders are nowhere to be seen.

     Here's a list of the ex-Gators and Seminoles taking their winter shots. 

GATORS:

Billy Horschel: The major winner and earner of more than $41 million tied for 11th in the recent Bank of Utah Championship, but he hasn't played as often as usual. His bank account for 2025 totals $1,483,614. 

Camilo Villegas: He has withdrawn from three events in the middle of play, including the previous two events, but he has made the cut at this week's Butterfield Bermuda Championship being played in Southampton. He's put up rounds of 71-70-141, 1 under par - the cut came at even par 142. He has one top 10 this year, but with more than $23 million in the bank, he won't starve.

Ricky Castillo: The Tour rookie missed this week's cut with 75-70, but he's made 15 of 28 for the season, tied for fifth at the Byron Nelson and 12th at the Valspar, and has banked $961,455.

SEMINOLES: 

Rookie Luke Clanton played well in several events before getting his card, but now that he has it, it's been more difficult. He missed this cut with76-69, and has collected $251,429 so far.

Adam Hadwin is the halfway leader in Bermuda at 11 under par (65-66). 

    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).