HALLANDALE BEACH - Fourth and Central didn’t give Michael Yates an anxious moment while registering a dominating front-running victory in the $100,000 Dr. Fager Saturday at Gulfstream Park, which was surely greatly appreciated by his owner/trainer, who had to endure a bitter disappointment when his trainee Finding Strength had lost a tight photo finish following a heated stretch duel with Lennilu in the $100,000 Desert Vixen two races earlier.

    The six-furlong Dr. Fager co-headlined Saturday’s 11-race card with the six-furlong Desert Vixen for fillies in first-leg action of the 2025 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series for juveniles sired by accredited Florida stallions.

            “I was pretty confident when I saw him get to the turn. It looked like he was still in hand. He looked well within himself, but you never know,” said Yates, who has saddled four Dr. Fager winners, including Rated By Merit, who swept last year’s FSS series. “But when he turned for home and switched leads, I was really confident because he took off.”

            Fourth and Central ($23.60) broke alertly from his outside Post 8 to sprint to the lead that he would never relinquish on his way to a 1 ¾-length triumph under Marcos Meneses. The son of Cajun Breeze set fractions of 22.48 and 46.26 (seconds) for the first half mile before stopping the teletimer in 1:11.18.

            “I had the outside position, and I used that to control the race. With the outside position, I did what I want. It was perfect,” Meneses said. “This is the race he needed, to make it in front, make his pace, control the group and wait for the stretch. He’ll be better I think in the future.”

            Fourth and Central, who races for Yates’ Shadybrook Farm Inc., won on debut by a neck in his May 25 debut at 4 ½ furlongs, but ran a troubled fifth in the six-furlong Proud Man Aug. 9.

“His last race he broke a step slow. He was in the middle of horses. He kind of rushed up and kind of got in a tough spot. Coming to the three-eighths pole things got pretty tight and he had to check hard,” Yates said. “He actually got to run again and the lead horse started backing up and he had to steady again. He still gave us a little kick. It was an ugly race…He got a lot of experience out of it.”

Camigol, who had lost the tight photo to Fourth and Central in his debut before going on to break his maiden and finish a distant third in the Aug. 2 Saratoga Special, finished second under Edgard Zayas. Trelawny, who stalked the pace into the stretch, finished third under Jose Morelos, three-quarters of a length farther back.  Squire, the 2-1 favorite ridden by Jonathan Ocasio, finished fifth after bumping with Camigol during the early stages of the race.

            Following Fourth and Central’s victory, Yates was able to be somewhat philosophical about the filly’s tough loss.

            “I think we actually won, but we had to take second place money,” Yates said.

            Fourth and Central’s victory was also especially rewarding for Yates, since he campaigned Cajun Breeze and decided to stand him at stud.

            The Florida Sire Stakes series will resume Oct. 18 with the $200,000 Affirmed and the $200,000 Susan’s Girl for fillies. Both will be contested over seven furlongs. The series will conclude on the opening weekend of the 2025-2026 Championship Meet. The $300,000 In Reality and the $300,000 My Dear Girl for fillies will be contested at 1 1/16 miles Nov. 30.

            “He’s a homebred, I’d be pretty thrilled if he could keep moving forward,” Yates said of Fourth and Central. comments powered by Disqus