HALLANDALE BEACH - Julio Garriga’s No Name Dude made a name for himself Saturday at Gulfstream Park, achieving stakes-winner status in the $65,000 Hollywood Beach.

    The Big Beast gelding made a significant move forward from a maiden special weight race victory on dirt three weeks earlier to capture the five-furlong sprint stakes for 2-year-olds while making his first start on Tapeta.

    “We checked his mare and he had one sister who won on the grass, so I said to the owner, ‘Why don’t we run in the stakes,” trainer Jose D’Angelo said. “He ran very good on it.”

    No Name Dude ($24.40) settled in third behind a contested pace set by dueling Face Abarrio and Wide West, both maiden winners on the all-weather surface in their respective debuts, along the backstretch and on the far turn. Jockey Sonny Leon eased No Name Dude off the rail before making a three-wide sweep on the turn into the homestretch and passing the pacesetters nearing mid-stretch. The homebred gelding continued on to prevail by a half-length over the late-charging Takecareofbusiness, a son of Pleasant Acres' successful freshman Bucchero and his third stakes horse. Multiple stakes-placed Cheerful Charlie finished a nose back in third.

    “The horse is very fast but is still very immature mentally,” D’Angelo said. “I think this race was good for him because he didn’t get a great start and he made a nice move around the horses. I think he has good future, especially running five furlongs, 5 ½-furlongs. He wants to sprint.”

    No Name Dude, who ran five furlongs in :56.67 seconds, finished third in his debut at six furlongs on dirt before graduating at the same distance with a front-running performance.


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