HALLANDALE BEACH - Averill Racing’s R Morning Brew will have a tough act to follow when the Saffie Joseph Jr. trainee goes to post in Saturday’s $200,000 Susan’s Girl at Gulfstream Park in the second leg of the 2024 Florida Sire Stakes, series for juvenile fillies sired by accredited Florida stallions.

    Averill Racing and Joseph were represented quite well in last year’s edition of the seven-furlong stakes by R Harper Rose, who remained undefeated in three lifetime starts following a four-length triumph as the 3-10 favorite.

    R Morning Brew, who has been installed at 4-5 in the morning line for the Susan’s Girl, will seek to also remain undefeated in three lifetime starts, but the daughter of Curlin’s Honor (Pleasant Acres Stallions) is hardly a mirror image of R Harper Rose.

    “They’re different. R Harper Rose had a lot more speed. R Harper Rose, early on, we thought was going to be really good,” Joseph said.  “This one has been kind of a surprise, which is a good thing, when they jump up on race day and show it.”

    R Morning Brew will face six rivals in the race, which will co-headline a 12-race program with the $200,000 Affirmed, second leg of the Florida Sire Stakes for 2-year-old colts and geldings.

    “She’s never been the fastest work horse, so it’s been kind of a surprise how she’s shown up on race day,” Joseph said. Like R Harper Rose, R Morning Brew won impressively at first asking. Unlike her older stablemate, who won an allowance race before jumping into Sire Stakes action in the Susan’s Girl, R Morning Brew went directly into the $100,000 Desert Vixen, the six-furlong first leg of the Sire Stakes on Sept. 7, emerging a most decisive 5 ½-length winner.

    “She’s been a pleasant surprise. Her first time out I didn’t know what to expect. She just trained evenly. She won well, but we weren’t sure if it was the slop,” Joseph said. “I thought the other day that she came back with a performance that spoke for itself.”

    Joseph isn’t concerned about the added distance of the Susan’s Girl. “I feel seven furlongs should be no problem. Seven furlongs should be well within her reach,” he said. Edgard Zayas has the return mount.

    Christian Maingot and trainer Jose Pinchin’s Wiggle an’ Wine and Troy Johnson and Maritza Weston’s Win N Your In, who finished second and third, respectively, in the Desert Vixen, are scheduled to return in the Susan’s Girl.  Win N Your In finished three quarters of a length behind Wiggle an’ Wine after finishing 4 ¾ lengths clear of the Pinchin trainee while winning the Sharp Susan on Aug. 10.

    Win N Your In, who finished third in her debut at 4 ½ furlongs, graduated by 7 ½ lengths in her second start at 5 ½ furlongs before rolling to victory in the Aug. 10 Sharp Susan, a six-furlong open stakes. In the Desert Vixen, the Carlos David-trained daughter of Win Win Win (Ocala Stud Farm) stalked the pace while racing three-wide before faltering late to finish third in the six-furlong Desert Vixen.

    Miguel Vasquez has the return mount on Win N Your In, who is rated at 7-2 on the morning line.

    Wiggle an’ Wine, a daughter of Awesome Slew (Ocala Stud Farm) who debuted with a victory over a next-out winner on June 1 before her two runner-up finishes in the Sharp Susan and Desert Vixen, will be ridden again by Emisael Jaramillo.

    Patricias Hope’s Rogue Diamond invades Gulfstream to run in the Susan’s Girl off a two-length debut win at Hawthorne on Aug. 22. The daughter of Rogueish (Solera Farm) is trained by Larry Rivelli.

    Stonehedge Farm’s Don’t Fool With Me, who followed a fifth-place finish with a maiden score on Sept. 29; Shadybrook Farm's I’malwaysthinking, a debut winner on Aug. 30; and Kip the Distance, coming off a third-place finish in the Hallandale Beach, round out the field. comments powered by Disqus