Awesome Feather, Gourmet Dinner win Florida Stallion Stakes
Awesome Feather and Gourmet Dinner remained undefeated after capturing divisions of the Florida Stallion Stakes on Saturday as Florida-breds won five of the six stakes races that made up Calder Casino and Race Course’s Juvenile Showcase.
Awesome Feather, a homebred for Fred Brei of Jacks or Better Farm in Reddick, improved to 4-for-4 by cruising to a four-length victory in the $100,000 Susan’s Girl division of the FSS. Gourmet Dinner, bred by Ocala Stud Farm and owner William J. Terrill of Our Sugar Bear Stable, stayed unbeaten in three career starts, taking the $100,000 Affirmed division by 2 ½ lengths.
Awesome Feather can become the first filly to sweep her division of the FSS since Aclassysassylassy in 2004 by winning the final leg of the three-race series, the $375,000 My Dear Girl division going 1 1⁄16 miles Oct. 16. Gourmet Dinner can become the third colt in as many years to sweep his division by winning the $375,000 In Reality division at the same distance that day, joining Florida-breds Big Drama in 2008 and Jackson Bend last year.
Awesome Feather, a daughter of Awesome of Course, has the same connections as Jackson Bend – owner/breeder Brei, trainer Stanley Gold and jockey Jeffrey Sanchez. On Saturday, she raced in second place early in the seven-furlong Susan’s Girl as Florida-bred Cristal Jak took the field through a quarter-mile in 22.74 seconds and a half in 46.06.
Awesome Feather engaged Cristal Jak at the quarter pole and drew off, stopping the clock in 1:24.57. She paid $2.20 for a $2 win bet as the heavy favorite in the field of five 2-year-old fillies.
“This filly impresses me more and more each time I ride her,” Sanchez said. “She did it all on her own. I was just along for the ride. That’s the great thing about her – she’s so easy to ride. I let her move up close to the filly on the lead just to keep my filly in position, and then she just did the rest herself.”
Awesome Feather has won her four starts by a combined 15 lengths. She rallied to win the $100,000 J J’s Dream Stakes by half a length after a troubled trip in July and came back to take the opening leg of the FSS, the $75,000 Desert Vixen division, by 4 ¾ lengths Aug. 7. She’s earned $196,235.
Brei said Awesome Feather likely will run in the final leg of the FSS before being pointed toward the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5.
Cristal Jak, a daughter of Drewman bred by Ocala’s Helen Y. Painter, finished second in her stakes debut. She had won a $40,000 maiden claimer by seven lengths in her third career start Aug. 12. Florida-bred Silverest, a daughter of Vinery stallion Congrats and a homebred for Jupiter’s David and Teresa Palmer, was third in the Susan’s Girl.
In the Affirmed, Gourmet Dinner raced in fourth place early as Florida-bred Rough’n Royal took the field through fractions of 22.35 seconds and 45.29. Gourmet Dinner and jockey Sebastian Madrid fanned out three-wide around the turn to find running room, caught Rough’n Royal inside the sixteenth pole and drew clear, finishing the seven furlongs in 1:25.69. He paid $3.60 as the favorite in a field of five.
“This horse can really run, and he’s going to be even tougher to beat when he goes two turns next time out,” Madrid said. “He just takes a while to get himself going, but when he does, he fires in a big way.”
Gourmet Dinner, a son of Trippi, rallied to win the first leg of the FSS, the $75,000 Dr. Fager division, by a half-length Aug. 7. He’s earned $137,390.
Rough’n Royal, a son of Vinery stallion Pomeroy bred by Flying H Enterprises, finished second. He had wired a $36,000 maiden special weight race by 13 ¾ lengths in his second career start Aug. 13. Vee’s Accolade, a son of Proud Accolade bred by Venice’s Martha Magliacane, finished third in the Affirmed.
In other stakes action at the Juvenile Showcase:
• Blue Eyed Sweetie ($4.60) romped to a 6 ¼-length victory in the $100,000 Lindsay Frolic Stakes, finishing the one-mile test in 1:40.96 with Manoel Cruz aboard. The filly is a homebred for Gilbert Campbell of Stonehedge Farm South in Williston and a daughter of Stonehedge stallion West Acre.
Blue Eyed Sweetie, trained by Kathleen O’Connell, has won two of her four starts and earned $109,050. She finished third behind Awesome Feather in the J J’s Dream and second to that rival in the Desert Vixen.
“I could’ve let her go to the lead at any time,” Cruz said. “Halfway down the backstretch I could tell the pace was too slow, and I gave her her head, and from then on she just powered home. I was easing her up coming to the wire.”
• Ayoumilove ($8.60) rallied to win the $90,000 Catcharisingstar Stakes by 1 ½ lengths, finishing the five-furlong turf race in 57.15 seconds with Luis Saez aboard.
The daughter of Gibson County, bred by Reddick’s Mike and Beth Smith, is owned by trainer Jose Pinchin.
Ayoumilove won a $41,000 maiden special weight race and a $32,500 allowance, both at Calder in July. She’s won three of her five starts and earned $112,367.
“This filly showed speed running on the main track, but (Saturday) she was doing better just sitting back and making one big run in the stretch. I think turf is going to be the best thing for her and even better when she runs longer races.”
• Too Experience ($8.20) improved to 3-for-3 by rallying to win the $83,000 Seacliff Stakes by three-quarters of a length over Andersonstate, stopping the clock for the one mile in 1:41.40 with Roimes Chirinos aboard. The son of Drewman was bred by Micanopy’s Steve Tucker and slipped through the cracks at the OBS April sale of 2-year-olds in training, selling for only $1,000.
Too Experience, trained by Mark Passley for Move Horse Inc., won a $16,000 maiden claimer and a $25,000 claimer by a combined 5 ½ lengths to start his career. He’s earned $80,160.
“This horse has a lot of class,” Chirinos said. “He’s very professional, and he knows how to win. He’s won all three of his races so far, and I think he will keep on maturing and improving with the distance.”
• Machisa ($97.60) scored a huge upset by wiring the $70,000 Fasig Tipton Turf Dash by 5 ¼ lengths. The son of Safado, a homebred for Richard G. Rowan, who shares ownership of the horse with Mary L. Bonham, finished the five-furlong race in 56.51 seconds with Madrid aboard.
Machisa, trained by Juan D. Arias, entered the race off a win in a $32,000 maiden claimer at Calder on July 1. He’s won two of his five starts and earned $45,090.
“He just barely got up in time to break his maiden last time out, and he didn’t really beat much of a tough field either,” Madrid said. “Mr. Rowan and Juan Arias told me they were going to run him on the turf and he would be even better. I have to give both of them all the credit because he didn’t just win, he did it impressively. He broke so sharp, and his acceleration was much improved over last time.”
– Photo of Florida-bred Awesome Feather by Jim Lisa
