Filly earns $25,000 FSRI Bonus from FTBOA

BY BROCK SHERIDAN

A bridesmaid in her first three starts, Florida-bred Touch of Honor left little doubt with a convincing victory versus six other 2-year-old fillies in a seven-and-a-half-furlong maiden race on grass at Gulfstream Park Saturday. Under the conditions of the race, Florida-breds Lady Bluesville, Grant Me Peace, Touch of Honor and Kissed by a Rose raced under maiden special weight conditions while open fillies Caramel Blue, Causeshzprecocious and Northern Crown raced under $50,000 optional claiming conditions.

Rectangular ad detailing information for the new $1 Million Florida Sire Racing Incentives Program for the FTBOA. The ad is based around a right-aligned image of the Florida-bred Thoroughbred Strategic Risk (photo by ©Ryan Thompson) with overlapping orange, white, and yellow text aligned to the left of the graphic. More information for the new program can be found at ftboa.com.

The conditions allowed Touch of Honor to earn a $25,000 Florida Sire Racing Incentive bonus, split $20,000 to owner Rocco Cavo and $5,000 to breeder Breeze Easy, paid by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association. Capped at $1 million in 2026, the FSRI program pays a $25,000 bonus to eligible Florida-sired, Florida-bred 2-year-old winners of maiden special weight, allowance, allowance optional claiming and stakes run at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs.

Jockey Leonel Reyes kept Touch of Honor on a half-length lead ahead of Kissed by a Rose through a half-mile in :47.63 on the firm turf. Touch of Honor increased her lead to a length through six furlongs in 1:11.21 then drew off in the lane to win by four-and-a-half lengths in 1:30.17. Kissed by a Rose was second by a head with Caramel Blue third. Grant Me Peace, Causeshzprecocious, Northern Cove and Lady Bluesville finished in that order.

Trained by Carlos David, Touch of Honor paid $3 to win as the 1-2 favorite.

 

Touch of Honor raced in five-furlong maiden special weight races for fillies on the Gulfstream synthetic in her first two starts, finishing a neck behind Elegante Miz on June 6 and a half-length off Florida-bred Army Salute on July 11. She was switched to seven-and-a-half furlongs on the turf in a Florida-bred maiden special weight on August 9 at Gulfstream, finishing a head behind Dasher.

Touch of Honor is by Curlin’s Honor out of Plow Girl, by Ghostzapper and now has career earnings of $77,350.

Return to the September 5 issue of Wire to Wire