BY BROCK SHERIDAN
With an opportunity to become the 191st Florida-bred millionaire, R Disaster heads back to Churchill Downs for Saturday’s $1 million Derby City Distaff (Grade 1), a seven-furlong test for fillies and mares. With career earnings of $769,015 a victory would push her into the seven-figure club.
A Derby City Distaff score by R Disaster would also earn breeders Ocala Stud and J. Michael O’Farrell Jr., a $7,500 Export Incentive paid directly by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association for the out-of-state win at this level.
First and second in 14 of 15 career starts, the only third-place finish of her career came last out in the Grade 1 Resolute Racing Madison won by Eclatant at Keeneland on April 4, a race in which R Disaster produced a career-high 96 Beyer Speed Figure.
In one other start this year, the 5-year-old daughter of Ocala Stud’s Awesome Slew trounced seven other fillies and mares in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream Park on March 7, taking the seven-furlong tilt in wire-to-wire fashion by five-and-a-half lengths with a 95 Beyer number.
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. again has her entered to run under the Twin Spires where she broke her maiden by nearly seven lengths in August of 2024 and just missed winning the six-furlong, $287,000 Dream Supreme (Listed) on November 8. That day she was uncharacteristically two-and-a-half lengths off the eventual winner a furlong out before rebreaking to narrowly miss.
Owners Rich Averill (Averill Racing) of Brandenton, Florida and Anthony Mattera (ATM Racing) of Palm City, Florida, were on hand at the FTBOA Awards Gala in Ocala on April 20 to accept the awards for R Disaster as the Florida-bred Champion Older Female and Florida-bred Champion Female Sprinter of 2025. Last year R Disaster won half of her eight starts including the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom in New York and the $96,000 Rehoboth at Delaware Park.
Out of the Florida-bred mare Making Havoc, by Gottcha Gold, R Disaster has a career ledger with eight wins, six seconds and a third in 15 starts.
She had drawn the outside post in the field of six and will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione. R Disaster is 6-1 on the morning line.
Ways and Means will make her first start of the year Saturday and is another looking to get over the million-dollar threshold with $997,500 in career earnings.
Trained by Chad Brown for Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stable, Ways and Means had only two starts in 2025, the last a nearly eight-length victory in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses Stakes going seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course on June 6. She was third in last year’s Derby City Distaff won by Kopion.
Like R Disaster, Ways and Means has a victory in the Gallant Bloom on her resume, having won the 2024 edition, the year she also won the Test (G1) at Saratoga.
Ways and Means is a 5-year-old daughter of Practical Joke out of Strong Incentive, by Warror’s Reward and has won five of 10 career starts with two seconds and a third.
Jose Ortiz takes the call on Ways and Means and they will break from post four.
Joseph also saddles Haulin Ice, who tries for her third straight stakes victory and first graded stakes score since taking the Grade 3 Princess Rooney at Gulfstream Park in September. Haulin Ice enters off an 11 ¾-length romp in the $150,000 Downthedusty Road at Oaklawn in February and length-and-three-quarters-lengths tally in the $250,000 Matron (Listed) at Oaklawn on March 27.
Already a millionairess with $1,227,750 in revenues, the 5-year-old Haulin Ice is by Coal Front out of She’s Smoke, by Half Ours and races for C2 Racing Stable, WSS Racing and Agave Racing Stable. She was also entered in today’s Unbridled Sidney at Churchill.
Should Joseph choose the Derby City Distaff, Francisco Arrieta will ride Haulin Ice from post two and she is 4-1 on the morning line.
Rounding out the entries are Usha and jockey Juan Hernandez, Autumn Evening with Irad Ortiz Jr. up and Splendora, who ships in from Southern California for trainer Bob Baffert, with Flavien Prat taking the riding assignment.
Return to the May 1 issue of Wire to Wire
