Already surpasses all of big year in 2024
BY BROCK SHERIDAN
OCALA, FL—Four Florida-bred Thoroughbreds captured open stakes at racetracks around the country on Sept. 26-27 including graded stakes winners in New York and California. That brings the number of Florida-bred winners of black-type races this year to 66. Nineteen victories have come in graded stakes.
Those numbers both eclipse the totals in all of 2024 when 64 open stakes victories were produced by Florida-breds including 13 graded stakes conquests.
Two of the four winners this week came in graded stakes with Averill Racing LLC, Two Eight Racing and Anthony Mattera’s R Disaster winning her second added-money race of the year in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom at Aqueduct Race Course, and Reef Runner, a homebred for Alex and JoAnn Lieblong of Ocala, Fla., scoring in the Grade 2 Eddie D at Santa Anita Race Course.
Among the 58 individual Florida-bred open condition stakes winners this year are 13 multiple stakes winners including C2 Racing Stables LLC and Stefania Farms LLC’s Mystic Lake, who has so far this year matched her 2024 total of five black-type victories. Her most recent came Sept. 20 at Parx Racing in the $150,000 Liberty Bell.
The 66 stakes wins have come at 19 different tracks in 17 different states and provinces including six at the prestigious Saratoga Race Course and five each at Churchill Downs and Santa Anita Park.
“With three months left in the year, once again Florida-breds are taking on all comers and breaking records for wins in open stakes company and graded stakes company in 2025,” FTBOA President George Isaacs said. “With the new Out-of-State Export Racing Win Incentives kicking off in 2026, it makes even more sense to consider breeding and racing Florida-breds.
“This is why it is so important that we continue our fight legislatively in Tallahassee to defeat decoupling and continue to improve our live racing economics in Florida so our horses can start their racing journey here in the Sunshine State.”
Among the more notable performers are John Ropes’ homebred Dorth Vader, winner of the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford at Saratoga on June 6; and Dutch Girl Holdings LLC and Irving Ventures LLC’s Queen Maxima, who set a Churchill Downs track record in the Grade 3 Unbridled Sidney presented by Cygames on May 2, covering five-and-a-half furlongs in 1:01.29.
Another distinguished performance came when Live Oak Plantation homebred Bring Theband Home won the $150,000 Harvey Pack at Saratoga on July 4. He went five furlongs on the grass in :59.90, the second fastest time recorded at that distance in North American racing history.
In comparison to other regional Thoroughbred breeding markets, Florida breeders have no rival. According to statistics provided by The Jockey Club Information Services through Sept. 1 Florida has more than double the number of stakes and graded stakes winners compared to any other Thoroughbred market outside Kentucky.
“This year looks to go down as one of most winning periods of time in our history for swift Florida-breds at tracks from coast to coast and all over the world,” FTBOA CEO Lonny Powell said. “One need just look at the recent Saratoga meet win statistics to realize that equine speed is a major Florida export.
“With our first-ever out-of-state export win incentives launching Jan. 1, Florida-breds will be pursuing and collecting some seriously strong Florida-bred incentives and purses not just in Florida, but for the first out of the Sunshine State in 2026.”
Return to the September 30 issue of Wire to Wire
