BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – His nearly two-month residency in the Middle East complete, Alex and JoAnn Lieblong’s multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Reef Runner is back in the U.S. and due a well-deserved break before returning home to Gulfstream Park to resume his 5-year-old campaign.
The plane carrying Reef Runner, fourth by less than two lengths in the $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint (Group 1) March 28 at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, touched down in England to refuel Wednesday before continuing on to Kentucky, where the Florida-bred gelding was to quarantine for three days under the watchful eye of Scott Blasi, assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
From there, Reef Runner will head to Sandhurst Thoroughbreds, the Ocala farm of horseman Nick Esler, for a short stay before rejoining trainer David Fawkes’ string at Gulfstream.
David Fawkes – ©Lauren King
“He’ll be there for three weeks and then he’s going to come to Gulfstream and start a new campaign,” Fawkes said. “It usually takes him a week to settle and then a couple weeks in the field. He’s a good turnout horse. He’ll go out in the field and just put his head down and graze. Nick had him before and he takes really good care of him.”
Fawkes was thrilled with Reef Runner’s race in Dubai, which came after rain soaked the city for nearly a week and made the turf course, though labeled firm, softer than Reef Runner prefers.
“He ran a good race. I don’t think he loved that racetrack. Believe it or not, we got five days of heavy rain before that. It was a real weird system that went through. The town got flooded. It was crazy,” Fawkes said.
“He kind of wants it like Gulfstream is. Gulfstream is hard and fast, and he likes that,” he added. “It just might have been a little bit squishy on the surface for him, which he didn’t love. I don’t think he every really got his feet under him, the way I would have expected, and he still ran really a good race.”
Reef Runner’s Mideast sojourn began with a victory in the $2 million 1351 Turf Sprint (Group 2) February 14 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, which pushed him to more than $1 million in career earnings. Like Fawkes, the Lieblongs were on hand for both races.
“Alex and his wife had a really good time,” Fawkes said. “They came in on Wednesday, Thursday morning [jockey William] Buick came and got on him and galloped him. That night there was a party and [Buick] came over to the table and talked to Alex and JoAnn. They’re so accommodating there. They love horse racing.”
Reef Runner earned $1.275 million in his two races this year to boost his bankroll more than $1.9 million from 24 starts, 17 of which have come at Gulfstream including stakes wins in the $95,000 Bob Umphrey Sprint on Tapeta in 2024 and the $67,640 Warrior’s Pride overnight handicap and $125,000 Janus (Listed) on turf, the latter Dec. 20 to cap his 4-year-old season.
Fawkes said he did not feel threatened at any time during either of his trips to the Mideast despite the ongoing war with neighboring Iran.
“It was very, very safe. Very clean, very safe, everybody’s nice,” Fawkes said. “You walk down the street five feet and there’s somebody asking if they can help you [with] where to go.”
