BY BROCK SHERIDAN
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL—Fourth and Central and jockey Marcos Meneses had to fight for the lead at the start with Squire and Trelawny to their inside, but once they got clear with five furlongs to run, they never looked back on the way to a nearly two-length victory in the $100,000 Dr. Fager, the first leg of the male division of the $1.2 million Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Florida Sire Stakes. Eight 2-year-old colts and geldings by FTBOA registered stallions went postward in the 44th running of the six-furlong Dr. Fager, which shared the spotlight on the card with the $100,000 Desert Vixen filly division of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes won two races earlier by Lennilu.
It was the fourth win in the Dr. Fager for trainer Michael “Bo” Yates, who saddled Cajun Firecracker in 2018, Cajun’s Magic in 2021 and Rated by Merit last year. It was his seventh victory in the series as a trainer after he won his first Florida Sire Stakes with Go Jo Jo Go in the 2020 Desert Vixen.
Yates also owns and bred Fourth and Central in the name of his Shadybrook Farm Inc.
“I just view [the Florida Sire Stakes victories] as a blessing. It always a big target,” Yates said. “I paid a lot of stallion stakes nominations for years before I was even able to run in it. It seems like once we got to run in it and we won one, we kind of figured it out.
“I owe a lot of this success to my staff who works seven days a week. David Augustine, my assistant, has been with me for more than 10 years. He’s the best in the business. Without him, we don’t get this done.”
Cajun Breeze, who stands at Stonehedge Farm South and was trained and owned in part by Yates, has sired previous Dr. Fager winners Cajun Firecracker, Cajun’s Magic and Breeze on By in 2020.
“He’s pretty consistent [as a sire]. He’s a nice horse,” Yates said of Cajun Breeze. “A really nice horse who just keeps throwing runners.”
Fourth and Central set fractions of :21.48 and :46.26 while leading by a length ahead of Camigol and Trelawny in a battle for second. Camigol was third in the Grade 3 Saratoga Special last out and Trelawny, was exiting a fourth in the $75,000 Proud Man.
Meneses urged Fourth and Central at the top of the stretch and the chesnut gelding kicked clear to finish six furlongs in 1:11.35.
Meneses said the outside post was key in helping him guide Fourth and Central to a preferred position on the lead.
“I had the outside position, and I used that to control the race. With the outside position, I did what I want. It was perfect,” Meneses said. “This is the race he needed, to make it in front, make his pace, control the group and wait for the stretch. He’ll be better I think in the future.”
Yates said he was also pleased with the way the Dr. Fager unfolded for Fourth and Central.
“I was pretty confident when he went to the turn and it looked like he was still in hand and pretty much within his self,” Yates said. “When he turned for home and switched leads, I felt really good because he took off.”
Let go at 10-1 after finishing a troubled fifth in the Proud Man, Fourth and Central paid $23.60 to win. He was second the highest priced winner of the Dr. Fager behind only Majestic Sweep, who went off at 11-1 in winning in 1991.
“In his last race, [Fourth and Central] got away just a step slow. He was in the middle of horses and he kinda rushed up a little bit and got into a bad spot and coming to the three-eighths pole things got pretty bad and he had to check pretty hard. And then he actually went back to running again and the lead horse was kinda backing up in front of him and he had to steady again and he still gave us a little kick in the lane. It was an ugly race, but I felt good about.”
Fourth and Central won his first race by a neck against special weight maidens going four-and-a-half furlongs at Gulfstream. He has now won two of three career starts with earnings of $112,182.
He is second foal out of the Munnings mare Little Red Frog, who has one other winner from two starters. She has an unnamed yearling colt and a weanling filly, both by Cajun Breeze; and was bred to Cajun Breeze in 2025.
Return to the September 6 issue of Wire to Wire
