BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Pressured throughout by stakes-placed Wiggle An’ Wine, Averill Racing LLC’s R Morning Brew shook off her rivals at the top of the stretch to win the $100,000 Desert Vixen in a stakes-record time of 1:10.85 for six furlongs at Gulfstream Park Saturday. R Morning Brew eclipsed the previous record of 1:11.08 set by Go Astray in the 2017 Desert Vixen.
The six-furlong Desert Vixen is the first of three legs in the filly division of the $1.2 million Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Florida Sire Stakes and featured a field of seven 2-year-old fillies by registered Florida stallions. The Desert Vixen shared the spotlight on Saturday’s Gulfstream card with the $100,000 Dr. Fager for colts and geldings eligible for the Florida Sire Stakes.
R Morning Brew was the first winner for her sire, Pleasant Acres Stallions’ freshman sire Curlin’s Honor, when she broke her maiden at Gulfstream Park on Aug. 9, and is now his first stakes winner.
The dark bay or brown filly is trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. and was ridden in both races by Edgar Zayas. It was the first win in the Desert Vixen for Joseph while Zayas won in 2022 aboard Lynx.
Rich Averill – @Lauren King
Last year, the Averill, Joseph, Zayas team had odds-on morning line favorite R Harper Rose set for the Desert Vixen, but had to scratch when the filly spiked a fever just days before the race.
“I’ve had Florida horses forever [and] never had one I ever even got to run in the first one,” Rich Averill said. “Last year Harper had to scratch. It was just heartbreaking. To finally get to run in it and win it, this is a race that, as a Florida guy supporting Florida racing for such a long time, I really wanted to win. To be in the first one this year and to have everything ahead of you, it’s fun.”
Wiggle An’ Wine and jockey Emisael Jaramillo broke fastest from post six before Zayas sent R Morning Brew to the lead from post three. Wiggle An’ Wine continued to apply pressure while racing a half-length off R Morning Brew through a first quarter in :22.38 with odds-one favorite Win N Your In chasing in third from another length-and-a-half back.
Wiggle An’ Wine took a brief lead midway around the turn as Win N Your In also drew even with the leaders while three-wide and the trio turned for home heads apart. But R Morning Brew repelled Wiggle An’ Wine and Win N Your In approaching the eighth pole then cruised to a clear advantage in deep stretch. R Morning Brew won by five-and-a-half lengths ahead of Wiggle An’ Wine in second with Win N Your In another three-quarters of a length back in third. Glory Glory, Don’t Fool With Me, Bee a Queen and Slew Diva completed the order of finish.
R Morning Brew paid $6.80 to win as the 2-1 second choice.
“I was pretty confident coming into this race,” Zayas said. “The only filly I was worried about was [Win N Your In] and last time she had a dream trip on the inside so thought she’s have to run her best race to beat us.
“When I started asking [R Morning Brew] at the quarter pole, she kept digging in. But when she switched leads in the stretch, she put her head down and really picked it up. I knew she had it from there.”
R Morning Brew is out of the unraced Florida-bred mare Foolhearted Woman, by Uncaptured and was bred in the Sunshine State by Dori Morgan Hyatt. She is a half-sister to multiple stakes-winner Dancing N Dixie, who runs Wednesday in the $1.6 million Pepsi Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational at Kentucky Downs. Foolhearted Woman has two winners from three starters. She has a yearling colt, Freddie’s Honor, who is a full sister to R Morning Brew and was bred to Pleasant Acres Stallions’ Neolithic in 2024.
Averill purchased R Morning Brew for $30,000 out of the Rivera Training and Sales consignment earlier this year at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring Sale. She has now earned $89,000 in her two victories from two starts.
