BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – After living up to his brilliant July 13 debut—and then some—while breaking a stakes record in Saturday’s $100,000 Dr. Fager in first-leg action of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes at Gulfstream Park, Rated by Merit’s options have certainly expanded.
The 2-year-old son of Battalion Runner, owned and bred by Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable, has the obvious option of running back in the $200,000 Affirmed, the second leg of the Florida Sire Stakes series Oct. 19, as well as alternative options out of town, perhaps even as far away as Del Mar for the 2024 Breeders’ Cup in early November.
“We’re going to get our heads together next week to discuss what all our options are and discuss what’s best for the horse over the long haul. And then [we will] come up with a plan. Vinnie will be involved in that process,” trainer Michael Yates said.
Rated by Merit debuted with a nearly 10-length victory that earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure that was the highest produced by all 2-year-olds in the country and still ranks second among juvenile males behind the 96 earned by Ferocious for his impressive debut at Saratoga two weeks later. Rated By Merit hardly regressed in his return in the six-furlong Dr. Fager, earning a 93 Beyer Speed Figure for his six-and-a-quarter-length encore performance.
“Leading up to their first race, you want to make sure they’re fit enough to do what they need to do. Sometimes you have a tendency to back off a little bit after their first race,” Yates said. “The spacing was good. We were able to train on. We got four works into him that were progressively stronger. The last one we backed off and he came in fresh and doing well.”
Rated by Merit, who ran six furlongs in 1:10.50 in his six-furlong debut, ran the same distance in 1:09.45, surpassing Three Rules’ 2016 Dr. Fager clocking of 1:09.49.
“We feel really blessed to have a horse with that type of talent in the barn,” Yates said. “He’s the real deal.”
Rated by Merit exited his highly anticipated and dazzling return to action in good order.
“He came out of the race good. He was pretty normal. He ate everything this morning and jogged good on the shank,” Yates said. “I’m very happy with the way he came back.”
