BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE (Edited)
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Sum of Success will put his unblemished record on the line in Sunday’s $75,000 Juvenile Sprint at Gulfstream Park, where the son of Ocala Stud’s Win Win Win has done nothing but win, win, win.
Undefeated and untested while dominating fellow Florida-breds in his first three races for Johnston Racing LLC, Michael and Jules Iavarone and Hopeless Stables, Sum of Success will return from a two-month hiatus in the six-furlong stakes. In addition to running for the winner’s share of the purse, with a victory Sum of Success will earn a $25,000 Florida Sire Racing Incentive Bonus paid $20,000 to the owners and $5,000 to breeder Oak Leaf Farm by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association.
“He got sick after the last race, maybe a touch in the race. He spiked a fever, his blood work went haywire. I was worried about pneumonia. I lost about three weeks with him,” trainer Bobby Dibona said. “I brought him back easy. He looks great. Saturday, I set him down and he worked [five furlongs] in 59 [seconds]. I think this is a good comeback spot. We’re ready.”
Sum of Success made an eye-catching debut July 20 at Gulfstream Park, overcoming early bumping to handily register a seven-and-a-half-length, front-running victory in a five-furlong maiden special weight. He came back three weeks later to dismiss his overmatched state-bred rivals, winning by 11 1/2 lengths in the $100,000 In Summation going six furlongs. Most recently, he coasted to a five-and-a-quarter-length score in the seven-furlong, $150,000 Express Tour on September 5 without being asked by jockey Jonathan Ocasio.
Sum of Success caught Dibona’s eye at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring Sale of 2-year-olds-in-training sale, where he was purchased for $165,000 out of Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables consignment. Sum of Success is out of All Summed Up, by In Summation.
“His work at the sale was most impressive. When I saw him physically, I really, really liked him,” Dibona said. “The first couple weeks I had him, he was different.”
Ocasio has the return call on Sum of Success, who is the 4-5 morning-line favorite in a field of six assembled for the open-company Juvenile Sprint.
Although four of his five rivals in the Juvenile Sprint will be fellow state-breds, KMN Racing LLC’s Real Gone, a Kentucky-bred son of Olympiad, should provide Sum of Success with some competition. The Patrick Biancone-trained colt will return from a two-month freshening since finishing an even fifth in the one-turn mile Iroquois (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs on September 12.
Prior to his out-of-town engagement, Real Gone graduated by eight-and-a-half lenghs in a six-furlong maiden special weight on August 22 at Gulfstream, where he had debuted with a fourth-place finish at seven-and-a-half furlongs on turf.
J. G. Torrealba, who was aboard for his maiden score, has the call on Real Gone, who is rated second at 2-1 on the morning line.
Daniel Alonso’s Ford Roadster will return to Gulfstream’s main track over which he scored at first asking in a four-and-a-half-furlong maiden special weight in April. The Ramon Minguet-trained gelding went on to finish second in the $86,000 Hollywood Beach run at five furlongs on turf on September 26 at Gulfstream before checking in third in a five-furlong, $75,000 optional claiming over the Tapeta course on November 1.
Ford Roadster is by Ocala Stud’s leading freshman sire Roadster out of She Nailed It, by Corfu. The bay gelding was bred in Florida by Juvenal Lopez Dias and is also eligible for the FSRI bonus.
Leading rider Leonel Reyes has the call from post four.
Peter J. Mirabelli Trust’s Mane Affair, Smith Ranch Stables’ Spicy Taco and Brett McLellan’s Mitts round out the field. All bred in Florida, Mitts, by Gretzky the Great; and Spicy Taco, by Uncle Chuck are FSRI eligible. Although Mane Affair is by Bahamian Squall, he was not nominated to the FSRI program.
Return to the November 14 issue of Wire to Wire
