Track Times Today - With Bernie Dickman - Racing, Breeding, Pari-Mutuels

Sandman Wins Arkansas Derby; Headed for Louisville

Monday, March 31, 2025

Big weekend for OBS grads . . .

Mark Casse trainee and OBS graduate Sandman (Tapit-Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor) used the final Saturday in March to book his plans for the first Saturday in May when he rolled to a 2 1/2-length victory in the $1.5 million, Gr. I Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, headlining a weekend that saw three OBS grads earn graded stakes victories.

Sandman took advantage of wicked early fractions to unleash his closing kick and collected 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. The son of Tapit notched his third win in eight lifetime starts and improved his lifetime earnings to $1,254,595.

“I couldn’t believe it, actually (early fractions),” Casse told the Oaklawn publicity team. “I said: ‘Well, they’ll have to be superstars to keep going.’ The farther they went, the more confident I was."

A $1.2 million purchase at the 2024 OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training sale, Sandman races for D. J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables. He was consigned by Tom McCrocklin as part of a complete dispersal for his breeder, Lothenbach Stables.

The busy slate of stakes across the country on March 29 also saw C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable’s White Abarrio (Race Day – Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief) make a triumphant return from his victory in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational with a handy 5 ¼-length score in the $165,000, Gr. III Ghostzapper over fellow Gr. 1-winning OBS grad Power Squeeze at Gulfstream Park.

White Abarrio, who had captured the Pegasus World Cup by 6 ¼ lengths, is scheduled to run next in the Gr. I Met Mile on June 7 at Saratoga. A two-time OBS graduate, White Abarrio was sold by Summerfield (Francis & Barbara Vanlangendonck), Agent, at the 2020 Winter Mixed Sale and then purchased for $40,000 out of the Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2021 March Sale after breezing an eighth in :10 2/5.

At Santa Anita Park, CSLR Racing Partners’ Pilot Commander (Justify-Rebuke, by Carson City) earned his first stakes win when he prevailed in the $100,000, Gr. III San Carlos Stakes going seven furlongs. A 4-year-old colt trained by Bob Baffert, he was purchased by his owners for $700,000 out of the 2025 OBS March sale from the consignment of Niall Brennan Stables after breezing in :9 4/5.

Other OBS graduates who earned stakes victories:

March 29: Appleton Stakes: Brad Grady and David Grund’s Seminole Chief (Girvin – Secret Song, by Dunkirk) earned his second stakes victory when he annexed the $165,000 Appleton at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Jack Sisterson, Seminole Chief was consigned by Bobby Dodd, Agent, to the 2023 OBS June Sale and sold to HND Bloodstock for $80,000 after breezing in :10 1/5.

March 30: Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes: Macho Music (Maclean’s Music-Southern Girl, by Tapit) drew off to an 11 ¼-length victory over fellow OBS graduate P Four to take the $110,000 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore going seven furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs, lowering the former stakes mark of 1:22.13 set in 2011 by Manicero to 1:21.30. Macho Music is owned by Mark Fletcher Taylor, Rohan Crichton and Daniel L. Walters and trained by Crichton. The partners purchased him for $60,000 from the Pick View consignment at the 2024 Ocala Breeders’ Sales March Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training after breezing in :10 2/5.

Sophomore Fillies Stakes: Win N Your In (Win Win Win-Hello Rosie, by Yes It’s True) powered to a 7-length victory in the $110,000 Sophomore Fillies Stakes over fellow OBS graduate Bella Cleopatra at Tampa Bay Downs. The victory was the fourth from nine lifetime starts for Win N Your In, who is owned by Troy Johnson and Maritza Weston, and her third stakes victory. Trained by Carlos David, she was purchased by Johnson for $12,000 out of the Summerfield consignment at the 2023 OBS Winter Mixed Sale.

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Joseph, Ortiz Win Gulfstream Titles

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Joseph wins 70 races . . .

HALLANDALE BEACH - Tappan Street’s victory in Saturday’s $1 million Curlin Florida Derby placed an exclamation point on an action-packed 2024-2025 Championship Meet that came to a close Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

WinStar Farm, CHC Inc. and Cold Press Racing’s 3-year-old son of Into Mischief defeated Coolmore Fountain of Youth winner Sovereignty by 1 ¼ lengths to earn 100 qualifying points for the May 3 Kentucky Derby. Both Tappan Street and Sovereignty, who added 50 qualifying points to the 50 he earned in the Fountain of Youth, will bid to become the 26th Florida Derby starter to win the Kentucky Derby.

C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable’s White Abarrio was the equine star of the meet that opened on Thanksgiving Day. The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained 6-year-old rolled to a decisive 6 ¼-length victory in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and romped to a 5 ¼-mile score in the Gr. III Ghostzapper by 5 ¼ lengths on the Florida Derby undercard.

Joseph collected his fourth consecutive Championship Meet training title with 70 victories and his 12th consecutive title overall at Gulfstream Park. He also topped the trainer standings with purses-won with more than $5.8 million.

“This has definitely been our best meet because this is the first time we’re going to lead in earnings and winners. I think last year we got beat by a small margin in earnings, so it just shows that we have some quality horses,” Joseph said. “All the credit to the owners for giving us the horses. We’re very thankful to them.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who was aboard White Abarrio for his Pegasus World Cup and Ghostzapper wins, collected his third straight Championship Meet title with 109 wins. He has worn the riding crown in six of the past seven Championship Meets.

“It feels great to have the support we need to win the title, all the support from the trainers and owners,” said Ortiz, who also gave credit to his agent Steve Rushing. “I love the weather down here in the wintertime. I have my family here. We’ve won some races with horses we followed down here.”

Ken Ramsey topped the Owner Standings for a second Championship Meet in a row with 18 wins.

The Royal Palm Meet will get underway Thursday and will run through Aug. 30. Racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday weekly. First-race post is set for 12:50 p.m.

The $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile and the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies will highlight the Royal Palm Meet stakes schedule on May 10. The five-furlong turf sprints are designated qualifiers for the Royal Ascot stakes in June. Last year, Jose D’Angelo-trained Gabaldon won the Royal Palm Juvenile and went on to finish a photo-finish second in the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot.

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White Abarrio Romps in Gr. III Ghostzapper

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Met Mile is next . . .

HALLANDALE BEACH - C2 Racing Stable, Gary Barber and La Milagrosa Stable’s White Abarrio made a triumphant return Saturday from his smashing victory in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational with a dominating 5 ¼-length score in the $165,000, Gr. III Ghostzapper presented by FanDuel TV at Gulfstream Park.

“He’s in a different league right now,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “He did it as easy as he can.”

White Abarrio, who captured the 2022 Florida Derby, was ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. in the 1 1/16-mile stakes for 4-year-olds and up, one of 10 stakes, five graded, on Saturday’s 14-race Florida Derby Day program.

The 6-year-old son of Race Day broke cleanly from the starting gate to stalk stablemate One Sharp Cookie around the first turn and into the backstretch. Joseph-trained One Sharp Cookie completed the first quarter of a mile in :22.82 before his celebrated stablemate took over while getting the first half-mile in ;45.98. White Abarrio was joined by 2024 Gulfstream Park Oaks winner Power Squeeze to his outside on the far turn.

Turning into the stretch, Ortiz asked White Abarrio and the flashy gray multiple Gr. 1 stakes- winner responded instantly, drawing away to a comfortable victory in 1:41.97 with minimal urging.

“Beautiful. He broke good again, and when he breaks like that he makes things easier. I didn’t do too much. I just let him be him, and that was it. I let him be him every step of the way,” Ortiz said.

Joseph was impressed with White Abarrio’s sub-1:42 1 1/16-mile performance.

“At the quarter-pole, obviously I knew they were going quick and I was looking to see if the race was going to fall apart,” he said. “He’s just in a different league right now. Hopefully, he stays healthy after this. We feel like he’s the best horse in the country.”

White Abarrio, who had captured the Pegasus World Cup by 6 ¼ lengths, is scheduled to run next in the Gr. I Met Mile on June 7 at Saratoga.

“Perfect prep. You obviously want to make it as easy as possible, and you want to win. You don’t want to get beat. I though he won as easy as he could after going so quick early,” Joseph said. ‘I haven’t seen anyone go under 1:42 in a long time on this track. I know they got a little moisture in it but not enough to make it that fast.”

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Tappan Street's on the Way to Louisville

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Wins $1 million Florida Derby . . .

HALLANDALE BEACH - WinStar Farm, CHC Inc. and Cold Press Racing’s Tappan Street made huge strides forward on the Road to the Triple Crown Saturday at Gulfstream Park, with the son of Into Mischief scoring a thoroughly professional 1 ¼-length victory in the $1 million, Gr. I Curlin Florida Derby.

After finishing second in the Gr. III Holy Bull, Tappan Street was withheld from the Gr. II Fountain of Youth in favor of returning eight weeks later in the 74th running of the 1 1/8-mile tradition-rich Triple Crown prep.

Curlin Florida Derby starters have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby 25 times while collecting 60 victories overall in Triple Crown races. Tappan Street earned his way into the 20-horse field for the May 3 Kentucky Derby with his victory in the Florida Derby, which offered Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale to the first five finishers.

Tappan Street, who scored a debut victory on Dec. 28 at Gulfstream before coming up a little short in the Holy Bull, was Saturday’s second betting choice at 2-1 behind last-to-first Coolmore Fountain of Youth winner Sovereignty, who was sent to post as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of 10, which closed out a 14-race program with 10 stakes, five of them graded.

“This is a step forward today. His numbers his first two starts were really good. I felt like the two-month lead up to the Florida Derby would propel him forward,” Tappan Street’s trainer Brad Cox said.

Tappan Street broke alertly from his No. 9 post position, one stall inside Sovereignty, enabling him to grab a favorable stalking position behind pacesetters Madaket Road, Neoequos and Indecisiveness. Madaket Road set a lively pace under Hall of Famer Mike Smith, with fractions of :23.37 and :47.37 for the first half-mile. Edgard Zayas sent Neoequos outside Madaket Road on the far turn as Indecisiveness dropped back, and Tappan Street began to advance under Luis Saez with Sovereignty Road right behind him after shaking free of traffic.

“Anytime you have a young horse like this and you give them eight weeks between starts, it’s always a concern. But this is a very smart horse. He’s intelligent,” Cox said. “I thought he would break very, very well today the way he was training, and he did. That put him in the race and put him in a great position.”

Neoequos outkicked Madaket Road to take the lead at the top of the stretch but soon met a strong stretch challenge from Tappan Road, who drew away to his first stakes victory while earning Gr. 1 credentials. Sovereignty Road put in a solid stretch run to finish second under Manny Franco, who was filling in for injured Junior Alvarado. Neoequos held third, 1 ½ lengths farther back.

“Luis was very high on him after he broke his maiden. He was very high on him after the Holy Bull,” Cox said. “He had a lot of confidence in him and it all came together today.”

Saez was confident that Tappan Street’s superior field position would make it tough for Sovereignty beat him.

“He was traveling professionally today. I saw [Sovereignty] and I let my horse go a little bit more, and he gave me a good turn of foot. When he came to the top of the stretch, I knew it was going to be tough to catch [us],” Saez said. “As soon as we broke from the gate, I had a lot of confidence the whole way. I knew he was going to give me a good turn of foot at the top of the stretch. He always does.”

Sovereignty was eighth while racing three wide around the first turn and was caught between horses going into the backstretch. He shook clear and made a three-wide sweep on the far turn to enter contention but was no match for the winner.

“He came with his run. He ran well. He had a pretty good trip. He got a little wide going into the first turn, but he got in and got a pretty good trip. [Franco] said the ground kind of broke away from him two different times, once at the three-eighths pole and once at the five-sixteenths pole,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “He said he kind of lost it and gathered himself up, and then he did it again. But, look, he ran OK. The winner ran good. It was a good race.

“This doesn’t have to be his best race. Sometimes you can look at it and say, maybe that’s a good thing. You don’t want their best race before the big event,” he added. “This is a very important race, but I think the fact that he ran very big last time and ran very well this time, maybe he’ll continue to improve. I don’t think the fact that he didn’t win doesn’t mean he didn’t run a good race.”

Disrupter, who was Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher’s bid to win a record-extending ninth Florida Derby winner, got away from the gate last of 10 and finished fifth as the 3-1 third betting choice. Madaket Road faded to fourth, 1 ½ lengths behind Neoequos.

Tappan Street, who ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.27, will be Kentucky-bound early next week.

“We have five weeks. We have to make sure he comes out of it in good order, first and foremost. Our plan right now is Monday or Tuesday to ship him to Churchill,” Cox said. “Hopefully, he comes out of it in good order and we can march forward. I think he’s going to get a tremendous amount out of this.”

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Dizney Shoots for Florida Derby With Jimmy's Dailys

Friday, March 28, 2025

Vekoma colt is 12-1 on morning line . . .

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – After seeing the light go on in Owen Almighty’s second try around two turns, trainer Brian Lynch is hoping for a similar type of response from stablemate Jimmy’s Dailys in Saturday’s $1 million Curlin Florida Derby.

The 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby for 3-year-olds, one of the country’s premiere Triple Crown preps, anchors a spectacular 14-race program Saturday at Gulfstream Park that features 10 stakes, five graded, worth $2.62 million in purses. Post time is 11:30 a.m. (ET)

As a qualifying race for the May 3 Kentucky Derby, the Florida Derby offers points to the first five finishers on a 100-50-25-15-10 basis.

Jimmy’s Dailys will be making his fifth career start and stakes debut in the Florida Derby, coming off a runner-up finish to undefeated Grande in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance Feb. 27 at Gulfstream. He was ridden that day by Irad Ortiz Jr., who is committed on Disruptor for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher in the Florida Derby.

“He hung the whole way down the backside and he was on rein and Irad felt like if he could have steered him it could have been a little bit different,” Lynch said of the most recent run. “Hopefully we’ve ironed that kink out. He’s training really good, so we’re excited about running him.”

Jimmy’s Dailys is by Vekoma, a Gr. 1 winner at seven furlongs and a mile that was third in the 1 1/16-mile, Gr. II Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream and second in the 1 1/8-mile, Gr. II Blue Grass in 2019. Earlier this month, Owen Almighty was a front-running 3 ½-length winner of the Gr. II Tampa Bay Derby after having run second by a half-length in the 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis – his first race beyond one mile.

“I think as good as Owen Almighty ran in his second time around two turns, this horse is going to show the same sort of things,” Lynch said. “It’s his second go around two turns, he knows what he’s doing now, [and] he’s a lot fitter for it. We’ll find out what class level he’s at now, whether he can run with these horses and whether we’ve got our [Kentucky] Derby contender.”

Hall of Famer Joel Rosario is named on Jimmy’s Dailys from Post 6 in a field of 10. They are rated at 12-1 on the morning line.

Jimmy’s Dailys is a homebred of Donald Dizney, who is synonymous with Florida racing as past president of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association and owner of Double Diamond Farm in Ocala. Among his best horses have been Gr. 1 winner First Dude, runner-up in the 2010 Preakness; 2013 , Gr. III Smile Sprint winner Bahamian Squall, 2011, Gr. III Mr. Prospector winner Apriority and 1996, Gr. I Gulfstream Park Handicap winner Wekiva Springs.

“I’ve had a few for him over the years,” Lynch said. “I know they’re very excited, as I am, and he seems like a nice little horse to do it with, too.”

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