Halladay, Our Bay B Ruth Take Stakes at Gulfstream
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Lauren King
Halladay wins the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park
Harrell Ventures' Halladay broke through with his first stakes victory Dec. 28 in the $75,000 Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park.
Halladay ($8.60), who finished third in the Nov. 29 Gio Ponti Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack after coming in third in the English Channel Stakes at Belmont Park, put it all together in the a 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-olds run over a turf course rated good.
"He's a hard horse to ride," Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez said of the 3-year-old son of War Front . "He's very keen the first part of the race and pulls too much the first part of the race. Finally, the last two races, he's shown a totally different dimension. He was left last time, got squeezed out of there and relaxed behind horses and ran a really game race. Today he broke well enough. He settled good enough that he was in hand and not trying to run off and going crazy. That was the difference today. I think if he learns (to relax)…he trains like a good horse. We just hope he continues going that way."
After breaking alertly from the far outside in a field of 12, Halladay quickly put himself into the race approaching the first turn and pulled Velazquez past early pacesetter Notorious Nick to get an easy lead on the backstretch. Although keen to go during the first half mile, run in a sensible :49.61, the Todd Pletcher trainee settled on the lead and was never threatened thereafter.
"They were going so easy and he threw his ears up. When he made the lead, he wasn't running off like crazy. He relaxed pretty well," Velazquez said. "I was hoping when I asked him he'd quicken from there. He did, so it was very nice."
Halladay ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43 while drawing off to a 1 3/4-length victory. Faraway Kitten closed well along the inside to finish second, a length ahead of a late-running Temple, who was narrowly favored over Halladay at odds of 3-1.
Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds & Winchell Thoroughbreds out of the Tapit mare Hightap, Halladay failed to meet his reserve at $225,000 when consigned by Gainesway to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Video: Tropical Park Derby (BT)
Our Bay B Ruth 'Getting Good'
Our Bay B Ruth, an improving 3-year-old filly owned by Homewrecker Racing and Summerplace Farm, made her stakes debut a winning one Saturday afternoon when she drove home a neck winner in the $75,000 Tropical Park Oaks.
A daughter of Candy Ride trained by Eddie Kenneally and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Our Bay B Ruth broke well and raced fifth down the backstretch while Letruska set fractions of :23.96 and :47.80. Entering the final turn Gaffalione moved Our Bay B Ruth to the outside behind Isla Road, and moved three-wide entering the stretch. Despite a game effort by Isla Road, it wasn't enough to catch Our Bay B Ruth, who covered 1 1/16 miles on grass in 1:42.34 and returned $14.80.
Frond was third. Favored Great Sister Diane was fifth.
Tyler Gaffalione shares a moment with Our Bay B Ruth after winning the Tropical Park Oaks
Our Bay B Ruth, who broke her maiden at Arlington International Racecourse in August and won under allowance conditions at Kentucky Downs and Churchill Downs, "is getting good," Kenneally said.
"She's won four of her last five. She's had a good year and we finally got some black type," the trainer added. "Maybe she was a little immature last year. She's grown up. She's more grown up and relaxing more in her races, which has enabled her to finish better."
Bred in Kentucky by Payson Stud out of the Pulpit mare Ruthenia, Our Bay B Ruth was a $150,000 purchase by Homewrecker Racing from Stone Farm's consignment to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.