Two Sixty Returns to Winning Ways in Gasparilla
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Photo: SV Photography
Two Sixty returns from winning the Gasparilla Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs
Two Sixty returned to winning ways Jan. 18 with a victory in the $125,000 Gasparilla Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
Gary Barber's 3-year-old daughter of Uncaptured prevailed by a neck over Mo City, with the top five finishers in the seven-furlong race separated by less than a length.
Two Sixty grabbed the lead at the outset under jockey Edgard Zayas, but how the Mark Casse trainee would finish was questionable after swift fractions of :22.05 and :44.85.
"The key with her is trying to keep her relaxed," Zayas said. "If you start fighting with her, she doesn't like it, so I just tried to put the hands down and let her do her own thing. As long as she can work good with her mind, she'll give you her all at the end."
Two Sixty had to do that to prevail as Mo City, third-place We the Clouds, fourth-place Ceci Valentina, and fifth-place Swiss Skydiver all took their best shots. The final time was 1:22.80.
The Gasparilla was the second stakes victory for Two Sixty, who was bred in Florida by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds out of the Put It Back mare Jim's Lonesa.
"We had a lot of confidence in this filly," assistant trainer Mitch Downs said of Two Sixty, who won the Sept. 28 Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association My Dear Girl Stakes at Gulfstream Park, then ran ninth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita Park. "She's been training well at the (Casse) Training Center (in Ocala, Fla.), and when she relaxes, she's as good as a lot of 3-year-old fillies around. She put that together today.
"Even though she had some pressure, she was doing it nice and easy, and when Edgard called on her, she responded."
Two Sixty is 3-for-7, and the winner's share of $105,000 raised her bankroll to $409,000.
Jehozacat Takes to Dirt in Wayward Lass
Jehozacat, a full sister to graded stakes winner Divining Rod, won for the first time since March when she took the $50,000 Wayward Lass Stakes for fillies and mares 4 and up going 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Lael Stables' 5-year-old daughter of Tapit led virtually every step of the way and cruised to a 5 1/2-length victory over Tweeting, with Classic Fit finishing third.
Daniel Centeno rode Jehozacat for trainer Arnaud Delacour, and the duo went the distance in 1:43.94. Jehozacat is 4-for-16 with four seconds.
"This is her first time running on the dirt here, but she's been breezing well on it," said Delacour, who won the 2018 Wayward Lass with Well Humored. "I was eager to see if those works would translate to a good performance today, and they did, so everybody is happy with that. Her dam (Catienus) was a grade 1 winner on turf, so her pedigree says she can do well on either surface."
The Wayward Lass is the first stakes victory for the mare.
"It looked like (Tweeting) was the speed in the race, and the track is a little fast today, so the plan was to break well and see what happened," Centeno said. "My filly jumped on her pretty quick, and as soon as she got the lead, I let her get comfortable and she really relaxed. Every time (Tweeting and Classic Fit) started to come to her, she responded very well, and the last sixteenth I just let her gallop out strong."
Video: Gasparilla S. (BT)