Nicks Doubles Up With Juvenile Pair in FSS Dr. Fager

Trainer Ralph Nicks has become a major Florida Sire Stakes player in recent years, saddling the winners of six races since 2016 in the series for 2-year-olds sired by accredited stallions standing in Florida. He'll try to continue that success in the $100,000 FSS Dr. Fager division Aug. 1 at Gulfstream Park.

Nicks has two entries in the six-furlong Dr. Fager—Stonehedge's Breeze On By and Jacks or Better Farm's Little Demon.

Breeze On By made a rather auspicious debut while capturing a July 12 maiden special weight race at Gulfstream by six lengths. The homebred son of Cajun Breeze  ran the six-furlong distance in 1:11.82.

"It was a very impressive race. I'm not crazy about the three weeks wheel-back," said Nicks, who would have had three Dr. Fager entrants had Stonehedge's sharp debut winner Big Daddy Dave not come down with a fever. "But with the one sick, and the one doing well, you better lead him over there."

Little Demon will enter as a maiden but showed promise when finishing second in his June 20 debut in which he chased loose-on-the-lead Papetu and finished 2 3/4 lengths clear of the third-place finisher. Papetu went on to capture the first allowance optional claimer for 2-year-olds this year at Gulfstream and is being pointed to the Aug. 7 Saratoga Special Stakes (G2).

"He came out of a good race. He ran well and is training well," Nicks said. "Hopefully, he'll move forward."

Emisael Jaramillo has the return mount aboard Breeze On By, and Samy Camacho is scheduled to ride Little Demon for the first time Saturday.

Seven-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher, who has captured 16 meet titles at Gulfstream, appears to have a solid shot at winning his first Florida Sire Stakes while basing a stable division at Gulfstream during the spring/summer meet for the first time.

J A G Racing and Jettany Thoroughbred's Son of a Beast, a gutsy debut winner at Gulfstream, is scheduled to return for Pletcher in the Dr. Fager. The son of The Big Beast  set a pressured pace throughout a five-furlong maiden special weight race June 24 and continued on gamely to prevail by three-quarters of a length.

"I thought he was impressive in his debut. I'm looking forward to running him," said Pletcher, who will also be represented by debut winner Tamiami in the FSS Desert Vixen for fillies Saturday. "He's always trained well. We expected him to come out running first time, so we sort of had this race in mind for a while."

Edgard Zayas has the return call on Son of a Beast.

Juan Alvarado trains Arindel's Gatsby, an impressive debut winner April 17 who will be looking to rebound from an off-the-board finish in the June 27 Bashford Manor Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs. The homebred son of Brethren  pulled off an upset victory over heavily favored Golden Pal in his debut at 4 1/2 furlongs, chasing the Wesley Ward-trained odds-on favorite into the stretch before edging clear by three-quarters of a length. Golden Pal went on to finish second in the Norfolk Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot.

Trainer Mike Maker will be represented by two juveniles in the Dr. Fager—Paradise Farms and David Staudacher's Casalsa, a son of Two Step Salsa claimed for $50,000 out of a frontrunning victory June 27 in his second start, and Three Diamonds Farm's Lost Lover, an unraced son of Gone Astray. 

Tamiami Tops 10 in Desert Vixen

A 1 A Racing's homebred Tamiami, an impressive debut winner last month despite encountering a world of trouble at the start, will seek a smoother trip but a similar result in the $100,000 FSS Desert Vixen division for fillies going six furlongs.

Tamiami carried high expectations from both her connections and the public at her June 21 unveiling, sent off as the favorite in a field of nine.

Under Zayas, who returns to ride Saturday from post 5 in a field of 10, Tamiami stumbled out of the gate and bumped with Frankly My Dear to her inside and had just one horse beat after a quarter-mile, trailing by 6 1/4 lengths. She still had much to do when Zayas swung her four wide off the turn, but she came with a steady drive on the far outside to edge Frankly My Dear by a head in 1:00.71 for five furlongs.

The Rattlesnake Bridge filly has remained at Gulfstream since her graduation with a trio of half-mile works on the main track.

"I thought it was a gutsy first out for her. She didn't get away well and stumbled, but she closed resolutely and kept coming. She should appreciate the little bit of added distance," Pletcher said. "I didn't give her much hope of getting up from where she started, but she's pretty determined and she's got a lot of desire. Hopefully, that'll carry over. This will be a much tougher race, but she hopefully responds."

Also exiting an impressive debut score in her lone start, albeit on the turf, is Joseph Imbesi's Social Exclusion. Trained by Steve Klesaris, the bay filly became the first winner for Gulfstream track record holder Social Inclusion  July 1, a race Klesaris said was designed to get her to Saturday.

"We kind of had this race earmarked for her. We always thought she had the talent. She really needed to get a race into her within the time frame," he said. "We weren't really looking for turf, but the timing came up perfect, so we went ahead and ran her on the turf just to get the race into her having this race in mind."

Social Exclusion broke running from her inside post, established the early lead, and went on to a frontrunning 4 3/4-length win in :56.50 for five furlongs. Emisael Jaramillo, aboard for the race, gets the return call from the outside post.

Owned and trained by Daniel Pita, Princess Secret steps up into stakes company for her third start. The bay daughter of Khozan  romped by four lengths, going 4 1/2 furlongs in :51.94 May 7 at Gulfstream, then came back to face the boys in a 5 1/2-furlong allowance optional claimer July 5.

In that race, she took a hard bump at the start and found herself far back early but was able to settle in and come running on the outside to be second, 1 1/2 lengths behind undefeated Papetu. Making the effort more remarkable, Pita said, was that she was able to perform well despite suffering a minor injury.

"Unfortunately, she grabbed a quarter at the start of that race and bent a shoe, so it made it a little bit even more impressive that she ran so well against those horses," Pita said. "She just wasn't able to catch them, but Papetu seems like he can run, too. She had a little bit of a setback and missed a couple days of training after that race, but it didn't end up being something to worry about. She healed beautifully. We got on top of it since the day of the race, and she got back to form."

Miguel Vasquez is named to ride back from post 9.

Stonehedge's Oh Deborah will make the quick 13-day turnaround for the Desert Vixen off a 3 1/4-length maiden claiming score July 19 at Gulfstream for Nicks. 

"I thought she would run well," Nicks said of Oh Deborah's debut. "It looks like a bit more ground will be good for her. She was striding out and finishing up well."