Nevada Kid wires Jewel; Ramseys collect two Claiming Crown trophies

Nevada Kid led gate-to-wire to take the CC Jewel (Lauren King/Adam Coglianese Photography)

Nevada Kid led all the way home in Saturday’s $192,000
Jewel,
the richest event among the eight races which comprised the 15th annual Claiming
Crown at Gulfstream Park. The event, which is billed as the Breeders’ Cup for
blue-collar horses, was held for the second straight year at the Hallandale
Beach, Florida, venue.

Prior to Saturday, Nevada Kid had never run in anything but maidens, claiming
tests and allowances. The Nick Zito pupil didn’t show any signs of being
intimidated by his rivals in the Jewel, even though some were open stakes
winners.

Nevada Kid shot clear from the gate under jockey Luis Saez and immediately
grabbed command of the 1 1/8-mile race. The four-year-old son of Silver Train
proceeded to set fractions of :24 2/5, :48 1/5, 1:12 2/5 and 1:37 all the while
hounded by last year’s Jewel runner-up Dominant Jeannes. Bernie the Maestro, the
9-5 favorite, was following in third but could not keep up with the top two and
faded in the lane.

Nevada Kid maintained his momentum in the stretch while drifting out toward
the center of the track despite Saez’s efforts to keep him straight. It didn’t
matter in the end, as the bay colt crossed under the wire first in a time of
1:50 2/5 over the fast main track. He paid $12.80 as the 5-1 fourth choice in
the 10-horse field.

Deanaallen’skitten gave the Ramseys the first of two Claiming Crown wins on Saturday (Adam Coglianese Photography)

Earlier on the card, Deanaallen’skitten went widest of all around the turn of
the $121,250
Tiara
but powered home to give Ken and Sarah Ramsey their first win in Saturday’s
Claiming Crown. The Ramseys scored four of the seven races a year ago, and the
familiar red-and-white silks graced the winner’s circle yet again in this year’s
running.

“I enjoy the Claiming Crown, because they put a lot of work and effort into
it, and it’s kind of the blue collar guy’s turn,” Ken Ramsey said. “Although
they say, ‘Ramsey’s not blue collar now,’ they didn’t come any bluer than me a
few years back. I got fortunate and ended up making a little bit of money
selling my telephone business, and I plowed it back into horse racing, something
I love. It turned out well, and I can’t complain. Life is good.”

Deanaallen’skitten was three parts of a length clear of fellow closer and
longshot Rock on Baby on the wire after running 1 1/16 miles in 1:42 on the firm
turf. Javier Castellano was aboard the Chad Brown-trained six-year-old mare for
his second Claiming Crown win of the day, having earlier taken the Glass Slipper
with Centrique.

Deanaallen’skitten was worth $3.80 as the 4-5 favorite in the Tiara after a
nose win in the Trevita and third-place run in the Speed Boat, both up in New
York. Now owning a 20-8-5-5 mark, the Kitten’s Joy chestnut has racked up
$371,246 in career earnings.

Ken Ramsey led Major Marvel into the winner’s circle following the CC Emerald (Adam Coglianese Photography)

Major Marvel avenged his head loss in the Emerald 12 months ago, and has also
scored in the Unbridled this season and last year’s West Virginia House of
Delegates Speakers’ Cup. He improved his resume to read 52-22-6-3, $693,128.

“We got two today,” Ken Ramsey said after leading Major Marvel into the
winner’s circle. “That’s half of what we got last year, but I’m not complaining.
(Last year) that other horse ran a good race, but (Major Marvel) redeemed
himself this year.

“He’s what you call a money machine, or maybe a running machine — he’s just
keeps on putting them out. This was a major win for us. I think it puts us over
the $12-million mark this year, so we’re in pretty good shape, money-wise.
You’ve got stay in the black, you know — you can’t keep going in the red.”

Centrique and Lexington Pearl gave owner Miller Racing LLC and trainer Marty
Wolfson a 1-2 finish in the $103,400

Glass Slipper. The former was 1 1/4 lengths in front of her stablemate on
the wire after running seven furlongs in 1:22 1/5 on the fast main track.

Centrique grabbed the spotlight in the CC Glass Slipper (Adam Coglianese Photography)

“She ran faster than Starship did last year,” Wolfson said. “I don’t think
she’s as good, but you never know. We didn’t know Starship would win a Grade 1
or run in the Breeders’ Cup, either.”

The bay four-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon has since filled the show spot
in both the Nancy’s Glitter Handicap and Bold World Handicap, and Saturday’s win
improved her career record to 29-9-6-4, $323,180.

Mr. Amore Stable’s Ribo Bobo cruised home an easy 2 1/2-length victor of the
$106,700
Express
after setting swift splits of :22 1/5, :44 4/5 and :57 before finishing up six
furlongs in 1:10 on the dirt.

The bay gelding ran under his own power on the front end with jockey Paco
Lopez aboard, and the five-year-old Jason Servis pupil never appeared
challenged, or winded for that matter, as he loped home to pay $3 as the 1-2
favorite.

“I’ve run a lot of horses in a lot of big races, but I really like this
horse. I really wanted to win it,” Servis admitted. “I think we’ve got to look
at the Sunshine Millions. Maybe another stakes, but I do think he’s that type of
horse.”

Ribo Bob had a nine-race win streak broken last out when a half-length second
in the Fabulous Strike. Along the way he captured the Maryland Million Sprint
Handicap and Icecapade, and now boasts a 15-5-3 line from 48 career races and
$569,655 in career earnings.

Goodtimehadbyall seemed to enjoy himself in the CC Rapid Transit (Adam Coglianese Photography)

The path change didn’t hold the gelded son of Quiet American back, as he
effortlessly ran down 2-1 favorite Ghost is Clear to score by 4 1/2 lengths in a
final time of 1:22 for seven furlongs on the fast track.

“He had some back class. He had been in a Grade 3 when he was a young horse.
We just thought bringing him into a new program and giving him some easier
competition on the East Coast coming from Kentucky he might turn around,” stable
manager Clay Sanders said. “We were actually pretty confident. Cutting back from
two turns to one turn is one of our favorite moves when we claim horses. We
thought the seven furlongs would fit him like a glove.”

Goodtimehadbyall returned $12.80 for the win as the 5-1 fourth pick, and
boosted his lifetime record to 47-8-6-9, $379,233.

Larry M. Morse’s Point Finish finished quite well in the $110,000
Iron
Horse to give Lopez his second win on Saturday’s Claiming Crown card. The
four-year-old chestnut drew off in the lane to be four lengths the best on the
wire as the 7-2 second favorite.

Point Finish, who ran 8 1/2 furlongs on the fast dirt in 1:42 2/5, paid $9.60
for the win. The gelded son of Point Given was exiting a neck score at Indiana
Downs in mid-October and also finished fourth in his stakes bow, the Don
Bernhardt, at Ellis Park in July.

Carolina Lizard (rail) withstood two game rivals and a claim of foul to get the Claiming Crown off to a rousing start in the inaugural Iron Lady (Adam Coglianese Photography)

Mrs. J. W. Abernethy’s Carolina Lizard prevailed in a thrilling opener to the
Claiming Crown program, getting the win in a blanket finish on the wire of the
$103,400
Iron
Lady before withstanding an objection from the rider of third-placer Daddys
Jewel.

Jockey Jose Lezcano claimed foul against Carolina Lizard and Pedro Monterrey
Jr. after Daddys Jewel was squeezed while trying to sneak through on the rail
rounding the turn. The chestnut filly angled out and was part of the three-horse
photo on the wire, which saw Carolina Lizard a neck in front of Courtney Ryan,
who was in turn was a nose up on Daddys Jewel. The stewards ruled there was
insufficient evidence and allowed the order of finish to stand.

Carolina Lizard rewarded her backers with a win payout of $71.80 as the 34-1
second longsest shot in the eight-horse field. The Saint Anddan four-year-old,
who is trained by Robert Posada, ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:45 1/5 over the fast main
track to boost her scorecard to 22-5-5-4 and more than double her earnings to
$112,697.

“My filly was doing great,” Posada said. “I thought she had a good chance
today. We’ve had her whole family and they’re all heart.”