Calder will present a stakes-filled afternoon of racing as part of the 21st
annual Festival of the Sun on Saturday that will feature the conclusion of the
lucrative Florida Stallion Stakes series, with both the $300,000
In Reality
Division and its juvenile filly counterpart, the $300,000
My Dear
Girl Division, to be run over 1 1/16 miles on the main track.
A field of 10 colts and geldings is scheduled to contest the In Reality with
opening-leg winner Two T’s at Two B and surprise second-leg winner D’nied
Permission both returning for the rich final.
Conditioned by Kathleen O’Connell, Two T’s at Two B won the first three races
of his career by a combined 16 1/4 lengths, adding a 5 1/4-length victory in the
$100,000 Frank Gomez Memorial Stakes to his 3 3/4-length Stallion Stakes triumph
in the $75,000 Dr. Fager Division. In his most recent start, the son of
Untuttable was beaten two lengths when third as the 2-5 favorite in the $125,000
Affirmed Division where he fell victim to the late run of D’nied Permission.
A son of D’wildcat, D’nied Permission has made five appearances during his
young career, visiting the winner’s circle twice while finishing second or
better on four occasions. Following his Affirmed triumph, the Joe Calascibetta
trainee returned for the $100,000 Foolish Pleasure Stakes where he could do no
better than fourth.
Two T’s at Two B will start from post 6 in the In Reality with Eduardo Nunez
to ride, while D’nied Permission has been assigned post 9 and will be piloted by
Luis Saez.
Joshua’s Comprise, a three-time stakes-placed colt that was beaten a neck
when second to D’nied Permission in the Affirmed and was runner-up to Two T’s at
Two B in the Frank Gomez Memorial, returns for the In Reality off a
maiden-breaking win against entry-level allowance rivals. He will break from
post 7 with Carlos Olivero. Trainer Eddie Plesa will saddle two horses in the In
Reality, Dr. Fager runner-up Dixie High and recent Monmouth Park maiden winner
Speak Logistics. Paco Lopez has the mount on Dixie High and Angel Serpa will be
aboard Speak Logistics.
The My Dear Girl Division of the Florida Stallion Stakes drew a field of nine
that includes second-leg heroine Putyourdreamsaway and first-leg upset winner
Candy Coded Kisses.
Trained by Bill Kaplan, Putyourdreamsaway broke her maiden by 5 1/4 lengths
at first asking in mid-July and followed that performance with a second-place
run in the $75,000 Desert Vixen Division before bouncing back from that defeat
with a 7 1/2-length romp in the Susan’s Girl Division. The daughter of Put It
Back will start from post 6 with Juan Leyva.
When Putyourdreamsaway was bested in the Desert Vixen, it came at the hands
of Candy Coded Kisses, who upset the field at odds of 24-1. The daughter of
Omega Code, trained by DeSouza, has since returned to run second in the Susan’s
Girl before finishing a disappointing eighth in the $100,000 Cassidy Stakes.
Candy Coded Kisses break from post 5 beneath Orlando Bocachica.
While the Florida Stallion Stakes finals are the showcase pieces of the
Festival of the Sun puzzle, the 12-race card will also feature three additional
stakes led by the Grade 3, $100,000
Spend A
Buck Handicap which drew a solid field of eight led by two-time 2010
Stallion Stakes hero Gourmet Dinner, who returns to Calder for the first time
since his second-place finish in that year’s In Reality.
Trained by David Braddy, Gourmet Dinner made the first four starts of his
career at Calder, prevailing three times prior to his In Reality defeat, which
he followed with a win in the Grade 3 Delta Jackpot at Delta Downs. The son of
Trippi exits a seventh in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, and earlier
this year the four-year-old prevailed in the $100,000 Majestic Light Stakes at
Monmouth Park. Gourmet Dinner will be reunited with rider Sebastian Madrid and
start from post 2.
Sophomore colt Csaba, a four-time winner in south Florida that was most
recently seventh in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby, returns to Calder for the
Spend A Buck where he is scheduled to meet older horses for just the second time
in his career. The Phil Gleaves trainee was last seen locally as the 8
1/4-length winner of the $75,000 El Kaiser Stakes in mid-July before being sent
north for a three-race sojourn that included a second in the Grade 2 National
Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes where he was beaten an unlucky nose.
Csaba drew post 8 and will be ridden by Manoel Cruz.
Larry Fugate’s three-time stakes winner Cash Rules will start from post 3 for
jockey Luis Saez and trainer Dave Fawkes. Winner of the Darn That Alarm and Band
Is Passing Stakes in each of his last two starts, the son of Peace Rules also
prevailed in the Sumter Stakes in early May and was runner-up in both the
Memorial Day Handicap and the Primal Stakes.
Completing the Spend a Buck field is Ducduc, Decisive Moment, Two Is to Many,
Flatter This and Fair Whit.
A pair of sophomore turf stakes will also be contested as part of the
Festival of the Sun program with the both the $75,000
Tropical Park Derby and the $75,000
Frances
A. Genter, restricted to fillies, scheduled for the local lawn.
Mucho Mas Macho and Empire Builder, separated by a neck when last seen as the
top-two finishers in the $75,000 Needles Stakes, will meet again when amongst
the 11 horses entered for the Tropical Park Derby. Trained by Henry Collazo,
Mucho Mas Macho has visited the winner’s circle following each of his last two
starts, adding an allowance victory in mid-August to his recent Needles triumph.
The son of Macho Uno has prevailed in three of his last four appearances over
the Calder turf, with his lone defeat during that span a troubled fourth where
he was beaten just a neck for everything.
Empire Builder is a three-time stakes winner at Calder this year, adding main
track victories in the $55,000 American Dreamer Stakes and the $55,000 Mambo
Meister Stakes to his turf triumph in the $75,000 Naked Greed. The son of
Kitten’s Joy has prevailed in three of his four starts over the Calder grass.
Scheduled to ship to south Florida for the Tropical Park Derby is Burn the
Mortgage, a turf allowance winner at Saratoga in his last start for trainer
Wayne Catalano. The son of Kitten’s Joy has crossed the wire first in three of
his last four starts, although the colt was disqualified from a mid-May
Churchill Downs victory for causing interference with another rival.
Other notables in the Tropical Park Derby field include turf-stakes winner
Musical Flair and recent allowance winner Harrison Bay.
Csaba was cross-entered in both the Tropical Park Derby and the Spend A Buck,
but is expected to consider a run in the Tropical Park Derby only if the race is
moved from the turf to the main track.
A winner of more than $398,000 during her career, Awesome Belle looks to be
the leading lady in the Frances A. Genter off three successive stakes scores,
two of which came over the Calder turf.
Trained by Stanley Gold, Awesome Belle began her current streak with a main
track triumph in the $75,000 Three Ring Stakes and has since returned with
grassy victories in the $75,000 Crystal Rail Stakes and most recently the
$75,000 Judy’s Red Shoes. The homebred daughter of Awesome of Course was a 2011
Stallion Stakes heroine, winning that year’s running of the My Dear Girl.
Among the eight fillies looking to take down Awesome Belle in the Frances A.
Genter is lightly-raced Blues and Silvers, three-time stakes winner but
currently slumping Frolic’s Revenge, and Judy’s Red Shoes runner-up Jazz.
Calder will offer an All-Stakes Pick Five, with a base wager of 50-cents and
an industry-low takeout of 12-percent, that will encompass the stakes portion of
the Festival of the Sun program.
In addition to hosting a full afternoon of live racing as part of the 21st
annual Festival of the Sun, Calder will hold ceremonies throughout the day in
conjunction with Florida TRAC (Thoroughbred Retirement and Adoptive Care),
Horses and the Handicapped of South Florida, the Broward Sheriff’s Mounted Unit,
and Hobbs Equestrian to honor retired Thoroughbred race horses now serving the
community in their second careers.
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