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Octane Powers To Victory In Affirmed At Gulfstream

Octane set a quick early pace, but the Arindel homebred had plenty left in the tank for the stretch on his way to a commanding 3 ¼ -length victory in the $200,000 Affirmed at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Affirmed, a seven-furlong open-division sprint, and the $200,000 Affirmed, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies, co-headlined Saturday's second leg of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes for juveniles sired by accredited stallions standing in Florida.

Octane, one of four Arindel homebred sons of Brethren in an 11-horse field, broke alertly from his rail position and rushed up to lead along the backstretch, pressed by Lightning Larry and stalked by Big and Classy, $100,000 FSS Dr. Fager winner Cajun's Magic, and King Cab. Octane set fractions of :22.50 and :45.24 for the first half-mile with Cajun's Magic looming prominently in pursuit turning into the stretch. The Dr. Fager winner gave it his best shot, but Octane kicked clear through the stretch under Emisael Jaramillo to complete the seven furlongs in 1:25.16.

Cajun's Magic, the 7-5 favorite, finished second under Jesus Rios, three lengths ahead of Big and Classy and jockey Edwin Gonzalez.

Octane, who finished second in his June 18 debut, was coming off a July 17 maiden victory in which he overcame traffic and fractious behavior at the starting gate.

“I love this little horse. He's small but he has a ton of heart,” trainer Carlos David said. “He was a little bit nervous prior to his second start. He was a little wild behind the gate. I had to put a lot of gate work into him and teach him to stand right. He's got some growing up to do, but I think he's going to be all right.”

Octane, who was sent to post at 10-1, was stretching out two furlongs from his five-furlong maiden score.

“I think the workout he had about a week ago was key. It was five furlongs, galloping out three-quarters in 1:13. That told me that he can definitely get the distance. I was very confident coming into this race,” David said.

The 2021 Florida Sire Stakes series will conclude Sept. 25 at Gulfstream with the open-division $400,000 In Reality and the $400,000 My Dear Girl for fillies. Both races will be run around two turns at 1 1/16 miles.

“I know the next leg is a mile-and-sixteenth, so it is challenging. I'll have to talk to the connections. Arindel has been great. They've given me the opportunity to train for them,” David said. “We have great communication. We'll talk about it and make a plan.”

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Cal-Bred The Chosen Vron Changes Tactics In Affirmed Triumph

In a race in which most observers thought trainer Eric Kruljac's talented California-bred The Chosen Vron would be on or contending for the early lead, instead the 3-year-old Vronsky gelding was last early and although Bob Baffert's Defunded had what appeared to be an insurmountable four-length edge turning for home, it was The Chosen Vron who rallied for an impressive 1 ¼-length score in Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Ridden by Umberto Rispoli, he got 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.01.

Stretching out for the first time off a huge win in the G3 Lazaro Barrera Stakes going 6 ½ furlongs, The Chosen Vron settled nicely under Rispoli heading into the first turn as longshot Jimmy Irish and Defunded contested the early going.

With Defunded assuming command around the far turn, he quickly dispatched of his favored stablemate Classier and had what appeared to be a winning advantage a quarter mile out but The Chosen Vron, who had moved into contention at the rail, switched leads straightening for home and reeled in the leader just inside the sixteenth pole to leave no doubt about who was best on the day.

“I thought he'd show more natural speed but they sent a couple horses real hard and Umberto took the initiative,” said Kruljac. “He rode the horse with a lot of faith and he got there. He had a lot of kickback (dirt) on him, but he'll run through it, this horse…The way the track was playing all day…I told Umberto, if the opportunity is there, if there's not much pace, feel free to go.

“And then I said, 'By the way, for the next 10 minutes, you own this horse.' And he rode him his way…I think we're going to be going for the easy money now, I mean those races are going to be tough too, there's some good Cal-breds. But it looks like we'll run for a $175,000 in the Real Good Deal going seven furlongs at Del Mar (for Cal-breds on July 30).”

A two-time stakes winner coming into Sunday, The Chosen Vron was off as the 8-5 second choice in a field of five sophomores and paid $5.20, $2.80 and $2.10.

“When the gates (opened) his intent was to go, obviously he's coming from a (sprint) race, but it's so far he understood that when we didn't go anywhere, he just switched off his mind and on the first turn he was just completely relaxed,” said Rispoli, who was aboard for the second consecutive time today. “I had him in a good spot, I threw him on the inside because I know he likes the kickback, and I traveled all the way inside to find a good spot at the three furlong pole just moving him up.

“At that point I knew he was the horse to beat. I felt that I had so much horse under me that he did the rest. After I got behind Classier, I came out and said, 'Okay, it's business time,' and it was just a feeling that he was going to switch his lead and I knew he was going to go by them easy. He's a small horse but he's got a big heart. He's got an amazing mind to go from (6 ½) furlongs to a mile and one sixteenth for the first time.”

Owned by Eric Kruljac, Robert Fetkin, John Sondereker and Richard Thornburgh, The Chosen Vron is out of the Tiz Wonderful mare Tiz Molly and was bred in California by Tiz Molly Partners. A 6 ½-length maiden winner versus statebreds here on Dec. 27, he's now got a pair of graded stakes wins and an overall mark of 5-4-0-1. With the winner's share of $60,000, The Chosen Vron increased his earnings to $270,600.

Defunded, who was ridden by Abel Cedillo, finished 11 lengths in front of Classier and paid $3.00 and $2.10 while off at 3-1.

Classier, idle since well beaten in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Keeneland Nov. 6, was off as the 7-5 favorite with Flavien Prat and with no apparent excuses, paid $2.10 to show while finishing 14 lengths clear of Mr. Impossible.

Fractions on the race were 23.25, 46.34, 1:10.82 and 1:37.23.

Three days remain in Santa Anita's current Winter/Spring Meeting, with first post time for an 11-race card on Friday at 1 p.m.

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The Chosen Vron Goes For Third Straight Victory In Affirmed Stakes

The Chosen Vron seeks new worlds to conquer in Sunday's Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes for three-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

The California-bred son of Vronsky has three wins from four starts, all sprints, the last against open company May 15 in the Grade 3 Laz Barrera Stakes, scoring by a widening 3 ½ lengths at 6 ½ furlongs under Umberto Rispoli, who rides again Sunday.

“It's a wait-and-see situation,” said Eric Kruljac, who trains the chestnut gelding for a partnership of which he is a member.

“When you have a nice horse like this you want to see if he can stretch out, so that's part of the motive in running here. If he doesn't stretch out (successfully), we can concentrate on sprints.

“But I think it's time to try two turns. There isn't much between now and the Real Good Deal (a $175,000 race at seven furlongs for Cal-breds July 30 at Del Mar, which Kruljac had on the agenda). I'd have to work him maybe seven or eight times for that race if we didn't run in the Affirmed.

“I just felt it was time. Umberto said he had a lot of horse left in the Laz Barrera. He said he didn't use him up.”

The G3 Affirmed Stakes, named for the 1978 Triple Crown winner trained by the late Laz Barrera, is race 10 of 11 with a 1 p.m. first post time. The field for the Affirmed includes Classier, Flavien Prat, 2-1; Jimmy Irish, Trevor McCarthy, 20-1; The Chosen Vron, Umberto Rispoli, 8-5; Defunded, Abel Cedillo, 5-2; and Mr. Impossible, Juan Hernandez, 7-2.

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Breeze On By Leads 1-2-3-4 Finish For Stonehedge In FSS Affirmed

Breeze On By led a 1-2-3-4 finish for Stonehedge LLC at Gulfstream Park with a commanding 7 1/2-length victory in Saturday's $200,000 Affirmed, the second leg of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes for juveniles sired by accredited Florida stallions at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla..

The Affirmed, a seven furlong open division, co-headlined Saturday's program with the $200,000 Susan's Girl, a seven-furlong stakes for fillies, which were supported by the $75,000 Proud Truth, a mile turf stakes for 2-year-olds, and the $75,000 Sharp Susan, a mile turf stakes for juvenile fillies. All four stakes were included in the six-race sequence of the Rainbow 6 on a day when a mandatory payout was held.

Trainer Ralph Nicks, who saddled Breeze On By for a victory in the $100,000 Dr. Fager in the first leg of the Florida Sire Stakes four weeks earlier, won his fourth consecutive running of the Affirmed. The son of Cajun Breeze also gave Nicks his eighth Florida Sire Stakes success since 2016 while providing Gil Campbell's Stonehedge Farm with a 15^th victory in the tradition-rich series.

“I just feel blessed to be in Florida for seven years and win this many [Sire] Series,” said Nicks, who also captured the Affirmed the previous three seasons with Soutache (2017), Garter and Tie (2018) and Liam's Lucky Charm (2019). “I learned early on that you need to be a part of this and was lucky to have owners send me some talented horses and it's worked.”

The Nicks-trained Big Daddy Dave and Seazan finished second and third, respectively, while the Kathleen O'Connell-trained Top Boss finished fourth to round out the Stonehedge superfecta.

Breeze On By, the 4-5 favorite ridden by Emisael Jaramillo, broke alertly from the starting gate but was beaten for the early lead by Gatsby, the 5-2 second choice who showed the way along the backstretch under a hustling ride by Hector Berrios. Breeze On By pressed the pace during swift fractions of 22.14 and 44.22 for the first half mile before putting away the tiring pacesetter on the turn into the homestretch and drawing away to a comfortable victory.

Breeze On By, undefeated in three starts, ran seven furlongs in 1:22.75. Big Daddy Dave made a wide bid of the final turn and finished second, 2 ½ lengths ahead of a late-rallying Seazan.

“They're nice horses. Thank you to Stonehedge for sending us some great horses. We're lucky to work with such talented horses,” Nicks said. “Breeze On By was able to rate and sit there with Big Daddy Dave in the hunt and could have pushed if he needed to, but he will settle and follow if he needs to.}

Breeze On By is scheduled to make a bid to become the fifth male to sweep the Florida Sire Stakes in the $400,000 In Reality, the 1 1/16-mile series finale Sept. 26. With a victory he would join Three Rules (2016), Sir Oscar (2003), Seacliff (1995) and Smile (1984)

“Doing this series is tough on them and we'll see. There are two other horses in this race that ran well so nothing will be a gift, but it's nice to have a horse this talented and have those options in front of you.”

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