Firenze Fire | Horse Racing Free Tips

After Third-Place Finish In Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Firenze Fire To Stretch Out In Cigar Mile

Trainer Kelly Breen said Mr. Amore Stable's multiple graded-stakes winner Firenze Fire will make his next start in the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile on Dec. 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

“He's back at Belmont and that's what we're pointing for,” said Breen.

The 5-year-old Poseidon's Warrior bay rallied from 11th to finish third last out in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland Racetrack under Jose Lezcano.

“It was a good race,” said Breen.

Breen said Lezcano, aboard for Firenze Fire's Grade 2 Vosburgh Invitational win on Sept. 26 at Belmont, will retain the mount for the Cigar Mile.

Top contenders confirmed for the Cigar Mile include Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby-winner King Guillermo and 2019 Grade 3 Discovery-winner Performer. Other horses under consideration for the Cigar Mile include New York-bred millionaire Mr. Buff and last-out Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap-winner Majestic Dunhill.

Breen took over training duties for Firenze Fire earlier this year and has saddled the horse to a record of two wins from six starts, including a victory in the Grade 2 True North on June 27 on a fast Belmont main track. Two of Firenze Fire's losses for Breen came in Grade 1 events – the Carter Handicap at Belmont and the Forego at Saratoga – on sloppy tracks.

The Cigar Mile Day card also includes a pair of Grade 2, $150,000 nine-furlong events for juveniles in the Remsen and its filly counterpart, the Demoiselle, as well as the Grade 3, $100,000 Go for Wand Handicap for fillies and mares at one mile.

Breen will send out New Jersey-bred Pickin' Time, a John Bowers, Jr. homebred, in the Remsen. The Stay Thirsty colt earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure last out, winning the Grade 3 Nashua at a one-turn mile on the Big A main.

“He came out of it in good order,” said Breen.

Breen said Mr. Amore Stable's New York homebred It's a Gamble could target the $100,000 Central Park, a 1 1/16-mile turf tile for juveniles on Nov. 28 at Aqueduct.

“I'm not sure what we're going to do, but that is a possibility,” said Breen.

The English Channel bay graduated at first asking in a state-bred turf sprint on Aug. 13 at Saratoga ahead of a fourth in the one-mile Nownownow on Oct. 4 on the Monmouth Park turf. Last out, on Oct. 31, It's a Gamble bobbled at the start of the 1 1/16-mile Awad on yielding Belmont turf and failed to menace when seventh.

Gary and Mary West's Full Impact, a 3-year-old Street Sense colt, earned a 94 Beyer for his impressive 4 1/2-length score in a first-level allowance on Nov. 13 contested at 6 1/2-furlongs on a sloppy and sealed Big A main.

Out of the multiple graded stakes winning Even the Score mare Four Gifts, Full Impact was purchased for $140,000 at the Keenland September Yearling Sale.

Breen said no future targets have been set as of yet for the promising colt.

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Firenze Fire to Target Cigar Mile

Mr. Amore Stable’s Firenze Fire (Poseidan’s Warrior), a late-closing third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint, will make his next start in the Dec. 5 GI Cigar Mile.

“He’s back at Belmont and that’s what we’re pointing for,” trainer Kelly Breen said of the Cigar Mile.

The 5-year-old rallied from 11th to finish third under jockey Jose Lezcano in the Nov. 7 Sprint at Keeneland.

“It was a good race,” Breen said of the veteran’s most recent start.

Breen said Lezcano, aboard for Firenze Fire’s GII Vosburgh Invitational win Sept. 26 at Belmont, will retain the mount for the Cigar Mile.

Others under consideration for the Cigar Mile are: King Guillermo (Uncle Mo), Performer (Speightstown), Mr. Buff (Friend or Foe), and Majestic Dunhill (Majesticperfection).

Woodslane Farm homebred Wolfie’s Dynaghost (Ghostzapper) lived up to the promise he had been showing in the morning with his 33-1 upset debut win at Aqueduct Saturday, according to trainer Tom Albertrani.

“The horse was showing lots of potential and talent working on the dirt,” Albertrani said. “He was doing so well. He ran very impressively. I was expecting a big effort, but I was cautiously optimistic. I had a good feeling about him handling it all.”

Wolfie’s Dynaghost is expected to ship south to Albertrani’s winter base at Palm Meadows Training Center.

“We’re probably going to regroup, ship to Florida and just get a feel for him when he gets down to Florida and see what the next step might be,” Albertrani said. “Hopefully, he’ll be an exciting horse to target some bigger things.”

Wolfie’s Dynaghost’s half-brother Sadler’s Joy (Kitten’s Joy), a Grade I winner on the turf, will make his next start in Saturday’s GIII Red Smith S. at Aqueduct, according to Albertrani.

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Florida-Bred Leaderboard Presented By FTBOA: Sunshine State Stood Out At Breeders’ Cup

The Breeders' Cup just passed, so it's worth noting the strong influence Florida-breds and Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. have had on the event throughout its history.

Florida-bred champion Unbridled, the winner of the 1990 Breeders' Cup Classic and second in 1991, has left an indelible mark on the event, with his blood running through the pedigrees of many winners and top contenders to this day.

Classic Empire and American Pharoah's wins in recent years gave Unbridled the honor of four generations of Breeders' Cup winners. Last year, the American Pharoah colt Four Wheel Drive's victory in the Juvenile Turf Sprint extended that to five generations.

The Florida industry supported Breeders' Cup from the start with John Nerud and Fred W. Hooper at the helm ensuring Florida breeders understood the importance of world championships to showcase their best.

Since then, Florida-breds have won 29 races out of the 377 total Breeders' Cup races they have been entered in through 2019 – about eight percent. Eleven Florida-breds and 27 OBS grads were entered in 2020 Breeders' Cup races.

The Florida-bred contingent was led this year by Golden Pal, a son of Uncle Mo who won the Juvenile Turf Sprint as a homebred for Randall E. Lowe's Ranlo Investments.

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Breen: Breeders’ Cup Sprint Contender Firenze Fire ‘As Honest As They Come’

Mr. Amore Stable's Firenze Fire galloped 1 1/8 miles Thursday morning at Keeneland in preparation for his fourth career Breeders' Cup start in Saturday's Sprint.

The 5-year-old son of Poseidon's Warrior will make his first Breeders' Cup start for trainer Kelly Breen, who accepted him and approximately 20 Mr. Amore Stable runners into his stable last winter from the barn of indicted trainer Jason Servis.

“It took a while for me to see the horse because of the pandemic. I was in Florida. My assistant, John Attfield, sent me pictures and videos to show me how well he looked. I've seen him race before, but it was a while before I laid eyes on him,” said Breen, who recently saddled Firenze Fire's 3-year-old sister, Firenze Freedom for an allowance win at Belmont Park. “He's a nice looking horse. He's got a lot of muscle. He's straightforward. He trains well. He does everything we ask of him.”

Firenze Fire has won two of five starts for Breen with two subpar showings coming over off tracks. He made his first start for Breen with a fourth-place finish in the June 6 Carter Handicap on a sloppy Belmont strip and won his first race for his new trainer three weeks later in the True North over a fast Belmont track. Firenze Fire was beaten two lengths while finishing fourth in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga before running 11th over a sloppy track at Saratoga in the Forego.

“The only bumps in the road I've had with him were on off tracks. He doesn't like the mud,” Breen said. “You throw those couple races out and he's as honest as they come.”

Firenze Fire rebounded from his Forego disappointment with a 2 ¾-length victory in the Vosburgh at Belmont, which was a “Win and You're In' Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race.

“We were extremely excited when he won a 'Win and You're In' because there's no contemplating, because you're going once you've got a 'Win and You're In' under your belt,” Breen said. “He showed that he belonged, and the 'Win and You're In' stamps your ticket to the Breeders' Cup.”

Breen wouldn't have had to contemplate long to determine that Firenze Fire deserves a shot at a Sprint victory Saturday.

“I look at the Thoro-Graphs and the Ragozin sheets. He runs fast. His bounce numbers seem to be on an off track, and his numbers are fast enough to put him in there with this bunch,” he said.

Firenze Fire, who captured the Champagne at two, finished off the board in the 2017 Breeder's Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. He finished fourth in the Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs in 2018 and fifth in the Sprint last year at Santa Anita.

Breen will also be seeking his first Breeders' Cup success after notching third-place finishes with 2011 Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice (2011 Classic) and multiple graded-stakes winner Pants on Fire (2014 Dirt Mile).

“Pants On Fire reminds me of this horse. Pants on Fire didn't win a stakes as a 2-year-old and this horse did, but he won a stakes as a 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7-year-old,” Breen said. “Knowing a little about what it takes to keep a horse going at an older age reminds me a lot about Firenze Fire.”

Jose Lezcano, who was aboard for his Vosburgh score, has the return call aboard Firenze Fire in the Sprint.

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