Pro Quality | Horse Racing Free Tips

Trainer Ron Spatz admits he didn't know how Monarch Stables Inc's 2-year-old filly Last Leaf would handle the turf in Saturday's $75,000 Hollywood Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

“My legs are tired. I've been doing a rain dance for three days,” said Spatz, whose filly won twice on the main track before facing colts and geldings in the Hollywood Beach. “They tell me top and bottom is good for [turf], but she has small feet so I really didn't know.”

Any doubts Spatz might have had were erased when Last Leaf drove past a game Nerve in the final sixteenth to win the Hollywood Beach by a head. Barone Cesco was a fast-closing third, another head behind Nerve.

A daughter of Not This Time who has now won three of five starts, Last Leaf covered a 'good' five-furlong course in :57.46 after chasing Nerve past fractions of :22.32 and :45.40. The filly has won at 5 ½ furlongs on a fast track, six furlongs on a sloppy track, and on the turf.

“I told [Monarch Stables Inc.] 'You have an all-terrain vehicle now. That's a good thing,” Spatz said.

In the $125,000 Wildcat Heir, Rodney Lundock's Pro Quality, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Ralph Catanese and ridden by Luca Panici, drove past Shivaree inside the final sixteenth pole to win by lengths

Pro Quality, a son of Exclusive Quality, came into the Wildcat Heir off third-place finishes in the City of Dania and Benny The Bull. Panici raced fourth down the backstretch past fractions of :23.91 and :46.91 before Panici moved Pro Quality three-wide entering the stretch and driving to the finish.

Pro Quality has won four races and has placed first, second or third in 11 of his 13 starts.

The post Last Leaf Victorious In Hollywood Beach, Pro Quality Best In Wildcat Heir At Gulfstream appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Graded-stakes winner Well Defined continued a successful comeback Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., capturing the $75,000 Benny The Bull Stakes by the rapidly diminishing winning margin of a neck.

Bred by Gil Campbell's Stonehedge LLC, The 5-year-old son of With Distinction, who captured the 2019 Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs in Tampa, Fla., won his sixth race from nine starts since coming off a layoff following a private purchase by his trainer Kathleen O'Connell.

“He needed some time off and Mr. Campbell has a lot of horses. I was willing to give him some time off,” O'Connell said of the sale. “It's a gamble. Sometimes, they come back and sometimes they don't. I have ones come back that have never been half of what they were. I'm just glad he made a whole recovery, and Mr. Campbell still reaps the benefits because he's the breeder. It's a win, win, win.”

Well Defined, who was sent to post as the 6-5 favorite in a field of seven in the seven-furlong stakes for Florida-breds, was beaten to the lead by Travy Boy, who set fractions of :22.75 and :45.03 seconds for the first half mile while pressed by the favorite. Well Defined took the lead entering the stretch under Emisael Jaramillo but started to falter in the final yards and was just able to hold off the late outside surge by Shivaree, a multiple-stakes winner who finished second behind Tiz The Law in the 2020 Grade 1 Florida Derby.

“I think he's better loose on the lead, but I think Jaramillo made a great decision sitting off a horse that was sharp coming off a layoff,” O'Connell said.

Well Defined, who earned a $25,000 Florida Sire Stakes Win Only bonus in addition to the winner's share of the purse, ran seven furlongs in 1:23.47. Shivaree finished three-quarters of a length ahead of third-place finisher Pro Quality.

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