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Trainer Morris Nicks, Father Of Ralph Nicks, Dies At Age 74

Multiple graded stakes-winning trainer Morris Nicks passed away on Nov. 25 after a battle with leukemia, reports bloodhorse.com. The veteran Southwest-based trainer was 74 years old.

Nicks passed the majority of his career between Louisiana Downs and Oaklawn Park. Since records began being tracked in 1976, Nicks saddled 819 Thoroughbred winners including Run Johnny in the 1999 Aristides Handicap (G3) at Churchill Downs and Golden Sonata in the 2004 Oaklawn Breeders' Cup Stakes (G3).

He is also the father of Breeders' Cup-winning trainer Ralph Nicks.

“Dad was an all-in horseman for the last 30 to 40 years of his life,” Ralph told bloodhorse.com. “If he had an afternoon off he was out buying supplies and hay for the rest of the week. He never took days off.”

Trainer Morris Nicks Dies at 74

Morris G. Nicks, who trained for parts of six decades, primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana and Kentucky, died Nov. 25 at his home in Waskom, Texas. He had been fighting cancer and was 74 years old.

His passing was confirmed by his wife Ellen in a Daily Racing Form story that broke the news Sunday. His son, the trainer Ralph Nicks, told DRF that his father had requested no funeral services to be held. According to DRF, Nicks grew up on a farm in Texas and galloped horses and rode in match races before spending a summer at age 17 working at Ruidoso Downs. He began training shortly thereafter, around 1965, at Oaklawn Park.

According to Equibase, Nicks won graded stakes with the sprinter Run Johnny in the 1999 GIII Aristides H. at Churchill Downs and with Golden Sonata in the 2004 GII Oaklawn Breeders' Cup S. at Oaklawn Park.

Nicks won the 2011 Louisiana Downs training title. He had retired from running a stable in 2018, citing health issues.

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Outfoxed Outstanding In My Dear Girl Stakes At Gulfstream

LNJ Foxwoods' Outfoxed, a record-setting stakes winner to break her maiden last month, followed up with another eye-catching performance to earn a second straight stakes victory in Saturday's $400,000 My Dear Girl at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The My Dear Girl for fillies and $400,000 In Reality for colts and geldings, both going 1 1/16 miles, co-headlined the final leg of the tradition-rich FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series for juveniles sired by accredited stallions standing in Florida.

Breaking from the rail against seven rivals as the 1-5 favorite in her two-turn debut, Outfoxed ($2.40) completed the distance in 1:47.34 over a fast main track to win by 9 ¼ lengths over 25-1 long shot Veiled Prophet. She was a 13 ½-length winner of the $200,000 Susan's Girl Aug. 28 at Gulfstream, the largest margin in race history.

“She's certainly done good things for us in the last 30 days, that's for sure,” trainer Bill Mott said. “She beat this group easily enough. We know the water can always get deeper.”

Outfoxed had a much different trip under meet-leading rider Edgard Zayas than her previous start, when she balked at the starting gate before loading and then raced outside horses in the seven-furlong Susan's Girl. Her unveiling came in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight sprint July 15 at Saratoga, where she ran third.

“The first time coming down to Florida last time she was a little nervous, but they schooled her in the morning after the race and they said she was doing awesome. The gate crew knew her already and she was really nice in the gate. She actually was a little sharp today,” Zayas said. “[Judging by] the way she won last time, and I think she has a lot of class, I was pretty confident she was going to handle the distance pretty good.”

Susan's Girl runner-up Devilette was once again out on the lead under Cristian Torres tracked by My Sassenach, third in the Susan's Girl, and Cajun Cousin, while Zayas and Outfoxed found themselves hemmed in along the rail in fourth by 30-1 long shot Sequin Lady midway down the backstretch.

As the field approached the far turn, Zayas was able to put Outfoxed in the clear four wide and the daughter of Valiant Minister responded by closing in quickly on the leaders. She overtook My Sassenach at the midpoint of the turn and straightened for home with an open lead that expanded through the stretch under a hand ride and ultimately geared down nearing the wire.

“Last time she was on the outside and I had a clean trip the whole race, and it was a little shorter so the pace was a little faster. Today the pace was a little slower and going two turns, I really didn't want to put her out there on the lead,” Zayas said. “She was the target of the race [so] I wasn't going to go against her. I just wanted to cover up a little bit and then put her in the clear and let her do her thing. She did awesome.”

Outfoxed, who fetched $360,000 at the 2020 OBS October sale, is only the second horse to represent Mott in the FSS series. The other, Inner Light, finished seventh in the 2017 In Reality. She has been with Mott's former assistant, Gulfstream-based trainer Ralph Nicks, since the Susan's Girl.

“She's been training good and put on some weight,” Nicks said. “She's a nice horse, plain and simple. The real boss is going to have a lot of fun with her.”

Mott was unsure whether the Breeders' Cup in November at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., could be on the horizon for Outfoxed.

“I think I'd have to talk to the powers that be. We'll talk to the owners and managers,” he said. “That would be a big step, but we'll see what they want to do. I couldn't answer that question right now myself.”

The post Outfoxed Outstanding In My Dear Girl Stakes At Gulfstream appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Nicks To Saddle Two In Search Of Fifth Straight Win In FSS Affirmed

Trainer Ralph Nicks is scheduled to make yet another title defense in Saturday's $200,000 Affirmed at Gulfstream Park, seeking to continue his domination in the seven-furlong second leg of the tradition rich FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds sired by accredited stallions standing in Florida.

The Affirmed will co-headline Gulfstream Park's 12-race FSS program with the $200,000 Susan's Girl, a seven-furlong stakes for 2-year-old fillies. The 12-race Saturday program has a first race post of 12:20 p.m. and includes five turf races and 122 entries.

Nicks, whose stable is based year-round at Gulfstream Park, is slated to saddle two horses for the 11-horse Affirmed field – Heiligbrodt Racing Stable and Spendthrift Farm's Cattin, an impressive debut winner July 31, and Jacks or Better Farm Inc.'s Awesome Crusader, a three-race maiden who rallied for second last time out at 74-1.

The 54-year-old trainer, who has saddled a total of nine winners in the Florida Sire Stakes series, overall, has visited the Affirmed winner's circle with Breeze On By (2020), Liam's Lucky Charm (2019), Garter and Tie (2018) and Soutache (2017) the past four years.

“I came to Florida when Gulfstream went to year-round racing. It's a program that you need to be active in,” Nicks said. “In six years, we've been fortunate – my crew and clients – to win nine of them now. It's been great. It's kind of surreal. Each additional one adds up for the crew and clientele. They send me horses to target this. The Racing Gods have allowed us [to excel]. We've been fortunate so far.”

Cattin overcame early trouble to win at first asking in a 5 ½-furlong $50,000 claiming race, drawing away by 3 ¾ lengths.

“He didn't make any mistakes that day. It ended up being kind of an easy race on him because he got in a little bit of trouble and didn't overdo it early,” Nicks said. “There should be a bit of gas left in the tank.”

The son of Neolithic has had a pair of easy half-mile breezes in preparation for his return in the Affirmed.

“He's worked well. He's happy. He's had a race, so it's not a fitness thing,” Nicks said. “Can he get the distance? I think he will with his brain. He has enough speed to be tactical if he needs to be.”

Awesome Crusader, who had finished a distant fourth in a $50,000 maiden claimer in his second career start, showed vast improvement to finish second at long, long odds, against maiden special weight company.

“He's getting better all along,” Nicks said. “I liked him the other day when he was second. I'm not a gambler but it would have been a big payday for anyone who was if they knew what I knew from the time before. He was sick. He was full of mucous and had a fever the next day, so that race was a throw-out.”

Awesome Crusader, who will seek to give Jacks or Better Farm is record-extending 20th FSS success in the Affirmed, closed steadily under Jesus Rios to finish three lengths behind King Cab, whom he will me again Saturday.

“He's still learning. Jesus had to be busy on him on the backside just to maintain some kind of distance of the race,” Nicks said. “He's a grinder. He keeps coming. Those type of horses get better as they go along. When we won the race with Garter and Tie, he was a maiden the same way. We were learning as we went.”

Luca Panici has the call on Cattin, while Cristian Torres will ride Awesome Crusader, who is a son of Greenpointcrusader.

The Nicks trainees will be making their respective FSS debuts Saturday while facing Stonehedge LLC's Cajun's Magic, the 7-5 favorite who won the the $100,000 Dr. Fager following a protracted stretch duel with Stonehedge LLC's Dean Delivers. The Michael Yates-trained stablemates finished a neck apart while finishing 10 lengths clear of the third-place finisher.

“It was pretty exciting. It was a great horse race. It's not often that you're in that position,” said Yates, who owned and trained Cajun Breeze during his racing career.

Cajun's Magic settled off the early pace before making a three-wide sweep into the stretch under Jesus Rios to engage Dean Delivers and jockey Miguel Vasquez in a spirited battle to the wire.

“I wanted them to ride their horses as the race developed. I didn't want them to worry about each other. I told them, 'Just ride your horse,'” Yates said.

Cajun's Magic, who finished second in his debut and broke his maiden by 4 ¾ lengths while being involved in the early pace, demonstrated versatility while winning the Dr. Fager from off the pace.

“I kind of expected that he would [show more versatility] because in his first race, he didn't break on top; he was in traffic and made a middle move. That was due to me not being overly aggressive with his gate works before his first start,” Yates said.

Jesus Rios has the return mount aboard Cajun's Magic.

Despite breaking slowly from the gate in Aug. 6 debut, David Melin, Leon Ellman and Laurie Plesa's King Cab (9-2) was in full control while outrunning Awesome Crusader and 10 other rivals. The son of Noble Bird, who was favored in his six-furlong debut off a series of strong breezes, was prepared for the seven furlongs of the Affirmed with a signature Eddie Plesa Jr. one-mile workout.

Samy Camacho has the return mount.

Arindel will be represented in the Affirmed by a quartet of homebred sons of Brethren, Carlos David-trained Octane and Juan Alvarado-trained Clapton, Gilligan and Merlin. Octane overcame traffic to graduate in his second start in a five-furlong maiden special weight race July 17. Clapton also graduated in his second start, rallying five-wide to win a six-furlong maiden special weight race July 24. Gillian is coming off a maiden-breaking win in $25,000 claiming company, while Merlin has finished second three times in four starts.

Emisael Jaramillo has the call on Octane; Chantal Sutherland has the return mount on Clapton; Edgard Zayas has accepted the mount on Gilligan; and Miguel Vasquez will ride Merlin.

Amalio Ruiz-Lozano's Gold Special, who finished a distant third in the Dr. Fager; Lea Farms LLC's Lightening Larry, who defeated Gold Special, Octane and Clapton while breaking his maiden June 18; and Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Big And Classy, who has fifth in the Dr. Fager; round out the field,

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