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Helium Returns Big ‘Balloons’ In Tampa Bay Derby Upset

D J Stable LLC's Helium (Ironicus) overcame an impossibly wide trip and gamely fended off a late charge from the well-backed Hidden Stash (Constitution) to upset Saturday's GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby by three-quarters of a length while making his dirt and two-turn debuts.

Perfect in two starts going seven furlongs over the Woodbine synthetic last year, including a 4 1/4-length success in the Display S. when last seen Oct. 18, the $55,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling graduate's worktab included a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 (1/8) at Palm Meadows Feb. 3.

Helium was slow into stride from a wide gate and was left no choice but to take the first turn in about the six path while racing with just two rivals behind. Five or six paths off the inside down the backstretch, Helium went for an early run with about a half-mile to run, but continued to be trapped off the track, as favored GIII Sam F. Davis S. winner Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}) was moving simultaneously underneath him.

Consigned to a five-deep trip around the second turn, Helium nevertheless gained steadily on the leaders, was shifted down to the inside when making the lead in upper stretch and managed to hold sway late.

Hidden Stash, a closing third to Candy Man Rocket in the Sam F. Davis, looked to have Helium at his mercy at the sixteenth pole, but was swatted away late and settled for second.

Candy Man Rocket was out of gas by the top of the stretch and tired to 11th.

“Our biggest concern going into the race was not only the competition, but also the distance, because he had never gone further than seven furlongs,” said DJ Stables Racing Manager Jon Green. “We were also concerned about the surface, because he had only run on the Tapeta at Woodbine. So we felt like he had three things he had to accomplish today–not only to beat the top horses in the race, but also overcome the two turns, the surface, and the layoff. So for him to accomplish what he did today by holding off a very nice horse in Hidden Stash, made us very excited for his future.”

Green added, “As of now, we're unsure as to his next start. We're going to analyze where the competition is going and decide what would be his best spot.”

Helium is not currently nominated to the Triple Crown, but will be supplemented for $6,000 at the next deadline at the end of March, said Green. “He has certainly punched his ticket.”

Helium was purchased privately last March as a 2-year-old from Bo Hunt. “The horse industry certainly works in mysterious ways,” said Green. “If it weren't for COVID, we never would have been able to buy this horse. We bought him privately because we weren't sure what was going to happen with the sales.”

Green said, “I really want to give Mark Casse tremendous credit for being able to be flexible with this horse and pivoting as many times as we did with him before landing on the Tampa Bay Derby in his 3-year-old debut.”

Casse said, “He trained well enough that we thought he deserved a chance. Again, I have to give so much credit to Nick Tomlinson who had him down at Palm Meadows for us. We had thought about running in the Gotham and thought, if we're going to try the dirt, let's run him close to home. It worked well for us.

Casse continued, “This horse is something because he got away a little slow today and we had planned on him being closer. He made that big wide run, he made the lead but [after Hidden Stash rallied] I was going to be happy with second. I thought, we can build on this, because this is only his third start and there is a lot of room for improvement. What was amazing is that he wasn't overly exhausted after the race. He's a beautiful horse, he's bred to run all day long and he looks like a Derby horse, so it's exciting.”

Winning rider Jose Ferrer added, “On the backside, I had all kind of horse under me, and when I set him down at the three-eighths pole, I could see I had a chance. I just had so much horse and he flew down the lane. Then I think he got by himself and kind of got bored and he thought, game over. But I still had plemty of horse and be re-broke again.”

Pedigree Notes:

Helium hails from the first crop of Ironicus. He became the first stakes winner for the young Claiborne sire after securing last term's Display and is also his first graded winner. This is the 46th graded winner for Thunder Gulch as a broodmare sire.

Thundering Emilia, a $15,000 KEESEP yearling graduate, carried Teneri Farms' colors to a win in Delaware's John W. Rooney Memorial S. She was also a GSW & G1SP in Peru.

Progeny in the pipeline for Thundering Emilia include the 2-year-old colt Thunder Stride (Classic Empire) and a yearling colt by Accelerate. She was bred to American Pharoah for 2021.

Winning owner DJ Stable bought Helium's 6-year-old GSP half-sister Mighty Scarlett (Scat Daddy) for $240,000 at the 2020 KEENOV Sale.

This is the family of Peruvian champions Valiant Emilia (Per) and Domingo.

Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
LAMBHOLM SOUTH TAMPA BAY DERBY-GII, $350,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 3-6, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.55, ft.
1–HELIUM, 117, c, 3, by Ironicus
1st Dam: Thundering Emilia (GSW & G1SP-Per,
SW-USA, $140,963), by Thunder Gulch
2nd Dam: Saint Emilia (Per), by Saint Ballado
3rd Dam: Proud Emilia, by Proud Appeal
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($55,000 Ylg '19 FTKOCT). O-D. J.
Stable LLC; B-Teneri Farm Inc & Bernardo Alvarez Calderon
(KY); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Jose C. Ferrer. $210,000. Lifetime
Record: 3-3-0-0, $287,763. *1/2 to Mighty Scarlett (Scat
Daddy), GSP, $225,860; Emilia's Moon (Malibu Moon),
G1SW-Per. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Hidden Stash, 117, c, 3, Constitution–Making Mark Money,
by Smart Strike. ($50,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-BBN Racing, LLC;
B-Rhineshire Farm LLC (KY); T-Victoria H. Oliver. $70,000.
3–Moonlite Strike, 117, c, 3, Liam's Map–Twinkling, by War
Chant. ($45,000 RNA Wlg '18 KEENOV; $120,000 Ylg '19
KEESEP; $145,000 RNA 2yo '20 OBSMAR; $77,000 RNA 2yo '20
OBSOPN). O-Sonata Stable; B-Brushy Hill, LLC (KY); T-Saffie A.
Joseph, Jr. $35,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 15.40, 3.10, 34.60.
Also Ran: Unbridled Honor, King of Dreams, Awesome Gerry, Sittin On Go, Boca Boy, My Liberty, Super Strong, Candy Man Rocket, Promise Keeper.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Helium Remains Unbeaten With Tampa Bay Derby Surprise

D J Stable's Helium transformed his synthetic track form to dirt and improved his record to a perfect 3-for-3 with an off-the-pace victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Jose Ferrer, Helium ran 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:43.55 and paid $32.80 as a 15-1 longshot. Hidden Stash, who ranged up to challenge the winner in mid-stretch, finished second as the 3-1 second choice, with another longshot, 34-1 Moonlite Strike third, Unbridled Honor finished fourth, with King of Dreams fifth. Candy Man Rocket, the 8-5 favorite coming off a victory in the G3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, was never a factor.

The Tampa Bay Derby offered 85 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby with 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers.

From the first crop of Ironicus, a top-class turf performer by Distorted Humor, Helium won his first two starts on the Tapeta synthetic surface at Woodbine, including a 4 1/4-length victory in the Display Stakes in his most recent start on Oct. 18.

Boca Boy reprised his role from the Sam F. Davis, setting the pace through fractions of :23.23, :47.06 and 1:11.38 for the first six furlongs. King of Dreams and Moonlite Strike were in closest pursuit, with Helium kept to the far outside in the run down the backstretch, with Hidden Stash just behind him.

Approaching the far turn, Ferrer put Helium in a four-wide drive and had the lead entering the stretch. Hidden Stash rallied alongside Helium, possibly putting his nose in front just inside the eighth pole, but Helium fought back and gradually edged clear approaching the wire.

“I'm just so happy to ride my first Tampa Bay Derby,” said Ferrer. “I always wanted to ride this race. Mark Casse gave me a great opportunity to go out there and do my job and do my thing. On the backside, I had all kind of horse under me, and I could see who had more horse and when I set him down at the three-eighths pole, I could see I had a chance. I just had so much horse and he flew down the lane. Then I think he got by himself and kind of got bored and he thought, game over. But I still had plemty of horse and be re-broke again.”

“He trained well enough that we thought he deserved a chance,” Casse said. “Again, I have to give so much credit to Nick Tomlinson who had him down at Palm Meadows for us. We had thought about running in the Gotham and thought, if we're going to try the dirt, let's run him close to home. It worked well for us.

“This horse is something because he got away a little slow today and we had planned on him being closer,” Casse added. “He made that big wide run, he made the lead but (after Hidden Stash rallied) I was going to be happy with second. I thought, we can build on this, because this is only his third start and there is a lot of room for improvement. What was amazing is that he wasn't overly exhausted after the race. He's a beautiful horse, he's bred to run all day long and he looks like a Derby horse, so it's exciting.”

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Kitten’s Joy’s Domain Expertise Gets Up in Florida Oaks

Jouster shot to the front as Domain Expertise settled in the second half of the field heading into the first turn. Residing in the two path while covered up midpack down the backstretch, the 5-1 chance took aim at the front approaching the quarter pole and was fanned four wide around the final turn. Picking up the tempo but with seemingly too much to do as Jouster was free-running in early stretch, the Chad Brown runner proved undeterred as Antonio Gallardo asked for more and his charge responded, reeling in the frontrunner late and pegging her rival at the wire.

“I think I had a pretty good trip,” said Gallardo. “She felt comfortable all the way around. Really, when I put her in the clear, she exploded. She exploded like a good filly. I was trying my hardest and you're not thinking about [whether you're going to catch Jouster, the pacesetter], you're thinking about riding your horse and trying to catch her.”

Runner up in her career debut at Saratoga last September, the Klaravich Stables runner was seventh over the yielding Pimlico turf in the Selima S. Oct. 3, but rebounded to win in a Tampa maiden Dec. 5. Sent off at 7-1 last time out, the chestnut finished third, beaten two lengths, in Gulfstream's GIII Sweetest Chant S. Jan. 30.

Pedigree Notes:

With Saturday's victory at Tampa, Domain Expertise became the 102nd black-type and the 50th graded winner for her sire, Kitten's Joy. The $200,000 KEENOV weanling purchase is the fourth foal out of MSP Teroda, who is also responsible for Sombeyay (Into Mischief), winner of the GIII Sanford S. at two before adding the GIII Canadian Turf S. the following season. The 13-year-old mare produced a Bolt d'Oro filly in 2020 and was bred back to Mendelssohn.

Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs
FLORIDA OAKS-GIII, $152,500, Tampa Bay Downs, 3-6, 3yo, f,
1 1/16mT, 1:41.12, fm.
1–DOMAIN EXPERTISE, 117, f, 3, by Kitten's Joy
                1st Dam: Teroda (MSP, $171,033), by Limehouse
                2nd Dam: Leza, by Strawberry Road (Aus)
                3rd Dam: Goldenley (Arg), by Farley (Arg)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($200,000
Wlg '18 KEENOV). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-J D Stuart,
Mueller Farms, Inc. & Kenneth L. & Sarah K. Ramsey (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown; J-Antonio A. Gallardo. $90,000. Lifetime
Record: 5-2-1-1, $125,700. *1/2 to Sombeyay (Into Mischief),
MGSW, $412,650. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Jouster, 119, f, 3, Noble Mission (GB)–Playtime, by Street Cry
(Ire). 'TDN Rising Star'. ($360,000 Ylg '19 FTSAUG). O-Starlight
Racing; B-St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
$30,000.
3–Oyster Box, 119, f, 3, Tapit–Starformer, by Dynaformer.
O-Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck); B-Juddmonte Farms Inc
(KY); T-H. Graham Motion. $15,000.
Margins: NO, 2HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 5.40, 0.70, 5.50.
Also Ran: Mia Martina, Queen of the Green, Be Sneaky, Flight to Shanghai, Forever Boss, Big Band Luzziann, Alex's First. Scratched: Big Bad Diva, Hindsight.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Micheline Scores First Graded Triumph In Hillsborough Stakes

Making her first starting since a second-place finish to Harvey's Lil Goil in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II at Keeneland last Oct. 10, Godolphin LLC's homebred Micheline recorded her first graded stakes victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Ridden for the first time by Luis Saez and trained by Michael Stidham, the 4-year-old filly by Bernardini out of the multiple G1 winning Include mare Panty Raid, was clocked in 1:47.19 for 1 1/8 miles on firm turf. She paid $11.20 for the victory.

Morning Molly finished second, with New York Girl third and La Signore and Miss Teheran dead-heating for fourth in the field of 10. Magic Attitude, the 3-1 favorite, breaking from the inside post, had some early traffic troubles, didn't get untracked until late and was never a factor.

Myhartblongstodady went to the front under Daniel Centeno, setting fractions of :24.23, :48.80 and 1:12.41 for the first six furlongs. Morning Molly raced in second, with Micheline, who broke from the outside post position, just behind the top pair and in the clear to the outside.

Approaching the stretch, Morning Molly turned up the heat on the front runner, but Saez and Micheline had them both measured, swinging to the outside and moving to the lead in the stretch. Passing the mile marker in 1:35.74, they cruised to the victory, Micheline's fifth in 13 starts.

“That was the spot I was trying to get, and we got lucky,” said Saez. “She broke good and we were right there. At the half-mile pole, when I started asking her, she started to pick it up, and when we got to the straight everything was about battling, and she did that pretty well. She gave me her kick and it was super. Watching her replays, I knew she could win this race, and it's great when everything comes together so well.”

Micheline broke her maiden in Monmouth Park's Sorority Stakes at 2 in 2019, adding a late December allowance victory at Tampa Bay Downs. As a 3-year-old she won Gulfstream's Honey Ryder and the Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs.

“She is definitely a fighter,” Stidham's assistant, Ben Trask, said after the Hillsborough. “She is kind of a silly filly – she's a bad stall walker, so she lives in a little tent behind the barn. She is definitely a unique filly with a lot of talent. I was a little concerned with the outside post and whether she would overcome it. Luis put her in a great spot the whole time and when he called on her, she was there.”

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