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Opalina Gives Optimizer a First Stakes Winner in Sweetest Chant

Opalina (Optimizer), the third choice in a wide-open pari-mutuel affair, took the overland route into the final furlong and a half of Saturday's GIII Sweetest Chant S. at Gulfstream Park, but stayed on gamely late to become the first black-type winner for her Calumet Farm-based stallion.

One of the first to break the line from her low draw, Opalina ultimately settled just ahead of centerfield and raced with cover down the backstretch as longshot Myfavoritedaughter (Carpe Diem) galloped them along at a decent clip. Given her cue with a bit more than three furlongs to race, Opalina was left with no choice but to circle horses into the stretch, rallied four wide under a full head of steam and looked to be idling a bit late, but was home comfortably in front.

Opalina defeated state-bred maidens by a dozen lengths in a hand-timed affair over yielding Gulfstream turf Sept. 17 and was a sneaky good fifth, beaten a length and a half, behind California Angel (California Chrome) in Keeneland's GII Jessamine S.

Oct. 13. Given some time off thereafter, Opalina came to win the Jan. 1 Ginger Brew S. at the eighth pole, but couldn't finish the job and settled for third as the even-money pick.

“When she took the lead in the stretch she kind of waited for the other ones, but when she got on the left [lead] she gave me another gear,” Saez said of Saturday's effort. “Last time, she needed a race and she didn't want to be too close. Today, we wanted to race a little bit from behind and make one move with her. Everything turned out like we were expecting.”

Pedigree Notes:

In addition to being the first black-type winner for Optimizer, Opalina is the 24th stakes winner (11 graded) out of daughters of Kitten's Joy, who have produced the likes of Grade I winner Channel Cat and other graded winners Spooky Channel, English Bee and Admiralty Pier to the cover of Optimizer's late sire English Channel.

Bernardo Alvarez-Calderon purchased Opalina's dam with the filly in utero for the upset price of $1,000 at Keeneland November in 2018. Calderon, who also bred GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational hero Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) and last year's GII Tampa Bay Derby upsetter Helium (Ironicus), passed away in August 2020 at the age of 78.

Opalina, also a half-sister to the stakes-placed Red Hornet (English Channel), is the last listed produce for Go Kitten Go.

 

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
SWEETEST CHANT S.-GIII, $100,000, Gulfstream, 2-5, 3yo, f,
1 1/16mT, 1:41.56, fm.
1–OPALINA, 118, f, 3, by Optimizer
                1st Dam: Go Kitten Go, by Kitten's Joy
                2nd Dam: Go Cherokee Go, by Cherokee Run
                3rd Dam: First Flyer, by Riverman
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Teneri
Farm & J Stables LLC; B-Teneri Farms Inc. & Bernardo Alvarez
Calderon (FL); T-Roderick R Rodriguez; J-Luis Saez. $59,520.
Lifetime Record: 6-2-2-1, $135,770. *First stakes winner for
second-crop sire (by English Channel). Werk Nick Rating: A++.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Ambitieuse, 118, f, 3, Medaglia d'Oro–Lucky Folie, by
Distorted Humor. 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK-TYPE.
O/B-Wertheimer and Frere; T-H Graham Motion. $19,200.
3–Miss You Ella, 118, f, 3, Declaration of War–Newstouse, by
Unbridled's Song. 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK-TYPE.
($135,000 Ylg '20 EASOCT). O-Wonder Stables, Madaket
Stables LLC & Golconda Stable; B-Equivine Farm (PA); T-Chad
C Brown. $9,600.
Margins: 3/4, 1 1/4, 1 1/4. Odds: 4.30, 4.80, 5.80.
Also Ran: Myfavoritedaughter, Battle Charge, Ocean Safari, Roughly a Diamond, Hal's Dream, Nostalgic. Scratched: Running Legacy. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Race Day Colt All Alone in Holy Bull

C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable's White Abarrio (Race Day), a well-beaten third most recently in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Nov. 27, pressed, pounced and pulled away to dominate by 4 1/2 lengths in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream. Expected pacesetter Simplification (Not This Time), a last out, front-running winner of the Mucho Macho Man S., completely missed the break, made a big sweeping move and did very well to hold second over favored GII Remsen S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo).

“It was a big performance,” winning trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said. “We were ahead of schedule all the time and then he got sick and we missed two works. We ended up going from being ahead of schedule to being behind. Quality horses overcome those things.”

Joseph continued, “I would say off this, the ball is in our court, why not go straight to the [GI Curlin] Florida Derby [Apr. 2]? It gives him good spacing, and if he makes the GI Kentucky Derby, it will be his third race [this year]. That would be ideal right now, but we'll talk it over whether to go to the [GII Fasig-Tipton] Fountain of Youth [Mar. 5] or not.”

White Abarrio, hustled out by Tyler Gaffalione from his wide draw in post eight, sat a dream trip in second behind Galt (Medaglia d'Oro), a last out Gulfstream maiden winner and full-brother to the brilliant Songbird, through fractions of :23.93 and :47.31. He stuck his head in front at the five-sixteenths marker and blew the race apart from there to win for fun. White Abarrio earns 10 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby for the victory.

“It was an ideal trip,” Gaffalione said. “The horse broke sharply and put me where I wanted to be. He settled nicely on the backside and when I called on him, he gave me another gear and finished the job well. I don't think distance is going to be a problem. He was just hitting his best stride down the lane and, galloping out, I had a really difficult time pulling him up. I was calling for the outrider.”

Purchased privately from Clap Embroidery and trainer Carlos Perez after a 6 3/4-length debut romp sprinting here in September, White Abarrio aired when stretched to a one-turn mile by new conditioner Joseph, Jr. in optional claiming company Oct. 29. He was most recently third, beaten six lengths by unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Smile Happy (Runhappy), in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs.

“He trains like a horse that will handle a distance, but until they do, you never know for sure,” Joseph said. “I thought the [Kentucky] Jockey Club was a great education. He showed he could get two turns and today he answered it emphatically.”

It was a pair of disappointing efforts from GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile third Giant Game (Giant's Causeway), who finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Pedigree Notes:

White Abarrio, a $40,000 OBS March breezer (:10 2/5), becomes the seventh stakes winner and first graded winner for young sire Race Day. White Abarrio is the second graded winner out of an Into Mischief dam. The other is GII Prioress S. heroine Cilla (California Chrome), who was also a winner in Saturday's LA Bred Premier Matron S. at Delta Downs. White Abarrio's dam Catching Diamonds, a maiden of three career starts and $425,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by Spendthrift, is also responsible for the 2-year-old colt Cage Match (Gormley) and a yearling colt by Lord Nelson. She was bred back to the latter for 2022. Catching Diamonds is a half-sister to MGSW Cool Cowboy (Kodiak Kowboy) and Downside Scenario (Scat Daddy), the dam of GSW & GISP Mutasaabeq (Into Mischief).

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
HOLY BULL S.-GIII, $250,000, Gulfstream, 2-5, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:42.80, ft.
1–WHITE ABARRIO, 120, c, 3, by Race Day
                1st Dam: Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief
                2nd Dam: Grand Breeze, by Grand Slam
                3rd Dam: Breeze Lass, by It's Freezing
   1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($7,500 Ylg
'20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-C2 Racing Stable
LLC and La Milagrosa Stable, LLC; B-Spendthrift Farm, LLC (KY);
T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $148,800. Lifetime
Record: 4-3-0-1, $240,850. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for
   the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Simplification, 122, c, 3, Not This Time–Simply Confection, by
Candy Ride (Arg). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($50,000 RNA
Wlg '19 KEENOV). O-Tami Bobo; B-France Weiner & Irwin J.
Weiner (FL); T-Antonio Sano. $48,000.
3–Mo Donegal, 124, c, 3, Uncle Mo–Callingmissbrown, by
Pulpit. ($250,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Donegal Racing;
B-Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
$24,000.
Margins: 4HF, HD, 1. Odds: 6.00, 3.70, 1.70.
Also Ran: Galt, Cajun's Magic, Spin Wheel, Tiz the Bomb, Giant Game, Eloquist. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

 

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Another Step ‘Forward’ for Practical Joke Filly

Girl With a Dream (Practical Joke) made it three straight victories with a front-running decision in Saturday's GIII Forward Gal S. at Gulfstream.

She was sent to the lead and showed the way through an opening quarter in :22.85. The chestnut let it out a notch rounding the far turn as unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Radio Days (Gun Runner) launched her bid from the back to set her sights on the leader.

Girl With a Dream still had plenty left for the stretch, however, and held the heavily favored Radio Days, who was making her first start since a runaway optional claiming victory at Aqueduct Dec. 2, safe by a length for a career high.

A runaway debut winner at Ellis last summer, Girl With a Dream wasn't quite ready for the big leagues yet, and reported home a distant eighth after a troubled trip in Saratoga's GI Spinaway S. Second in an optional claimer at Keeneland Oct. 21, she's been perfect in three subsequent starts, including a front-running score in the Letellier Memorial S. last time at Fair Grounds Dec. 27.

“There just aren't a lot of graded stakes opportunities where we run, at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn, so we had targeted this race after her last start,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She was doing good and came out of her last race strong, so we shipped her over Tuesday. We thought we'd let her do her thing and go to the front and try and make them catch us and it worked out great.”

Winning owners Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister also campaign unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) in partnership.

Pedigree Notes:

Girl With a Dream became the second graded winner for Coolmore America sire Practical Joke, who has been firing on all cylinders with his initial crop and ranks second only to sensation Gun Runner on the first-crop sire list. Practical Joke has also sired last year's GSW and MGISP Wit, as well as four other black-type winners. Girl With a Dream is also in on the ground floor with her damsire, Corinthian, as she's just the seventh stakes winner out of one of the Pulpit stallion's daughters.

A $115,000 Keeneland September purchase, Girl With a Dream is out of a half-sister to MGSW & MGISP Mr. Commons (Artie Schiller). Machmer Hall and D + J Racing Stable bred Girl With a Dream out of Machmer Hall's 2016 Keeneland November broodmare purchase Henley ($31,000). The mare has a 2-year-old filly by Twirling Candy and was bred back to a Twirling Candy son, the Machmer Hall-bred Gift Box, for this spring. Like last week's GI Pegasus World Cup winner Life Is Good, who is by Practical Joke's sire Into Mischief, Henley traces directly to French and American blue hen Frizette (Hamburg), her 10th dam.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FORWARD GAL S.-GIII, $100,000, Gulfstream, 2-5, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:23.42, ft.
1–GIRL WITH A DREAM, 120, f, 3, by Practical Joke
                1st Dam: Henley, by Corinthian
                2nd Dam: Joustabout, by Apalachee
                3rd Dam: Fleetside Review, by Quadratic
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($115,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-Bakke, Jim and Isbister, Gerald; B-Machmer Hall & D + J
Racing Stable LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Luis Saez. $60,760.
Lifetime Record: 6-4-1-0, $231,480. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Radio Days, 120, f, 3, Gun Runner–Remembered, by Sky
Mesa. 'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK
TYPE. ($750,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Allen Stable, Inc.; B-Hinkle
Farms (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $19,600.
3–Last Leaf, 120, f, 3, Not This Time–My Miss Kallie, by Paddy
O'Prado. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($7,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV;
$10,000 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $23,500 Ylg '20 OBSOCT). O-Monarch
Stables, Inc.; B-Khalid Mishref Alkahtani (KY); T-Ronald B.
Spatz. $9,800.
Margins: 1, 6 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 5.40, 0.60, 60.10.
Also Ran: Diamond Wow, Greatitude, She's So Beautiful, Disco Ebo. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Gun Runner Colt Takes it to Them ‘Early’ in Withers

Early Voting (Gun Runner) was hammered into 6-5 favoritism off a strong local debut win while facing much more seasoned rivals in Saturday's GIII Withers S. at the Big A and ran to the money with a dominating score.

Hesitant to get into the starting gate for the 1 1/8-miles affair offering 10 GI Kentucky Derby points to the winner, he had his mind on business once they sprung the latches. Hustled to the front by Jose Ortiz from his outside draw from post nine for this two-turn debut in the mud, Early Voting quickly cleared the field and it was pretty much over from there. The Klaravich Stables colorbearer led comfortably through sharp fractions of :23.57 and :48.04, gave them the slip rounding the far turn and was in a race of his own down the stretch to win by 4 1/2 lengths while becoming the fifth graded stakes winner for last year's champion freshman sire.

Longshot Un Ojo (Laoban) rallied from last of 11 to complete the exacta.

Early Voting, a $200,000 KEESEP graduate, previously dueled free to win on debut as the 4-5 favorite with a 76 Beyer Speed Figure going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct Dec. 18.

“He showed some speed in his first race, so we were pretty confident that he would stretch out even further to a mile and an eighth,” said Dan Stupp, assistant to winning trainer Chad Brown.

“He broke well and Jose [Ortiz] did the rest from there. I was confident in the mile and an eighth. He's out of a Tiznow mare, so he's bred to run all day. We were very confident in the distance.”

Stupp continued, “He's a horse that's going to progress with each race. Each race is going to propel him, and we've seen that in the morning with him. He was very impressive in his works. Especially, in his last two works leading up to this. He's an exciting horse and I was really ready to see him run today. I think he'll move forward nicely in his 3-year-old year.”

Pedigree Notes:

Wunderkind Gun Runner, the runaway leading first-crop sire based at Three Chimneys, kickstarted 2022 the same way he ended 2021, with progeny performances in major races that leave one wondering what might be ahead for sire sensation. Approximately an hour after his sophomore filly Radio Days finished a close second in the GIII Forward Gal S. Saturday, his Early Voting did one better in the Withers. Additionally, his McLaren Vale was second in last week's GII San Vicente S., his Pappacap was recently third in the GIII Lecomte S., and his GISWs Echo Zulu and Gunite have yet to make their 2022 debuts. Overall, Gun Runner has eight black-type winners, with a remarkable five of them graded winners.

Early Voting was bred to be a racehorse. His unraced dam–a $1.75-million KEESEP yearling in 2013–is a full-sister to 2017 GII Blue Grass S. winner and MGISP Irap (Tiznow), as well as a half-sister to champion racehorse and leading sire Speightstown (Gone West). They're all out of Canadian champion Silken Cat and trace back to 1950 Broodmare of the Year Hildene (Bubbling Over), Silken Cat's fifth dam. Amour d'Ete has a 2-year-old full-sister to Early Voting, a yearling filly by Constitution, and was bred back to Volatile, all matings done by Three Chimneys. Amour d'Ete's pensioned sire, Tiznow, is the broodmare sire of 52 black-type winners, including 2020 Classic winner Tiz the Law (Constitution).

Saturday, Aqueduct
WITHERS S.-GIII, $250,000, Aqueduct, 2-5, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:55.90, my.
1–EARLY VOTING, 118, c, 3, by Gun Runner
                1st Dam: Amour d'Ete, by Tiznow
                2nd Dam: Silken Cat, by Storm Cat
                3rd Dam: Silken Doll, by Chieftain
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($200,000
Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Three Chimneys
Farm, LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $137,500.
Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $181,500. Werk Nick Rating: C. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Un Ojo, 118, g, 3, Laoban–Risk a Chance, by A.P. Indy.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Cypress Creek Equine;
B-Southern Equine Stables, LLC (NY); T-Anthony W. Dutrow.
$50,000.
3–Gilded Age, 118, c, 3, Medaglia d'Oro–Angela Renee, by
Bernardini. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($600,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Grandview Equine and Don
Alberto Stable; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-William I.
Mott. $30,000.
Margins: 4HF, HD, 1 3/4. Odds: 1.30, 28.25, 6.80.
Also Ran: Grantham, Noneedtoworry, Smarten Up, Courvoisier, Cooke Creek, Mr Jefferson, Unbridled Bomber, Constitutionlawyer. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

 

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