Our Sugar Bear Stable's 2-year-old colt Gourmet Dinner won a hard-fought half-length decision in the $75,000 Dr. Fager Division of the Florida Stallion Stakes last out at Calder Casino & Race Course on Aug. 7 in his second career start following a winning debut on July 17 for trainer Peter Gulyas.
After the Dr. Fager, assistant trainer and stable advisor Steve Standridge indicated a trip to Saratoga for the $250,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1) would be considered, but Friday morning reported that they were now leaning "90 per cent to stay here for the Affirmed. He'll work on Monday morning and we'll make a final decision."
Gourmet Dinner is a Trippi colt co-bred by Our Sugar Bear Stable owner William J. Terrill and Ocala Stud. Terrill took full ownership purchasing him for $40,000 at the OBS April 2-year-old sales. The $100,000 Affirmed Division of the FSS will be run at seven furlongs on next Saturday's (Aug. 28) Juvenile Showcase program.
Standridge, who won Stallion Stakes races with Ten Pound Test (two) and Consider Thesource, took another promising 2-year-old to Saratoga last weekend after she made her first two starts at Calder. Sabine Stable's homebred filly Because I Like It won her debut by five lengths on May 31 and ran very well to finish second in the $100,000 JJ's Dream Stakes on July 10.
A Florida homebred daughter of Kentucky stallion Lion Heart, Because I Like It is not eligible for the Stallion Stakes series and Standridge took her to Saratoga where she tired to seventh of 10 in the $150,000 Adirondack Stakes (G2) last Sunday after pressing the pace into the far turn.
"I think she displaced (palate)," said Standridge. "She definitely didn't run her race. We're going to get her back here and regroup." Because I Like It was beaten a half-length in the JJ's Dream by Jacks or Better Farm's Awesome Feather, who went on to win the Desert Vixen Division of the FSS and goes into next Saturday's $100,000 Susan's Girl as the undefeated favorite.
Regina Twain Likely Choice in Sunday Feature
WSB Investments Inc.'s 3-year-old filly Regina Twain has finished first in three of her last four starts at Calder Casino & Race Course and second by a half-length in the other for trainer Kathleen O'Connell, and will be the horse to beat in Sunday's ‘two other than' optional/allowance feature with veteran jockey Eduardo Nunez getting a return call in the one mile test scheduled for turf.
Regina Twain won an ‘a other than' allowance over the course last out on July 29 following a first-place finish by a nose over Trip for A.J. in the Noble Robyn overnight stakes on June 27, but was disqualified for interference in the stretch. A daughter of Adcat, Regina Twain had finished a game second in the Sweettrickydancer overnight over the course in early June following a score for a $32,000 claiming tag and no takers.
Regina Twain's most intriguing rivals in the filly and mare test are Rose Family Stable's 3-year-old Joanie's Catch, a winner of $388,000 getting her third chance on turf for owner-breeder-trainer Barry Rose, and Farnsworth Farms' 4-year-old Toocleverforwords, a fresh arrival into trainer Marty Wolfson's arsenal of filly and mare turf talent stabled here this summer.
Joanie's Catch was competitive at the top of her division on the main track this winter at Gulfstream Park, placing in three Graded stakes at the meet, including the Bonnie Miss Stakes (G2) won by Devil May Care, the co-favorite in Saturday's Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga with Blind Luck.
However, Joanie's Catch has struggled in four starts at this meet since finishing 10th behind Blind Luck in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs on Apr. 30. The daughter of First Tour finished third in a turf sprint here in May and eighth in the Sweettrickydancer overnight with Regina Twain second in her only other turf outing. Jockey Javier Santiago will be aboard Sunday.
Jockey Kristi Chapman is named on Toocleverforwords after she finished second by a half-length in an ‘off the turf' allowance here on Aug. 7 in her first start for Wolfson. The daughter of Arch was a private purchase after winning a turf allowance at Belmont Park on May 28 for trainer Shug McGaughey in her previous start.
Completing the field for Sunday's feature are Kaye McGlothin's Stacy On the Wire, Michael Sucher's Hot Hot Mama, Henco Inc. and Four Horsemen Racing's Miss Olivia Rae, Angel Quiroz' Margaret Smile, A and V Investments' Dancing Rage, Oscar Martinez's Genuine Diamond and Wayne DeCosta's Miss Aristocrat. Rene Wagner's Full Strut is the lone ‘also-eligible.'