Rated by Merit. (Lauren King)
Future Bright Following FSS Sweep in Saturday’s Two-Turn Score
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – St. Elias Stable’s Rated by Merit faced the biggest challenge of his brief but very promising career in Saturday’s $300,000 In Reality at Gulfstream Park, but one would never know it to look at the still undefeated colt Sunday morning.
Trainer Michael Yates was extremely pleased with how the homebred colt exited his six-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile final leg of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes, in which he completed a sweep of the series for 2-year-old colts and geldings sired by accredited Florida stallions while racing around two turns for the first time.
“I think this race was less taxing on him than the seven-eighths,” said Yates, referring to Rated by Merit’s prior victory in the Oct. 19 Affirmed, the seven-furlong second leg of the FSS series in which he earned the highest Beyer Speed Figure (99) of any 2-year-old in North America this year. “He’s good.”
Rated by Merit, who went to post as the 1-5 favorite in a field of eight and earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure, was sent to an early lead by jockey Jesus Rios following an alert start. The Yates trainee continued to show the way while on cruise control until a sweeping Classic of Course loomed as a potential threat on the turn into the homestretch, where Rios asked him, and the Florida-bred colt kicked away to another comfortable score.
The ease in which the son of Battalion Runner negotiated two turns was encouraging for Yates and Monique Delk, the executive director of racehorse development for Vinnie and Teresa Viola’s St. Elias Stable, with an eye on Gulfstream’s Road to the Florida Derby (G1).
“It was pretty smooth with him, because he’s such straightforward horse. We just tried to stay consistent with him, and he kept doing everything we had mapped out,” Yates said of Rated by Merit’s preparation for his two-turn debut. “I felt like we had done plenty with him going into the race, and it was just a matter of him doing the two turns, and he answered that question.”
Rated by Merit’s connections are hardly ready to commit when and where he will make his 3-year-old debut next year following an unspecified freshening period.
“What we’ll do is we’ll treat it as if we’re going forward for a race the first week. We’ll see how he is the next few days walking. We’ll actually take him back to the track under tack to see how he’s moving. We’ll train him a few days, let him settle,” Yates said. “I think it’s important before we stop to know how he came out of the race. In order to do that, we need to bring him back to the track to see how he’s moving and see if he’s comfortable, which I assume he will be. He’s looking great this morning. We’ll have to work the details out as far as freshening.”
Rated by Merit, who is the 11th colt or gelding to sweep the FSS Series since its inception in 1982, has won his four races by a combined 25 ¾ lengths. He debuted July 13 with a 9 ¾-length victory before capturing the Sept. 7 Dr. Fager, the six-furlong first leg of the FSS series, by 6 ¼ lengths. He won the Affirmed by 3 ¾ lengths to earn a chance to sweep the series in the In Reality.
“It’s quite a feeling to have a horse and the opportunity to do it and then to get it done,” Yates said. “It’s pretty rewarding.”
Rios, who has ridden Rated by Merit in all four of his races, enjoyed a career day Saturday at Gulfstream, guiding Just For Fun Stable Inc.’s My Denysse ($72.80) for an upset victory in the $300,000 My Dear Girl, the 1 1/16-mile FSS final for fillies, before completing the FSS sweep with Rated by Merit.
