Fourth and Central (#2) gets to the wire first. (Lauren King)
Stablemates Among Six Last-Out Winners in 6F Sprint for 2Yos
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Stablemates Fourth and Central and Wine Candy, each coming off maiden victories nearly a month apart, will take the next step in their development when they line up together for Saturday’s $75,000 Proud Man at Gulfstream Park.
The Proud Man for 2-year-olds and $75,000 Sharp Susan for 2-year-old fillies, each sprinting six furlongs on the main track, are the co-headliners on an 11-race program that kicks off at 12:50 p.m.
Bred and owned by trainer Michael Yates’ Shadybrook Farms Inc., Fourth and Central has not raced since a determined 4 ½-furlong debut victory May 31 at Gulfstream, taking a 1 ½-length lead into the stretch and holding off next-out winner Camigol by a neck in 55.17 seconds.
The chestnut gelding is by Cajun Breeze, whose progeny include Grade 3 winner Dean Delivers and stakes winners Breeze On By, Zydeceaux, Cajun’s Magic, Cajun Firecracker, Grade 2-placed Sunny Breeze and Grade 3-placed Cajun Brother.
“His first race was I think a little better than the time may suggest,” Yates said. “I thought it was a good race. He’s been training forwardly since the race. I’m really happy with how he’s doing.
“He certainly appears to be a little above average, for sure,” he added. “He was a little green in his first race, but he’s always shown that he’s got some natural talent. He just keeps kind of moving forward all the time with his training. Hopefully he continues to pass each test.”
Pinnacle Racing Stable’s Wine Candy, by champion Vino Rosso and also bred in Florida, dueled early before tiring to be last of four in his May 2 unveiling. He stretched out to five-eighths for his return June 29 and responded with a 4 ¼-length romp over Fear, a popular next-out winner Aug. 2.
“He’s kind of in the same boat,” Yates said. “His second race obviously was much improved. His first race was kind of a throwout. I think a lot of it was due to greenness and he didn’t run well. But he trained well after that, and he duplicated it in the afternoon. I look for him to move forward, as well.”
Both horses have displayed similar running styles in their races and Marcos Meneses, who rode each in their last start, will be up on Fourth and Central from Post 5 in a field of nine that includes six last-out winners. Leonel Reyes is named on Wine Candy from outermost Post 9.
“I think they both probably look like they should stalk,” Yates said. “I’m not crazy about that, but I think the biggest reason why I decided to run them both in there was because it’s more about their development at this point. Although I would prefer to have separate spots to run them in, the importance of their development kind of supersedes that at this moment. So, we need to lead them both over there and run them and see where the chips fall.”
Trainer Patrick Biancone also entered a pair in Squire and Diciassette. Co-owned by Biancone and Amy Dunne, Squire graduated by a headfirst time out going 4 ½ furlongs April 18 then moved to the turf for the five-furlong Royal Palm Juvenile May 10 where he ran second by 1 ½ lengths to Sandal’s Song. Sandal’s Song went on to be third in the Norfolk Stakes (G3) at Royal Ascot.
Squire is a son of Leinster, whose three graded-stakes victories include the 2021 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint (G3) in what turned out to be his career finale.
“He’s doing good,” Biancone said. “We gave him a break after the race in May. We sent him back to the farm, we gelded him, and we just gave him time because he had nothing to run in. We’re targeting the series for the Florida-breds, but we may run him. We’re not sure yet because he’s not 100 percent fit, but we may run him to give him a prep race for the sixth of September.”
The $1.2 million Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds sired by nominated Florida stallions begins Sept. 6 with the $100,000 Dr. Fager and $100,000 Desert Vixen, the latter for fillies.
Green with MV Stable’s Diciassette, a son of champion sprinter Mitole whose name means ‘seventeen’ in Italian, wheels back 21 days following his come-from-behind half-length victory over fellow Florida-breds sprinting five furlongs July 20 at Gulfstream.
“We were expecting him to win first time out and he did. Now we’ll see the second time if he can climb the next step. He’s training very well and we’re very happy with him. We’ll see if he has enough talent to do that,” Biancone said. “The [last] race came up and so we pointed for it, hoping he would do good and come back here for this race. We have to see if he’s capable to go one step higher. It’s the logical step.”
Diciassette drew Post 2 with Jonathan Ocasio, who won his first career stakes race in the Aug. 2 Bear’s Den at Gulfstream, while Luca Panici is named on Square from Post 3.
Also entered are Copernium, a $375,000 son of Charlatan that beat Wine Candy May 2 in his lone start; fellow last-out winners I’m Tuff Enough and Trelawny; Khon Han, beaten a nose at 34-1 in a June 13 maiden special weight at Gulfstream; and Street Player, off the board in the Prairie Gold Juvenile July 5 at Prairie Meadows.
