Awesome Strong seeks second Florida Sire Stakes victory

Awesome Strong will attempt to run his record to 3 for 3 on Saturday, when he goes after his second straight Florida Sire Stakes race in the $200,000 Affirmed at Gulfstream Park. The seven-furlong race for 2-year-olds shares a card with the $200,000 Susan’s Girl for 2-year-old fillies, also a Florida Sire Stakes.

Awesome Strong leads a field of 11 in the Affirmed. He was a six-length debut winner over open company in a May 6 maiden special weight at Gulfstream. One start later, Awesome Strong captured the $100,000 Dr. Fager on Aug. 6 at Gulfstream, first leg of the Florida Sire Stakes series.

“We’ve always been confident in the horse,” trainer Jorge Delgado said. “He’s shown talent since he came to the barn.

“He’s big, very smart. He carries himself very well. He’s athletic.”

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Awesome Strong won the Dr. Fager by 4 3/4 lengths and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 79, the best number in the Affirmed field.

“We were really happy with his performance,” Delgado said. “He had to come from off a layoff and you don’t really know how things will go. He was fresh, popped out of the gate, and took over.”

Awesome Strong led throughout the Dr. Fager and came from just off the pace in his maiden win. He will be racing beyond six furlongs for the first time Saturday.

“I believe he’s pretty versatile,” Delgado said. “And since Day 1, we’ve seen him as a horse who would go a distance. We actually were worried about sprinting him. I do believe the longer the better.”

Miguel Vasquez has the mount from post 5.

Awesome Strong was purchased privately after his debut by CSLR Ranch Partners. He is a son of Awesome Slew, who was a Grade 3 winner at one and two turns, and is a half-brother to $800,000 earner Bad Debt.

“Hopefully, he can perform the way he’s training,” Delgado said.

Turbo and Cajun Hope, who finished a respective second and third in the Dr. Fager, return for the Affirmed.

Turbo won his debut in June at Gulfstream. He is a half-brother to Bernie the Maestro, a multiple stakes winner of nearly $700,000.

Cajun Hope won his maiden going six furlongs in July at Gulfstream. Trainer Michael Yates likes the added ground for Cajun Hope, who will break from post 4 under Marcos Meneses.

“I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it,” he said. “I think he’ll run well. He’s training well. He’s been a very consistent horse.”

Cajun Hope is a half-brother to a 27-time winner named Hopespringseternal.

Cajun Hope is by Cajun Breeze, who also sired the fillies Yates will saddle in the Susan’s Girl – Cajun Tease and My Cajun Lady.

Yates trained $250,000 earner Cajun Breeze and owns 50 percent of the stallion. The other half belongs to Stonehedge, the breeder and owner of Cajun Tease and My Cajun Lady.

“Cajun Breeze stamps all of his babies,” Yates said. “They all have a really nice shoulder on them. That’s one of the biggest things. And then they’re just overall very athletic horses.”

The Yates runners are part of a field of eight in the Susan’s Girl, with the probable favorite the undefeated Lynx. She won the Desert Vixen division of the Florida Sire Stakes on Aug. 6.

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Cajun Tease won her only start, a five-furlong open maiden special weight on July 1 at Gulfstream.

“It was a really good race,” Yates said. “She had worked very well prior to her first race. She was tested by a pretty good horse and dug in and got the job done.”

Yates said a virus forced Cajun Tease to miss the Desert Vixen.

“We missed some training and it put us a little behind the eight ball,” he said. “She’s doing well, has had some nice works. I think she’ll run well.”

Jose Morelos has the mount from post 3 on Cajun Tease, who is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Noted and Quoted.

My Cajun Lady breaks from the rail under Vasquez. She won a maiden special weight in wire-to-wire fashion Aug. 12 at Gulfstream.

“There wasn’t a terrible amount of speed in the race,” Yates said. “I was a little surprised she made the lead as early as she did. She’s doing really well. We’re excited to see what she can do.”

The maiden win came over the seven-furlong distance of the Susan’s Girl.

“It definitely gives us a little confidence,” Yates said.