Firenze Fire, Happy Farm give Servis one-two punch in Gravesend

Stablemates Firenze Fire and Happy Farm were cross-entered in stakes in late November. They divided and conquered, with Firenze Fire winning the Fabulous Strike Stakes on Nov. 27 at Penn National and Happy Farm eventually winning the postponed Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap on Dec. 8 at Aqueduct. They meet this time in Sunday’s $100,000 Gravesend Stakes at Aqueduct, each looking to conclude a solid season – and a strong season for their trainer, Jason Servis.

In 2017, the year that Firenze Fire began racing as a juvenile, Servis trainees won 13 stakes, four of those graded. Firenze Fire accounted for half of those, winning the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes and Grade 3 Sanford Stakes. This year, that number spiked to 32 stakes races, with Firenze Fire and Happy Farm both adding to the tally. Championship candidate Maximum Security has accounted for four of the barn’s 11 graded stakes victories, including a trio of Grade 1 scores. World of Trouble also was a multiple Grade 1 winner for Servis this year, with Call Paul, Happy Farm, Monongahela, and Sunny Ridge also winning graded stakes.

Millionaire Firenze Fire, who won a pair of Grade 3 events last year to go along with his two graded victories as a juvenile, owns a pair of stakes victories in 2019, in the Runhappy Stakes in May at Belmont and the Fabulous Strike last out. The Mr Amore Stable’s homebred also boasted a number of outstanding performances against Grade 1 company in the summer and fall. He finished second in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga as Mitole established a track record; was beaten a nose by another divisional standout, Imperial Hint, in the Grade 1 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont; and was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, won by Mitole.

Firenze Fire, who will have Jose Lezcano in the irons Sunday, has posted five triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures this season and is the only entrant in the Gravesend field of six to meet that threshold in 2019.

“He’s doing really well at the moment,” Servis assistant Henri Argueta said. “We know it’s a little close coming back from the Fabulous Strike, but he came out of his last race well and has shown good energy. He certainly deserves the chance to pick up another stakes race following his campaign, and that’s what we’ll hope for.”

Happy Farm was claimed for $30,000 by Servis and M and A Racing out of his first start of the year, in March at Aqueduct. The 5-year-old gelding comes into the Gravesend off four consecutive victories, most recently taking the Fall Highweight, his graded stakes debut, by three-quarters of a length over Wonderful Light. Graded stakes winner Recruiting Ready checked in third as Happy Farm earned a career-best Beyer of 94.

Happy Farm will have Reylu Gutierrez aboard Sunday.

Wonderful Light, trained by Michelle Nevin, returned from an 11-month layoff to finish second in the Rumson Stakes in July at Monmouth before winning a pair of optional-claiming races at Laurel Park and Saratoga. He was third in the Challedon Stakes at Laurel before finishing second in the Fall Highweight, his graded stakes debut.

“He ran a game race last time out,” Nevin said. “Since then, he’s continued to do well, so hopefully, he can run another good race here.”

Happy Farm and Wonderful Light are among four horses emerging from the Fall Highweight, as Seethisquick was fourth and No Distortion was sixth. Rounding out the field is T Loves a Fight, coming off a pair of restricted stakes placings against New York-breds.