Florida notes: White Wabbit Wacing, Maragh making waves

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While perennial leaders Ken and Sarah Ramsey and Frank Calabrese figure to battle it out for the top spot in the owners race this winter at Gulfstream Park, there could be a new force to reckon with in the division, the ever-expanding White Wabbit Wacing LLC.

White Wabbit is the nom de course for Gregory Schwartz, a lawyer from nearby Hollywood, Fla. White Wabbit came into being just last April but has already grown to 29 horses, a dozen of which are stabled at Gulfstream with trainer Aubrey Maragh. The others are in New York and spread among trainers Jason Servis, John Toscano Jr. and Jeremiah Englehart.

White Wabbit is primarily a claiming operation. Maragh said he, Schwartz, and stable agent Joe Girardi have equal say in picking out the horses to be claimed locally. White Wabbit’s best claim has been Sing Dixie Sing, a New York-bred filly haltered for $35,000 in May at Belmont Park. Sing Dixie Sing won her next two starts, including Finger Lakes’s Arctic Queen Handicap, but had to be stopped on and sold as a broodmare prospect after suffering a tendon injury in her last start.

Maragh has been red-hot since taking over White Wabbit’s South Florida string earlier this summer. Of the first 19 starters he’s sent out for White Wabbit, eight have won with 16 of the 19 having finished in the money.

“I started out in horse racing in my native Jamaica and have been in South Florida and had my license for the last eight years,” said Maragh. “This is my first opportunity to train horses for an owner outside of my family, and thus far everything has been great.”

Maragh’s nephew Rajiv is one of the leading jockeys in New York, and he has also helped launch the careers of several locally based riders, including his brother Allen Maragh, cousin Andre Worrie, and nephews Tony Maragh and Andre Ramgeet. Worrie’s first two career wins came last Sunday about an hour and a half apart, one at Calder and the second at Gulfstream. Both horses were trained by his uncle Aubrey. Ramgeet accepted his first mount on Friday at Calder.

“Right now the goal for White Wabbit is to get better horses and become more aggressive, expand our operation to about 40 horses, as well as support Gulfstream racing as best we can,” said Maragh.

Robsham homebreds clash Sunday

The E. Paul Robsham Stable, which will disperse all its breeding stock at Keeneland this November, will be represented by a pair of homebreds, Sweet N Discreet and I Am Discreet, in Sunday’s $33,500 feature at Gulfstream, a first-level optional claiming race. Both fillies are trained by Todd Pletcher.

The Robsham duo will likely vie for favoritism in the main event with Heart Stealer, who joined trainer Marty Wolfson’s barn at Gulfstream earlier this summer, and recent maiden breaker Without Guilt.

Heart Stealer finished off the board in a pair of higher-priced optional-claiming races for trainer Dale Romans here last winter. Without Guilt put blinkers back on and cruised to an easy maiden win over the Calder turf course in her last start on Aug. 18.

Claiming Crown trainer nominations

A record 283 trainers, each of whom paid a $100 fee, have been made eligible to nominate horses for the eight race, $1 million Claiming Crown, to be hosted by Gulfstream for the second consecutive year on Dec. 7.

The list of nominated trainers is topped by Mike Maker, who won four of the seven Claiming Crown races at Gulfstream last fall. All four of those winners were owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Maker is the Claiming Crown’s all-time leading trainer with 11 victories.

Horse nominations for the eight Claiming Crown stakes close on Nov. 15.

Stall application deadline

The deadline for getting stall applications in for the 2013-2014 Gulfstream Park winter meet is Oct. 12. The winter champions meet, as it’s being called, begins on Nov. 30 with the highlight again the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby on March 29.