J P’s Delight, Jackson win Florida Sire Stakes
J P’s Delight and Jackson, both using clean trips from outside posts, dominated their respective divisions in a pair of $125,000 state-bred stakes that highlighted the Saturday action at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.
J P’s Delight pulled clear with authority in the City of Ocala an hour before Jackson proved an easy winner in the Marion County. Both winners were forwardly placed from the outset and never had a straw in their path.
Both stakes were contested by fields of six 3-year-olds at seven furlongs over a fast track, and both were restricted to horses registered to the Florida Sire Stakes series under the auspices of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association.
City of Ocala
J P’s Delight remained undefeated in three well-spaced starts, getting first run on 2-5 favorite Wildwood’s Beauty and proceeding to a 2 3/4-length score in 1:23.65. She paid $6.40 to win.
Jairo Rendon was aboard J P’s Delight, a bay filly whose two prior victories also came by wide margins – a July maiden-claiming race at Gulfstream Park and a statebred allowance in October at Gulfstream West. The daughter of J P’s Gusto was bred by her owners, Brent and Crystal Fernung and Eugene Cahalan. Kathleen O’Connell trains.
Wildwood’s Beauty was hard ridden to get second by a length over R Prerogative, with the rest well beaten.
Marion County
Jackson rebounded from two subpar efforts in winning a stakes for the fourth time, pulling away in the upper stretch under Pablo Morales before finishing in 1:23.80. He paid $8.20.
Cajun Firecracker finished second, 3 1/2 lengths behind the winner and another two lengths before Well Defined, the 19-10 favorite who finished third.
Trained by Jose Pinchin for his wife, owner-breeder Tracy Pinchin, Jackson now has five wins from 14 starts. He captured a Florida-bred stakes last November at Gulfstream West, then two more at Tampa this past spring. The dark bay Kantharos colt had excuses in his last two starts when soundly beaten, but none was required Saturday.
