Lieblongs try for third 2-year-old maiden winner of meet

Owners Alex and JoAnn Lieblong celebrated their second 2-year-old maiden winner of the Gulfstream Park West meet Thursday, and will go for a hat trick of sorts in Sunday’s eighth race with first-time starter Sassy Beast.

Big Thorn was a five-length maiden special weight winner Thursday, closing from 12 lengths back to defeat fellow Florida-breds for trainer David Fawkes and jockey Paco Lopez. He is a son of The Big Beast, a Grade 1-winning sprinter raced by the Lieblongs.

“JoAnn made the comment he looks more like his sire than any of them we’ve had,” said Alex Lieblong. “I really like him.”

:: Want to get your Past Performances for free? Click to learn more.

The Lieblongs bred Big Thorn, who is out of the Super Saver mare Save a Rose.

“His mother comes from a good family,” Alex Lieblong said. “His mother is a half to Stanford and Hedge Fund. She was a nice filly. She had a minor injury early and we stopped on her. This was her first foal, and she’s got a Frosted yearling on the ground.”

Stanford earned $1.3 million, and among his wins was the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic. Hedge Fund won the Essex at Oaklawn.

Lieblong said no decisions have been made on the next move with Big Thorn. There are Florida-bred stakes on the calendar in November.

“I did talk to Paco and he was impressed with him,” Lieblong said. “Because of his mother, I think he’ll go a little further than six furlongs. We’ll see how he trains the next few weeks. I might be better off waiting a little on him.”

The first 2-year-old maiden winner at the meet for the Lieblongs was Include the Beast, who graduated in her debut Oct. 17. The couple bred the daughter of The Big Beast and race her in partnership with Fawkes. The scenario is the same with Sassy Beast, another homebred by The Big Beast that the Lieblongs own with Fawkes.

The Lieblongs maintain majority ownership in The Big Beast, standing him in partnership with Ocala Stud in Florida. Lieblong said the couple keeps most of their mares at Ocala Stud. The Gulfstream Park West winners for the Lieblongs are from the second crop of The Big Beast.

“We have as big a time watching other people’s Big Beasts as ours,” said Alex Lieblong.

The recent wins at Gulfstream Park West – the former Calder Race Course – have been particularly meaningful for the Lieblongs. It’s the final meet at the Miami track, which opened in the 1970s.

Lieblong said he fondly remembers winning the Grade 3 Tropical Park Derby at Calder in 2005 with Lord Robyn. Another notable Calder winner for the couple was a horse they raced in partnership, $1.9 million earner Duke of Mischief.

The Lieblongs will see stakes action next week at Keeneland with multiple stakes winner Bye Bye J in the $150,000 McConnell Springs on Friday and Grade 1 winner Wicked Whisper targeting the $125,000 Fort Springs on Saturday.

◗ Sand Drift steps up in class for the featured seventh race Sunday at Gulfstream Park West, but comes armed with the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure. She goes into the optional $20,000 claimer with starter-allowance conditions off a seven-length win over $12,500 claiming rivals on turf Sept. 3 at Gulfstream. She earned a Beyer of 82. Sand Drift ran 1 1/16 miles in that race and shortens up to a mile on turf Sunday.