My Boy Tate skips through slop to win Say Florida Sandy

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The Little Red Feather Racing Club has enjoyed most of its success in Southern California and has been trying for years to expand its brand into New York.

“It’s a tough jurisdiction to break into,” Billy Koch, the head of LRFRC, said Saturday from Santa Anita. “You need a big horse.”

Perhaps they found one in My Boy Tate, who ran his winning streak to four with a decisive victory in Saturday’s inaugural running of the $100,000 Say Florida Sandy Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct.

Gliding in the goo that was Aqueduct’s muddy main track, My Boy Tate got an easy lead under Dylan Davis and had plenty with which to finish, beating Gold for the King by three lengths. It was 2 1/2 lengths farther back to Celtic Chaos in third.

My Boy Tate covered seven furlongs in 1:27.14 and returned $4.20 as the favorite.

“Oh man, that was awesome,” said Koch, whose LRFRC owns My Boy Tate with Michelle Nevin, who trains the gelding by Boys At Tosconova. “I’m just so happy for the guys in New York that stuck with us, and to have a horse like this means the world. I’m so thankful to Michelle Nevin, who has been an angel, to allow us to buy into Tate.”

The race had adding meaning as Koch’s partnership had two horses die in the fire at San Luis Rey Downs last month in California.

Koch bought into My Boy Tate following the gelding’s second start, a nose loss in a two-turn maiden race here in February. After he finished third in April, My Boy Tate won a maiden race by 4 3/4 lengths at Saratoga on Aug. 13. He kicked the back of his stall at Saratoga, bruising a foot, an issue that sidelined him for the remainder of the summer.

My Boy Tate won allowance races in November and December by a combined 16 lengths, which is why he was sent off the heavy favorite Saturday.

Nevin said it wasn’t necessarily the plan for Davis to send My Boy Tate to the lead, but with no one truly aggressive out of the gate, My Boy Tate was there through a quarter in 23.74 seconds and a half-mile in 48.11. After Haul Anchor, who was stalking from the outside, dropped back, the race was over.

“Turning for home, he was so in hand, rating,” Davis said. “It got quiet because there was no one next to us. I said, ‘He must be up by at least five.’ I just want to take care of him a little bit. Turning for home then, I got into him just so he could get something out of it.”

Nevin said she had a good feeling when Davis was sitting chilly while “everybody else is starting to ask for a little bit of run.”

Nevin said My Boy Tate could try open company next, perhaps in the Grade 3, $250,000 General George at Laurel on Feb. 17.