Point of Honor ready to step up

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Point of Honor will make her next start in either of a pair of Grade 1 races after getting a tightener under her belt last Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.

Trainer George Weaver said Point of Honor will go next in the April 18 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park or wait for the May 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs.

Point of Honor, a 4-year-old Curlin filly, was a standout last year at 3, winning the Suncoast and Black-Eyed Susan before ending her season with runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks and Grade 1 Alabama. She finished second behind the speedy J P’s Delight in a seven-furlong overnight race last Saturday. She earned an 87 Beyer Speed Figure for her first start in more than six months.

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Memorial held for Clearys

A memorial service was held Monday evening at His Place Ministries in nearby Pembroke Pines for Brian and Robin Cleary, who died within two months of each other after being married for more than 40 years.

Brian Cleary died Dec. 14 at age 70 after 30 years as a trainer based mostly at Gulfstream Park West. He saddled his last winner, Dublin Tinker, in February 2019 at Gulfstream.

Robin Cleary died Feb. 14 at age 64 after being confined to a wheelchair since July 1996, when she was paralyzed in a morning training spill at Calder, now called Gulfstream Park West. She dedicated her life after the accident to the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, an organization for which she raised more than $1 million.

“They were the most wonderful, giving couple,” said trainer Kathleen O’Connell, who said the Clearys immediately befriended her when she first moved from Michigan to South Florida in 1984.

Memorial contributions in their honor can be made to the Miami Project at themiamiproject.org.