Roadster, off to red-hot start, has Slew Lady in the starting blocks
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“It seems like every one that hits the entry box has a chance,” Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell said of the farm’s freshman sire Roadster.
Slew Lady is one of the latest to hit the entry box for her sire, who has broken out nationally early on. The filly makes her debut as part of a diverse field of seven in Saturday’s fourth race at Gulfstream Park, a $70,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies sprinting on the turf.
Roadster, by Quality Road, was a debut winner and Grade 1-placed at 2, won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby the following spring, and was graded stakes-placed at age 4 and stakes-placed at age 5. He appealed to the Florida marketplace, covering a state-leading 153 mares in his first season at Ocala Stud, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred.
Still, that figure is far off others in his class entering stud in Kentucky, the center of the industry. Golden Pal, with 293 mares, and Epicenter, with 262 mares, led the nation that year, and five other first-year stallions bred more than 200 mares.
That makes what Roadster has done with his chances all the more impressive. Entering July 22, Roadster was third on the national freshman sire earnings list behind Golden Pal and Life Is Good. He was tied for the second most individual winners, with seven winners from his 18 starters. Golden Pal had nine winners from 32 starters, while Highly Motivated had seven winners from 22 starters.
Roadster’s winners are led by Hot Rod Honey, winner of her first two starts, including the Sharp Susan on July 3 at Gulfstream.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the start that he’s been given,” O’Farrell said. “He’s really given us a big chance, and pound for pound, he’s arguably done at least as good as everybody else.
“They just all seem to be good athletes, and so far they’ve been very sound horses,” O’Farrell added of Roadster’s progeny. “They’ve really relished the training regimen.”
Florida-bred Slew Lady makes her debut for trainer Ramon Minguet and Ortego Stables just about a month after she was purchased for $15,000 out of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s June sale of 2-year-olds and horses in training.
Ocala Stud has another Grade 1-winning representative in this freshman sire class, Colonel Liam, who is represented in Saturday’s maiden race by Kissed by a Rose. Colonel Liam, by the versatile Liam’s Map, was a $1.2 million OBS spring 2-year-old purchase. He didn’t make it to the races until age 3, and finished on the board in two dirt starts before transferring to turf for the remainder of his career, winning five stakes. Those were highlighted by two editions of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf, and the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs.
“He’s a really exciting prospect, too,” O’Farrell said. “He obviously had some speed early, but didn’t run til he was 3. He’s a horse that is super classy. [His foals] are super classy, too. They are all good movers.”
Colonel Liam has one winner from eight starters as of July 22, that being Liam’s Law, who won at 1 1/16 miles on the Saratoga turf. Kissed by a Rose, bred by Ocala Stud, was sold for $42,000 at OBS spring to trainer and co-owner Ronald Spatz.
The aforementioned freshman Highly Motivated has a runner in Saturday’s fourth race in Severely Overpayin. American Reign, a Louisiana-bred filly by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, is the only member of this field with experience, having finished sixth on debut at Gulfstream.
Rounding out the field are Goddess of Beauty, from the final Florida-bred crop by Bucchero, who has since moved to New York; Tomorrow’s Agenda, a New York-bred by former Kentucky stallion Known Agenda, recently sold to Uruguay; and Shepping Naches, a Kentucky-bred by Cupid.
Saturday’s card at Gulfstream also includes a $70,000 allowance/optional claiming turf sprint for 3-year-olds who have never won once other-than, have never won two races, or for a tag; and a $65,000 dirt sprint allowance for Florida-bred fillies and mares who have never won a race other-than.
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