Simplification, Lightening Larry impress with fast stakes wins

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – If Saturday’s New Year’s Day program here was a hockey game, nobody could argue that the top three stars at the end of the day were Simplification, Lightening Larry, and Kathleeen O. The only discussion, perhaps, would be what order to put them in.

From a Beyer Speed Figure standpoint, Simplification would get the nod as the No. 1 star, just barely, over Lightening Larry. Simplification, ridden by Javier Castellano, squeaked out a 90-89 decision over Lightening Larry in that department with his visually impressive four-length triumph over the odds-on Strike Hard in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man Stakes, one of five stakes on the day, all for 3-year-olds. The final figure was two points lower than Simplification received when he gained national attention for his 16 3/4-length maiden win here in late October, but a whopping 31-point improvement off his third-place finish under allowance conditions when wheeling back just three weeks after his maiden win.

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“He broke through the gate and banged his head before the start the race before this,” trainer Antonio Sano said. “And that race was at six furlongs. He’s not a sprinter. The more distance the better for him. I told my owners after that race that I’ll train him for the one-mile Mucho Macho Man, they were good with that, and he ran a big race. He’s a very good horse. Castellano told me the next morning he won very easy, he never used the whip, and he galloped out super, so I think he will only be better around two turns.”

Sano said the next logical step for Simplification, a son of Not This Time owned by Tami Bobo, would be the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Holy Bull on Feb. 5.

The 89 Beyer that Lightening Larry received after turning back the heavily favored and previously unbeaten Of a Revolution to capture the six-furlong Limehouse was far and away his best yet. The win was the third in seven starts for Lightening Larry, who has only finished worse than second once, when far back in the seven-furlong Affirmed division of the Florida Sire Stakes here during the summer. Romero Maragh rode him in the Limehouse.

“The one bad race he ran, that really wasn’t his fault,” trainer Jeff Engler said. “He had gotten a little stall injury that required stitches in his hind quarter and he missed about three weeks of training and we knew he wasn’t 100 percent fit for that race, but the owner wanted to run. Since then, we’ve kept finding little things that help him a bit and he’s gotten better every time. He’s such a classy horse and so easy to take care of. Frankly, I was a little surprised he was in front on Saturday, but he broke like a rocket and Romero found himself on the lead while sitting on him like a bump on a log. Admittedly, we were looking for the wire at the end, but he held pretty firm, and to go those splits – 21 and change, and 44 and change – and still run 1:09, well he deserved a big Beyer number for that.”

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Engler, who has approximately 20 horses stabled at Palm Meadows and another five at Tampa Bay Downs, says he’s in no rush to run Lightening Larry back off that effort on Saturday and might wait for the six-furlong Hutcheson Stakes here on March 19.

“The Swale comes up next here, but it’s at seven furlongs, which might not be the best distance for Larry,” he said. “I’d really like to keep him at three-quarters where he can use his speed and do his thing.”

As for Kathleen O., she earned a Beyer of 78 for her 8 1/2-length win in the Cash Run, a one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies. Trained by Shug McGaughey, Kathleen O. is now unbeaten in two starts.