Sum of Success has no problem with Express Tour Stakes
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Sum of Success was again untested in his third consecutive gate-to-wire victory on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, easily kicking away to win the $150,000 Express Tour Stakes by 5 1/4 lengths.
The Florida-bred has been a force in the local ranks, winning his three starts by a combined 24 1/4 lengths.
Before yet another romp, this one coming at seven furlongs, trainer Bobby Dibona reaffirmed his boundless imagination for the 2-year-old colt. Though he has backed off his ambitions of trying for the Breeders’ Cup in favor of healthy statebred stakes purses, he has not yet found a distance too far, nor has he ruled out turf in the future. To hear him tell it, he has not even let the colt truly run yet.
Far from a surprise to bettors, Sum of Success went off as the 1-5 favorite in the field of five Florida-bred juveniles and paid $2.40 to win. Jockey Jonathan Ocasio took an uncontested lead and never looked back, blowing through an opening quarter-mile in 22.32 seconds and half-mile in 44.82.
Holy Warrior, the 10-1 third choice trained by Rohan Crichton, gave chase from second and stuck with the heavy favorite into the far turn, but he had no real hope from there. Sum of Success opened up by eight lengths at the top of the stretch and cruised to the wire. He completed the seven-furlong sprint in 1:24.61.
Godfidence, a 23-1 longshot trained by Mary Lightner, picked up the pieces for second, clearing Holy Warrior by 3 1/2 lengths.
Dibona said he was asked to enter Sum of Success in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga this weekend, and though he might have turned heads in that race, it is hard to knock the trainer’s decision to stay home. He will likely do so again next month, having named the $250,000 Three Rules as a target race at Gulfstream on Oct. 3. The mile race would be Sum of Success’s first route attempt.
Three Ring Stakes
Two juvenile fillies scratched from the $150,000 Three Ring Stakes on Saturday, paving the way for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. to secure a clear one-two finish with R Island Jewel and R One Way. Both 2-year-olds entered their Florida-bred stakes debuts as maidens but took advantage of a shortened field.
Averill Racing owns R Island Jewel and co-owns R One Way with Joseph and ATM Racing, making it an owner exacta as well.
In a dominant showing against three statebred rivals, R Island Jewel scrapped for the early lead under Rasheed Hughes and eventually pulled clear by 6 1/4 lengths at the wire, completing the seven-furlong sprint in 1:26. After finishing second by a neck in her debut last month, she went off at 2-5 and paid $2.80 to win.
While her stablemate dueled with the Nicholas Tomlinson-trained outsider Boots through an opening quarter-mile in 22.74 seconds and half-mile in 46.04, R One Way chased from fourth under Miguel Vazquez as the longest shot in the field. She picked up the pieces late to finish 11 lengths clear for second.
Vazquez was scheduled to ride the 8-5 morning-line favorite Liberty Rings in the original field of six, but when the last-out stakes winner scratched, the jockey filled in for Nik Juarez aboard Joseph’s 12-1 shot and picked up a minor prize.
Mon Conquette, the 2-1 second choice trained by Victor Barboza Jr., never seriously contended and picked off Boots near the wire to take third by three-quarters of a length.
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