Yes I Am Free surges in Turf Sprint; Miss Auramet has easy time in Ladies Turf Sprint
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Yes I Am Free gave Laura Cazares the first graded stakes win of her training career, and did so in grand style, registering an emphatic 3 1/4-length victory over fellow longshot Richy in Saturday’s $100,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint.
Gear Jockey finished a non-threatening fifth as a prohibitive 1-5 favorite making his first start since the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
Cazares claimed Yes I Am Free for the Golden Kernel Racing Stable out of a winning effort here 10 months ago. The 6-year-old son of Uncaptured had won just once in six subsequent starts, that victory coming in an overnight handicap late last summer in a race switched from the grass to a sloppy main track.
Emisael Jaramillo, who guided Yes I Am Free to victory the day he was claimed by Cazares in April, was reunited with the veteran sprinter for the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint and had him in perfect position stalking the early pace of the speedy Warrior’s Pride. Yes I Am Free readily overtook the tiring leader into the stretch before steadily extending his advantage through the final furlong.
Richy, a winner of two of his last three starts over the Tapeta surface, trailed for the opening half-mile following an eventful start before finishing with good energy to best Belgrano by a head to be second-best, while never menacing the winner. Gear Jockey, a Grade 3 winner during the fall prior to his sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, raced within striking distance while hung out wide for the opening three furlongs, but lacked a closing response, ultimately finishing nearly five lengths behind the winner in his 2022 debut.
Yes I Am Free completed the distance in 56.07 over the firm course and paid $18.00.
“I liked him on paper, he always tried, he was always there and I thought I could do a little more, and he’s doing it,” an emotional Cazares said when asked what prompted her to claim Yes I Am Free last spring. “He really delivered today.”
Along with registering her first graded stakes victory, Cazares said winning the Gulfstream Park Sprint for her owners was very special to her as well.
“They have their own farm in Ohio, they’re very hard-working people, they’ve been through a lot, they deserve the best, and to do well for them, to give them a thrill of a lifetime, means a lot to me,” Cazares said.
Miss Auramet wins Lady's Turf Sprint
Miss Auramet, victimized by a very unlucky trip when finishing sixth as the 7-5 favorite six weeks earlier in the Abundantia Stakes, had clear sailing all the way on the front end and made amends with a 1 3/4-length triumph over the 25-1 Nikee Kan in the $100,000 Lady’s Turf Sprint.
With Julien Leparoux aboard for the first time, Miss Auramet broke alertly to control the pace while stalked from the outset by the 27-1 Sister Peacock. Miss Auramet rated kindly on the lead, settled into the stretch with a comfortable advantage and held sway under steady urging. Nikee Kan raced forwardly, moved into the attending position turning for home, but could not gain on the winner while clearly best of the others. Reinagol finished another length farther back in third.
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Miss J McKay, come-from-behind winner of the Abundantia in her 2020 finale, steadied back sharply shortly after the start, raced near the rear of the seven-horse field and never factored, finishing a disappointing fourth as the 3-5 favorite.
Miss Auramet covered five furlongs in 56.87 and paid $9.40.
“She ran the kind of race she was supposed to run last time,” trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. said. “They didn’t give her any respect. The last time she ran she got in a ton of trouble, there’s no doubt about it, and I guess they (bettors) overlooked that. I thought the jock rode her great and she got a clean trip. The clean trip was the difference between her winning and losing. I know what Christophe (Clement, trainer of Miss J McKay) must feel like because I felt like that last time.”