Yes This Time overcame trouble in English Channel

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Firenze Fire’s victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Runhappy at Belmont Park has been well documented, as well it should be, with the veteran winning the 12th stakes of his career while returning to action for the first time since his second-place finish in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector here nearly five months earlier.

But Firenze Fire wasn’t the only stakes winner trainer Kelly Breen sent out that afternoon. A couple of hours later, Breen found a quiet spot in the cavernous Belmont Park grandstand and watched as his red-hot 3-year-old turf prospect Yes This Time overcame a bit of an eventful trip to win the English Channel Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The victory was the fourth in a row and first stakes success for the son of Not This Time owned by Edge Racing. He equaled his career best with an 84 Beyer Speed Figure in his stakes debut.

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“He’s a feisty kind of horse with lots of energy who we had always liked,” Breen said on Monday. “We knew if we could curb that energy and channel it into his racing, that he could be a pretty nice horse.”

Breen said he had doubts while watching the early stages of the English Channel whether Yes This Time would be able to keep his win streak alive.

“He got slammed out of the gate, and wasn’t in the kind of ideal position I thought he’d be,” said Breen. “He was wide on both turns. According to the numbers, he covered more ground than anyone else in the race. I think most horses always exceed your expectations when they win a stakes, and I take my hat off to this guy and to how well he ran. He’s really a fighter.”

Breen admitted he had some concerns going into the English Channel since it was the first time Yes This Time had ever competed without Lasix.

“It’s always a major concern,” said Breen. “I had my fingers crossed because you don’t know, as a trainer, how that might affect any horse. I had the same worry about Firenze Fire, since Saturday was also the first time he ever raced without Lasix as well.”

Breen has 25 horses still stabled at Palm Meadows, and said he will slowly begin sending them all north and should be out of South Florida completely by the end of the week.

“Yes This Time came out of the race well,” he said. “He’ll ship north with the others. I just haven’t decided yet whether I’ll send him to Belmont Park or to my string at Monmouth Park.”