Buongiorno A Tutti
Stable’s 5-year-old mare Sweet Repent has won eight of her last nine starts for
trainer Dave Braddy going back to the summer of 2009, and will be a heavy
favorite to go four-for-four this year in the $150,000 Elmer Heubeck Stakes
Saturday at Calder Casino & Race Course, one of eight stakes races worth a
total of $1 million on the annual Florida Million Day showcase program
for Florida-breds.
The Elmer Heubeck will
share top billing on the card with the $150,000 Carl Rose Classic led by P and
G Stables and partners’ 3-year-old Turbo Compressor, recently shipping into
Palm Meadows for trainer Todd Pletcher; and Bonnie Heath Farm’s 6-year-old Mad
Flatter, who invades Calder for a third time from Kentucky, winning the $100,000 Spend a Buck
Handicap (G3) on both previous trips.
Jockey Fernando Jara has
been aboard Sweet Repent in all three of her victories this season, most
recently a one-length victory in the $75,000 Nancy’s Glitter Handicap on July 23, and gets
the return call in Saturday’s 1 1/16 miles test.
A daughter of Repent,
Sweet Repent’s career has been interrupted several times by recurring problems
with her feet, including a 10-month layoff from July of 2010 until returning to score an
allowance victory on May 13
here this spring.
Sweet Repent had
finished third in the 2010 Nancy’s Glitter as the 1-to-5 favorite before going
to the sidelines after winning five straight, including the 2009 edition of the
Elmer Heubeck by 3 ¼ lengths and the Sunshine Millions Distaff at Gulfstream
Park in late January last year by 3 ¾ lengths. Her record now stands at
17-10-2-2 for earnings of $574,000.
Sweet Repent faces five
rival fillies and mares, including West Point Thoroughbreds’ 4-year-old filly
Belle of the Hall, recently arrived into Palm Meadows for the winter from New York and Daniel
Centeno picking up the mount for trainer Tom Albertrani.
A daughter of Graeme
Hall, Belle of the Hall finished third last out in the Miss Golden Circle Stakes
going seven furlongs at Belmont
Park on Oct. 23
after placing in several other stakes this season at Monmouth Park and Saratoga. She scored her biggest victory
last year in the $200,000 Jostle Stakes at Philadelphia Park.
Completing the field for
the Elmer Heubeck are Gary Aiken’s Callmethesqueeze, Jose Alvarez; Tonys Investments’ My Pal
Chrisy, Luca Panici; J D Farms’ Prize Informant, Juan Leyva; and Live Oak
Plantation’s Successful Song, Luis Saez.