Ivan Yamil Handicap

The feature race in Florida this weekend will be the Ivan Yamil Handicap (G2), a race named after the famed sim trainer. Held at six furlongs over the main dirt track, the Grade II race is open to three-year-olds and up. This year’s running of the race appears that it will be greeted with clear skies on race day, leaving us with a fast track for post time. The race is set to go off on Saturday with a post time of 3:15 PM EST.  This year’s running of the race has brought in a total of nine horses, let’s take a look through the field.  

1. Shades Of Slew – craterus – B. F. Abman – 10/1 

Making his graded stakes debut this Saturday, the Florida-bred light grey horse is by Shades Of Night. The five-year-old is lightly raced with just seventeen career starts. He made his most recent start last month in a Local Championship Stakes over six furlongs in Florida. Well back off the pace at the start in eleventh, the horse steadily gained ground on the field and would cross the wire in second while setting a speed figure of one hundred two. His most recent win came last July during an allowance race over the turf at five and a half furlongs in Indiana. More forwardly placed in this race, the colt set off out of the gate in third and wasn’t asked to challenge other contenders until the stretch. He would win the contest by three-quarters of a length. 

2. Jackie’s Reward – looney1 – J. Caves – 10/1 

Making the third graded stakes start of his career, the four-year-old colt is by Jackie’s Warrior and most recently started in November during the Welcome To The Circus Stakes (G3) at six furlongs in California. Positioned in ninth at the start, the bay colt made up ground quickly on the rest of the field, picking off other contenders throughout the sprint. He would cross the wire in third, off the pace by only a half length, and set a speed figure of one hundred six. His most recent win came in May during an allowance race in Pennsylvania over six furlongs. The colt was more forwardly placed in this race, third out of the gate, and went on to win the race by one and three-quarter lengths. 

3. Dragon Snake – amir1744 – E. Sharp – 3/1 

Returning to graded company after taking a brief step down in class, this six-year-old horse is sired by Honor A. P. and is the most experienced starter in the field with a total of twenty-eight career starts. His most recent start came last month in Louisiana during a listed stakes race over six furlongs. Facing a large field in this race, the horse was forwardly placed running just off the pace of the front runners in fourth. He would maintain is position through most of the race, dropping back only once, but ultimately crossing the wire in fourth while setting a speed figure of one hundred six.  His most recent start against graded company was this past July during The Binger Handicap (G1) at six furlongs in California in which he placed fifth. February was his most recent win, which came in an allowance race over the same distance in Ontario. He took the field from gate to wire in this race, winning by a length and three quarters. 

4. Dont Engage – coagulate5 – C. Weist – 14/1 

Back to graded company as well, this four-year-old chestnut colt by Daredevil is out of the Grade III winning broodmare Ms Impossible. His most recent start came last month overseas in the UAE during an allowance race over seven furlongs.  Held just off the pace in third out of the gate, the chestnut colt was asked to make his move in the final furlongs of the race and found his way to the lead by the time the field entered the stretch. He would go on to win the race by three lengths while setting a speed figure of one hundred three. The colt has made one previous graded start. This came in October during the Mister Bill Sprint (G1) at five and a half furlongs in Japan. Well off the pace in eighth at the break, the colt would fade midway through the race to cross the wire in tenth. 

5. Hard Tap Cowboy – bronxbombers10 – O. Parker – 5/2 

Bred in Florida, the light grey gelding is the oldest horse in the race at seven years old. Still placing against graded company, the son of Hard Tap most recently started in November of last year during the Camelot Road (G3) at six furlongs in Canada. The gelding was held off the pace in seventh at the start of the race and was not asked to challenge until the field entered the stretch. He would go on to finish third at the wire, setting a speed figure of one hundred six. His most recent win was in his home start of Florida in January of last year during The Minister’s Deputy (G3) at six and a half furlongs. The gelding broke in ninth and started to make his move a little earlier in this race, winning by a length and a half. 

6. Texkindofjustice – beefcake6 – L. Lamb – 5/1 

Returning to graded company with this start on Saturday, the five-year-old gelding is by Mohaymen. The bay gelding most recently started last month during a five-and-a-half-furlong race in Ontario held over a sloppy track. He would set out of the gate towards the rear of the field, gain some ground briefly towards the midway point in the race, and then fade back again to cross the wire in eighth, setting a speed figure of ninety-seven. The most recent win for the gelding was in June of last year during a starter allowance race in Oklahoma at four and a half furlongs. Back in ninth at the start, the gelding steadily gained ground on the other runners throughout the race to win by half a length.  September marked the most recent graded start for the gelding, which took place in The Iceberg (G1) at six furlongs over a sloppy track. As is his style, the gelding came from the back to cross the wire in fourth, setting a speed figure of one hundred six. 

7. Magnanime – haack07 – O. A. Haack – 4/1 

Returning to graded company after taking a brief step down in class, the five-year-old horse is by More Than Ready and will be making his twenty-first career start this weekend. His most recent start was last month during a listed stakes race in Canada at five and a half furlongs over a sloppy track. The horse was well off the pace at the start of the race in ninth and started to move up on the field at the midway point of the race. The brown horse would get up to cross the wire in second, setting a speed figure of one hundred three. The horse saw his most recent win in September during The Iceberg (G1) at six furlongs in New York. This race was also run over the slop. Once again, the horse was placed well of the pace at the start, though he began to make his move earlier in this race. He would win the race by a quarter of a length before going on to finish sixth in last year’s Breeder’s Bowl Sprint (G1). 

8. Dare My Mischief – corza7 – D. Medusa – 35/1 

Set as the race longshot and taking a big jump in class with this race, the four-year-old son of Daredevil has made twelve career starts and just won his maiden within the past three months. The most recent start for the chestnut colt came last month during a listed stakes race in Minnesota over six furlongs. Off the pace at the start in seventh, the colt maintained this position right up until the stretch where he was overtaken by a late closing field and pushed back to finish twelfth while setting a speed figure of ninety-eight. His only win has come in his prior start, a maiden special weight race held over six and a half furlongs in Ohio. Off the pace in sixth out of the gate here, he started picking off other horses early in the race and went on to win the contest by one and a half lengths.  

9. Speightsburgh – mmstable6 – V. Gardner – 8/1 

Making just the second graded stakes start of his career, the four-year-old colt is a listed stakes winner and is lightly raced with twelve lifetime starts. His most recent start came last month in a listed stakes race in Indiana over five and a half furlongs. The son of Speightstown broke sharply and was held just off the pace of the front runner in second. However, midway through the race the colt would fade back to cross the wire in fifth, setting a speed figure of one hundred one. His most recent win was here in Florida in August of last year during a listed stakes race over five and a half furlongs. A little farther off the pace at the start in third, the colt took command of the pace at the halfway point of the race and went on to win by one and a quarter lengths. His only graded stakes start to date was in March of last year during The No Work Today Stakes (G2) at six furlongs in which he finished seventh after being forwardly placed out of the gate.  

Flrancho’s Picks: 

Win: Hard Tap Cowboy 

Place: Magnanme 

Show: Jackie’s Reward