Florida Sire Series Kick Off With Junior Rule Stakes and an Oversubscribed Oblivious Nation

The opening six-furlong legs of a three-stakes series of races for juvenile Florida breds sponsored by the Florida Racing Club residency is set to run Saturday with the Junior Rule Stakes for fillies and the open Oblivious Nation Stakes.

There will be two first time stakes winners following the opening legs of the Florida Sire Series, as none of the 23 entrants has yet to win black type. However, there are still plenty of interesting horses in what shapes up to be a pair of competitive races. There’s also a residency contest that follows the series for Florida Racing Club members.

In the Oblivious Nation, Badlamb’s Passionate Notion will race in Florida-bred restricted company for the first time. The son of Neolithic won his first two races in good style before finishing seventh in the High Roller’s Juvenile (gr. 2) in late May. His allowance winning Hard Spun dam won only twice in her career but has produced two previous stakes winners, with both of those winning multiple stakes races as juveniles. His top speed figure of 79 earned last out puts him in with a solid chance Saturday.

The Greenleaf Bone will also be facing a field composed solely of Florida breds for the first time in the Oblivious Nation. Ksparrow’s son of Chance It is undefeated at six furlongs, with both those wins coming in the claiming ranks following a gelding procedure after having finished second twice at 4 1/2 furlongs. He owns the top speed figure in this field, an 82 while finishing second last time out in an n2x allowance race on a track listed as good. That allowance race was run on July 19 so it will be interesting to see how The Greenleaf Bone fares on the short rest. (He did finish second in January with a similar spacing scenario.)

The two undefeated, once raced horses in the field are both of interest, Tees’ Going Gun and Stoners’ Woke Goes Broke. They are both sired by a stallion whose name begins with the letter G, though that’s probably neither here nor there. Going Gum is a Gunnevera filly, who notched a 76 speed figure while winning a state-bred restricted n2l allowance heat first time out and on a sloppy track. She raced from just off the pace that day as the favorite in a 4-horse field. Her Awesome Again mare won a stakes race early in her 3-year-old season and produced one stakes winner, a Tonalist gelding who won at 9 1/2-furlongs as a 4-year-old.

Woke Goes Broke, meanwhile, wired a state-bred restricted allowance at 5 1/2furlongs, winning by a length while earning a speed figure of 70. His Unbridled Song’s dam has produced three stakes winners, including grade two winner Morbillous. Woke Goes Broke is by Girvin, who is actually a Kentucky stallion now, but as the game was slow at updating that info some Girvin’s of 2023 are Florida breds, including this one.

Another Stoners entrant here is Raise A Beast, a gelded son of The Big Beast. He came from off the pace last time out to notch his maiden win, taking the 5 1/2-furlong heat by 1/4-length. He’ll need to improve on his top speed figure of 71 to make his presence felt here and his off the pace style could serve him well. Jockey A. Darling has ridden Raise A Beast in both his starts but will be engaged on a third Stoners entrant, the first time starter Awesome Blazer, with M. Snider picking up the mount on Raise A Beast.

Ironmike’s Iron Swagger earned a speed figure of 78 last time out when finishing second in an n2l allowance at 6 1/2 furlongs. The son of Dak Attack has a nice forging pattern as far as speed figure development goes, while never finishing worse than second in three career races. His Ecton Park mare produced a juvenile stakes-placed filly with her first foal but has yet to produce a stakes winner.

Dbest445’s The Magic Monkey is tied for most career wins of the entrants here, with two from five starts, but is the second highest price on the morning line at 22/1. His two victories came in hot races on the turf, but the son of Battalion Runner earned his top speed figure of 72 last time out while closing well in his first career start on the main track. Perhaps the extra half furlong will help him along here, or will he regress after the turf-to-dirt move?

Bobthehat has two entrants here, the well-intentioned This Index Card (by Roadster) and the less likely Snubbing Gods, (by Uncle Chuck). Both have two wins heading into the Oblivious Nation, but This Index Card has won his last two races earning a 76 speed figure in his May maiden (claiming) win, before a 1 3/4-length win in the allowance ranks last time out. Snubbing Gods top speed figure of 63 suggests he might be competitive with some of the maidens and first time starters entered here.

There are five maidens entered here with four of those debuting Saturday, including the aforementioned Awesome Blazer. Craterus’ Gun Minstrel had a decent debut race in early July, finishing second in an n1x allowance race at six furlongs. A little development in his second start might have the son of Gunnevera threatening to hit the board.

Tgerk has two first time starters here, Flow to the Glow (by Khozan) and Dapper Aladdin (First Dude). Khozan is a nice Florida sire and Flow to the Glow is a scratchbred with Broken Vow and Afleet Alex completing the pedigree. Dapper Aladdin is out of the stakes winning Red Bullet mare Another Bullet, whose stakes win came in August of her 2-year-old season, making Dapper Aladdin the one to keep an eye on in the post parade.

Ace’s Tribute Van is the final first time starter. He’s a gelded son of Attribute out of an Uncle Vinny mare. That mare, Hands Off Vinny, won two of her first three starts but then failed to find the winner’s circle following nine additional races.

For handicapping purposes I’m narrowing the field to The Greenleaf Bone, Iron Swagger, The Magic Monkey, Going Gun, Dapper Aladdin, Passionate Notion, and This Index Card. I’ll use Dapper Aladdin (18/1) mainly in the hopes of juicing up vertical exotic tickets, with deeper uses of The Magic Monkey (22/1), Going Gun (9/2), and This Index Card (9/1), while focussing my main bankroll on The Greenleaf Bone (6/1), Iron Swagger (9/1), and my personal favorite Passion Notion (5/1).

The Junior Rule looks like a wide-open affair, with four of the nine fillies entered here off of two-race winning streaks.

Haack’s Danielita is undefeated from two starts and the 3/1 favorite on the morning line. The daughter of Khozan has a top speed figure of 75, with that coming on a sloppy track last time out. She is out of a stakes-placed Pioneerof the Nile dam and has yet to take a false step on the track.

Haack also has the second-favorite, Pantallera (4/1). she finished second to Oblivious Nation entrant Going Gun after setting the pace in her most recent race. She earned a speed figure of 73 that day on the sloppy track. The daughter of Girvin may appreciate the cutback to  six furlongs as she attempts to become the second stakes winner for her A.P. Indy dam.

Bobthehat has the next two on the morning line, 9/2 third-choice Promiyas and 5/1 co-fourth choice Bloodripe Lives. Both these fillies have won their two most recent races. Promiyas owns the top speed figure in the field, a 79 earned last time out at the Junior Rule distance. The daughter of Prominence also boasts of a 74 speed figure in her early March debut, out of which she was claimed for $6,250. Like Pantallera, Promiyas brings early speed to the party.

Bloodripe Lives is undefeated on a dry track and has steadily improved her speed figures from a 68 in her February debut to a 75 in mid-June. This daughter of Awesome Slew has led at the second call in each of her four races to add to the front end fireworks.

Tees, who might have a minor rooting interest in Bloodripe Lives as she is out of a mare he bred whose dam was his grade one winning millionaire Bloodboiling, brings us 6/1 chance Crack Attack. A winner of three of five career races and her last two, runs from just off the pace and her top speed figure of 75 stamps her as a logical contender here. Her Unbridled’s Song mare produced a two-time Canadian-bred restricted stakes winner from nine previous foals.

Craterus’ Wayevera (5/1) enters here after finishing second to Danielita last time out. A daughter of Gunnevera who won her March debut with aplomb, Wayevera will be looking to get back to the winner’s circle in the Junior Rule. Her Giant’s Causeway x Gone West mare, wasn’t much on the track but has produced a two-time grade two winner, a stakes winner, and two stakes-placed runners. Craterus also sends out the field’s longest shot, Freedom Cat. The daughter of Khozan earned a 56 speed figure in her June debut and is the first foal from a stakes placed Poseiden’s Warrior mare.

Tenpoint’s Tapszaps (6/1) has paired up his top speed figure of 67 in his two most recent starts, so she may be in line for a move forward. She’ll need such a surge to be competitive here. The daughter of Magic on Tap has an off-the-pace style which fits the predicted race shape here. Tapszaps Ghostzapper mare has produced one stakes winner previously, a Malibu Moon mare from her debut mating.

Jazzman’s Stupor’s Stash is 29/1 on the morning line as she makes her debut here. The brown daughter of Black Stash is out of a Domestic Dispute mare who has yet to produce a blacktype winner from two prior breedings.

If pace scenarios mean anything in the Sim, the race rests up well for off the pace runners like Crack Attack, Danielita, Wayevera, and Tapszaps, but the pure speed of Promiyas can’t be ignored either. So I’ll narrow it down to Danielita-Promiyas-Crack Attack, one-two-three in reverse post position order with number four Wayevera fourth.

Good luck to all in both races and am looking forward to the continuation of the Florida Racing Club’s Florida Sire Series in the coming weeks.