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10 FLORIDA-BREDS TO COMPETE FOR THE BIG DRAMA STAKES

Saturday, May 20th in addition to the simulcast of the 142nd Preakness Stakes, the Florida HBPA and Gulfstream Park are proud to kick off the first race in a series that includes 6 Florida-bred races, and 4 enhanced purse races for Florida-breds.
This new series allows the Gulfstream brand to add another set of competitive races to their impressive collection of world-class racing.
It all starts in Race 10 with the 7-furlong, $100,000, Big Drama Stakes, for three-year-olds and upward on the dirt. The participation for this event from local horsemen has been strong, as a full field of 10 runners will vie for bragging rights in the race that begins this series.

This is just a fantastic start to the Florida-bred program which we helped to initiate. We’re hoping it goes over big so we can continue and possibly expand it in the future,” said FHBPA President Bill White.

Post positions were drawn at Gulfstream Park on Wednesday, May 17th and the field shakes out like this:

  1. Wildcat Wish trained by Efren Loza Jr with Jesus Rios up
  2. Souper Lucky trained by Michael Trombetta with Forest Boyce up
  3. Mo Cash trained by Ronald Spatz with Emisael Jaramillo up
  4. Abounding Legacy trained by Ralph Nicks with Luca Panici up
  5. Hy Riverside trained by Antonio Sano with Miguel Vasquez up
  6. Richard the Great trained by Stanley Gold with C.J. McMahon up
  7. Aces for John trained by Aubrey Maragh with Richard Mitchell up
  8. Quijote trained by Armando De la Cerda with Tyler Gaffalione up
  9. Very Very Stella trained by Jose Noda-Fernandez with Jilver Chamafi up
  10. French Quarter trained by David Fawkes with Elvis Trujillo up

Trainers Ron Spatz and David Fawkes comment on their entries

Mo Cash, owned by Marco Thoroughbred Corporation and trained by Ron Spatz, won his first start by an impressive 9 lengths at Gulfstream Park, beating Maiden Claimers at 5 ½ furlongs on the dirt. Since then he has added 2 more wins to make it three straight. His most recent race was a hard-fought win on April 2nd at Tampa Bay in the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Sophomore Stakes.

When asked about his horse’s chance, Spatz said, “Though it’s a little early in the year to tackle older horses, he is 3-for3, so we’ll have to make the step up to the three and older club. We’ll see what he can do in that class.”

Claimed on March 10th off a 3-length score, French Quarter, owned by Domino Enterprises, Inc and trained by David Fawkes, has 5 starts and 2 wins so far in 2017.
Since the claim, he led and finished 3rd in the Sir Shackleton Stakes and ran 2nd on the off-track in his most recent, a 6-furlong allowance optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park.

I think we have a really good shot in here. He’s been training well. He’s doing good. I like the way he’s coming into the race,” said Fawkes. When asked about his last race on the off-track he replied, “I don’t really think that bothered him at all. He was used a little bit early in the race and got tired down the lane. I would have preferred if he had been placed back just a little bit.”

On a very interesting note, David Fawkes was the trainer of Big Drama, the horse that this race is named after.

Watch Big Drama Win the 2010 Breeder’s Cup Sprint