 Coady
Photography/story by Michael Cusortelli for SureBet
Jess A Winner Leads from Start to Finish in
Hialeah Invitational; Ima Gator Fan Scores in South Florida Derby
Hialeah, FL Feb. 19, 2012 - Jess A Runner, a 6-year-old brown Jess
Louisiana Blue gelding racing for JK Running Horses LLC, scored a
wire-to-wire victory in the $75,000 Hialeah Invitational
Championship, one of four stakes on Hialeah Park's closing-day
program on Sunday.
Prepped by Kenny Laymon, Jess A Runner covered 440 yards in :21.354
under jockey Oscar Delgado. The gelding earned a 103 speed index,
and his margin of victory was a neck from Chi Ter.
Jess A Runner was bred in Kansas by Paul Newmaster. His sire, the
14-year-old Mr Jess Perry stallion Jess Louisiana Blue, was the AQHA
champion aged stallion in 2002. Jess Louisiana Blue's top runners
include Grade 1 winner Louisiana Senator. He stands for a $4,000 fee
at Jumonville Farms in Ventress, Louisiana.
Jess A Runner's dam, Katiebug Driver, is a winning 13-year-old
daughter of the First Down Dash stallion My Designated Driver and
was a finalist in four futurities in Kansas in 2001. The mare has
produced seven winners from as many starters. Jess A Runner's half
sister, the Pretty Boy Perry mare Pretty Girl Kate, won the '07
Kansas Bred Derby (R) at Eureka Downs.
The $45,000 winner's share of the Hialeah Invitational purse
increased Jess A Runner's earnings to $275,911 from 27 starts. The
gelding's nine wins include three stakes, including the last two
runnings of the Grade 3 Two Rivers Stakes at Prairie Meadows.
Fredaville finished third, three-quarters of a length behind Jess A
Runner, and was followed by Jazz Be First, Streakin System, 5-2
favorite Tortuga Tony, Fast N Furrious, KT Makin A Tax Move,
Freaking, Mister D, Dashing Coverage, and Flyin Fish.
Runner-up Chi Ter was coming off of three consecutive victories for
his owner, Mary Passmore, including the 440-yard, $22,750 Sawgrass
Stakes at Hialeah on February 5. All told, the brown 5-year-old
gelding by the First Down Dash stallion Granite Lake has won 12 of
31 races and has banked $298,260.
A 6-year-old daughter of Mr Jess Perry and Grade 1 winner Fearless
Freda owned and bred by Robert A. Gentry of Lubbock, Texas,
Fredaville was making her first start since January 8, when she ran
third in the 400-yard, $100,000 Charger Bar Handicap (G1) for
fillies and mares at Los Alamitos. Fredaville has won eight of 30
outs, including four stakes, and has earned $210,276.
* * * * * * *
Troy Crissup rode fourth-fastest qualifier Ima Gator Fan to a
three-quarter length win in Sunday's 440-yard, $193,150 South
Florida Derby.
Trained by Grover Wheeler Jr. for owner J.L. Gladwell III, Ima Gator
Fan made her quarter-mile trip in :21.440, a clocking good for a 101
speed index. The homebred bay daughter of City Place (TB) earned the
$81,123 winner's share of the purse to push her bankroll to $114,157
from seven races.
Ima Gator Fan's sire, City Place, is an unraced 12-year-old son of
Storm Cat (TB). City Place's top Thoroughbred runners include Grade
3 winner Wall Street Wonder and stakes winners Central City and Gato
Go Win. The stallion is owned by a syndicate and stands for a $5,000
fee at Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds LLC at Ocala, Florida.
Ima Gator Fan is also the first starter foaled by Ima Special Rose,
an unraced 8-year-old daughter of Strawfly Special. The filly's
third dam, the Casady Casanova mare Ooh A Sensation, won three
stakes in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Minnesota from 1989-91.
Ima Gator Fan was coming off of a second-place finish to
second-fastest qualifier SRD Bobwirebob in her South Florida Derby
trial on February 4. She has won four races, and she was a finalist
in the December 26, $186,220 Hialeah Lassie Futurity.
Fastest qualifier and 9-5 favorite TF First Pick ran second, a head
in front of Feature My News. SRD Bobwirebob, Deer Oh Deer, Sizzling
Gold, Volcom Jr, Cash For Wagon Boss, Color Stone, and Country Boy
Deluxe completed the order of finish.
TF First Pick is a chestnut son of Dash To First Place owned by
Donald Ray Jacobs. The gelding has earned $169,505 from nine outs,
and his five victories include the 400-yard, $223,840 Hialeah Laddie
Futurity on December 26, and the last of four South Florida Derby
trials on February 4.
Feature My News is a maiden son of Feature Mr Jess who has banked
$31,664 from nine races for his owner, Alicia L. Hill Smith. The
colt ran fifth, 1 ˝ lengths behind winner Rapid Ivory, in the
October 22, $109,400 Governor's Stakes at Hoosier Park in Indiana.
* * * * * * *
Also on Sunday, Dan I. Frazier's Skyline Lover was a prompt 3-10
favorite in the 1,000-yard, $27,000 Sailfish Stakes.
Ridden by Shanley Jackson for trainer Matt Frazier, Skyline Lover
stopped the timer :52.593, and the 6-year-old Feature Mr Jess
gelding's margin of victory was four lengths from Checotah Dale.
Skyline Lover's win marked his track-record eighth stakes score at
Hialeah Park.
Skyline Lover has won a total of 11 stakes, including last year's
550-yard, $50,000 SLM Big Daddy Stakes (G3) at Remington Park. The
gelding banked $16,740 to boost his earnings to $290,853 from 33
races.
Jess Snouping Around ran third, 7 ˝ lengths behind Skyline Lover,
and was followed by Absolve and The Star Alert.
* * * * * * *
Logans Dash, a bay filly by 1996 AQHA champion 2-year-old Toast To
Dash, rallied to win the $22,750 Three Cherries Stakes for
3-year-olds.
Saddled by Manuel Mata and ridden by Jeremy Garcia for owner Anibal
Hernandez, Logans Dash covered 300 yards in :15.361 while defeating
Count The Menace by a neck.
Logans Dash was coming off of a fifth-place finish in the last of
four South Florida Derby trials on February 4. The filly has won
five of 12 starts, including two stakes at Hialeah in January, and
the $13,650 winner's share of the Three Cherries Stakes purse
increased her earnings to $74,574, of which $40,875 has been banked
this season.
Hesa Winner, Runnin Azoom, This Task Is Easy, Rapid Ivory, Bogie
Man, Shes Jess Dynamite, Razmajazz, and Ivory Rain completed the
order of finish.
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