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 Coady
Photography / story by Michael Cusortelli for SureBetTortuga Tony Tops in Hialeah Derby; Hialeah Sophomore Invitational Stakes Hialeah, FL – Dec. 31, 2011 - Sixth-fastest qualifier Tortuga Tony, a sorrel gelding by Stel Corona racing for Jose V. Ivanez, recorded his second lifetime stakes victory in Saturday's Hialeah Derby at Hialeah Park. Ridden by Randy Edison for trainer Jorge L. Gonzalez, Tortuga Tony went 440 yards in :21.456 and earned a 103 speed index. The gelding's winning margin was a neck from KT Makin A Tax Move. Jazz Be First, the fastest qualifier and 9-5 favorite, finished third, one length behind the winner. Tortuga Tony was bred in New Mexico by Vaughn Cook and Paul Jones. The gelding's sire, Stel Corona, is an 11-year-old son of Corona Cartel who won two stakes at Los Alamitos from 2002-04, including the $20,000 Sooner Trailer Stakes for 3-year-olds at Los Alamitos in '03. Stel Corona's top performers include Foose, a lifetime earner of $1,636,938 and the AQHA champion 2-year-old colt in 2008, and Stel Gone Corona, a 3-year-old gelding who won the February 20, $120,000 New Mexico Horse Breeders' Association Stakes (RG2) at Sunland Park. Owned by a partnership, the stallion stands at Burns Ranch at Menifee, California. Tortuga Tony's dam, Just Wanna Be Me, is a winning mare by Dash To Chivato who ran third in the '05 AQHA California Distaff Challenge (G3) at Los Alamitos. She has produced five winners from seven starters, including Teller Bye, a half sister to Tortuga Tony who won the 350-yard, $17,190 AQHA Prairie Meadows Starter Allowance Challenge on September 2. Tortuga Tony traces back to his third dam, Shirley B Gayle, a 1980 foal by Shirley's Champion (TB) who earned $601,860 from 26 starts while racing in Texas and California from 1982-84. All told, Tortuga Tony has won eight of 17 races, and the winner's share of the $169,300 Hialeah Derby purse pushed his bankroll to $221,887, of which $176,232 has been earned during his 2011 campaign. The gelding posted his first stakes victory on July 2, when he won the $112,280 Indiana Live IQHRA Derby at Indiana Downs by three-quarters of a length as the 7-5 favorite. Wagon To Hollywood, the 5-2 second choice, ran fourth and was followed by Flyingwitheagles, Gottabeme, Speed Smith, I Am That Hero, Blood Red Cadillac, and Makeover Moment. A 31-1 longshot, Makeover Moment stumbled shortly after the break and unseated his jockey, Cody Wainscott. KT Makin A Tax Move is a brown gelding by the First Down Dash stallion Maknmoves owned by Gustavo Campos Flores. The gelding has won five of his 15 races, including the 440-yard, $29,875 All American Congress Derby at Beulah Park on October 29, and he has banked $79,856. A brown colt by Bono Jazz campaigned by Alejandro Medina, Jazz Be First has earned $152,589 from 12 outs, and his five wins include the 2010 Governor's Stakes at Hoosier Park and Hialeah Laddie Futurity. Jazz Be First was coming off of a 1 1/2-length victory in the second Hialeah Derby trial on December 17. Also on Saturday, Richard Joneson's Fast N Furrious scored a wire-to-wire, 1 3/4-length victory in the $20,000 Hialeah Sophomore Invitational Stakes for 3-year-olds who last started in the Hialeah Derby trials. Prepped by Guillermo Valdivia and ridden by Alex Baldillez Jr., Fast N Furrious went 440 yards in :21.401 while recording his first stakes win. The homebred colt by '06 AQHA champion aged stallion Country Chicks Man earned $12,000 to increase his bankroll to $37,901 from 11 starts. Fast N Furrious was bred in Oklahoma. The one-time $10,000 claimer has won a total of four races. Aquafina, favorite Drill Baby Drill, Special Ela, Ruby Sonnet, Mr Beduino Lookaway, Or Black Warrior, Paintyourownwagon, One Famous Cookie, and No Yellow Snow completed the order of finish. | ||
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