Gulfstream: St. Elias Stable Homebred Rated by Merit Wins Debut in a Breeze

By David Joseph —-

Rated By Merit; Ryan Thompson Photo

St. Elias Stable Homebred Rated by Merit Wins Debut in a Breeze

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – St. Elias Stable’s Rated by Merit made an auspicious debut Saturday at Gulfstream Park, scoring a dazzling 9 ¾-length debut victory in Race 2, a $65,000 open maiden special weight event for 2-year-olds.

The homebred son of Battalion Runner was in full control throughout the six-furlong race, breaking sharply to take the lead and resisting pressure from odds-on favorite Forged Steel before drawing away to win under wraps. St. Elias Stable’s homebred colt ran six furlongs in 1:10.50 after setting fractions of 22.27 and 45.67 (seconds) under Jesus Rios during the first half mile.

The Florida-bred colt was saddled by Michael Yates, a trainer who has achieved much success with Florida-breds, most notably graded-stakes winners, Dean Delivers, Dorth Vader and Fiona’s Magic.

“They contacted me and said they were looking for someone to train a Florida-bred in Florida,” Yates said. “I said, ‘I’d me more than happy to.’”

Yates went into Saturday’s race confident that Rated by Merit ($6.60) would run well on debut but was somewhat surprised by the dominant manner in which he scored over the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Forged Steel, a son of red-hot first-crop sire Vekoma.

“I didn’t feel like he was at that spot. I felt like he would run to his works and run really well, because he showed he can run early on. I’ve been a little conservative with him. I didn’t want to overdo it,” Yates said. “It was visually impressive.”

Battalion Runner, who was campaigned by Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable and Teresa Viola Racing Stables, stands at Ocala Stud. The son of Unbridled’s Song broke his maiden at Gulfstream in December 2016 in his second career start before coming right back to win an optional claiming allowance. He went on to finish second in the 2017 Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct.

Although Battalion Runner stands in Florida, Rated by Merit is not eligible for the upcoming Florida Sire Stakes series.

“We’ll see how he comes out of this and meet with the owner and map out a plan,” Yates said.

Haulin Ice Rebounds with Runaway Score in Azalea

Haulin Ice, who came up short in his first start for her new connections, rebounded in grand fashion in Saturday’s $95,000 Azalea at Gulfstream Park, surging from off the pace to register a runaway 9 1/2-length victory.

Purchased privately by C2 Racing Stable LLC, Paul Braverman, Miller Racing LLC and Timothy Pinch after finishing first or second in her first five starts, all at Oaklawn Park, the Arkansas-bred filly weakened to finish second behind Miuccia in the June 1 Game Face after being involved in a hotly contested pace battle. Saturday, the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained daughter of Coal Front took advantage of a pace duel between favored R Harper Rose and Stiletto Heels in the seven-furlong stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Rated well off the pace by Emisael Jaramillo, Haulin Ice had fresh legs following fractions of 22.28 and 45.05 (seconds) while making a wide sweep into the stretch and rolling to her first stakes win.

Haulin Ice ($8.60) ran seven furlongs in 1:22.63 to record her fourth career victory. Miuccia, who saved ground while closely attending the early pace, finished second 1 ¼ lengths ahead of late-running Candy Gray.

Sunday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $150,000

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is expected to grow to an estimated $150,000 Sunday at Gulfstream Park, where the popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for five racing days following a mandatory payout.

Sunday’s Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 5-10, featuring a five-furlong optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares on turf in Race 8. Jose D’Angelo-trained Anatomy, who has shown talent on dirt and Tapeta, is scheduled to make her turf debut in a field of nine.

The jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

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