Horse Racing

Calder | Florida Million

Cash Rules rules 4th race in row

 

Cash Rules was among the many repeat winners of Saturday’s Florida Million day stakes races.

 

Cash Rules
Cash Rules

Special to The Miami Herald

Saturday was a day for repeat winners in Florida Million day stakes races at Calder Casino & Race Course.

Cash Rules ran his Calder victory streak to four, all in stakes, by winning the $150,000 Carl G. Rose Classic Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on dirt.

My Pal Chrisy won the $150,000 Elmer Heubeck Distaff Handicap, at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, for the second consecutive year.

Bad Debt repeated his 2011 victory in the $125,000 Bonnie Heath Turf Cup Handicap, at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

In the day’s other stakes for 3-year-olds and up, Close It Out rallied from 10th and last place after a quarter mile and beat Bahamian Squall by a neck in the $125,000 Jack Dudley Sprint.

The race was six furlongs on a dirt track listed as fast. Close It Out won in 1 minute 10.73 seconds and was ridden by Jose Lezcano for trainer Steve Towne.

All of the day’s stakes were restricted to Florida-breds.

The emergence of Cash Rules as a star, after not racing in 2011 because of a knee injury, has been one of this year’s biggest stories at Calder.

Cash Rules, a 5-year-old gelding trained by David Fawkes, beat some of Calder’s other top stakes horses in his previous wins.

On Saturday he faced a relatively soft field with just four rivals.

Megamove, regarded as the biggest threat, was scratched by his trainer Ron Spatz after coming down with a cough on Friday night.

Cash Rules, at 3-10, led almost the entire race under jockey Luis Saez and beat He’s Spectacular by 1 ½ lengths.

Without serious pressure, Cash Rule’s time of 1:54.15 was only modest for a stakes race.

“We thought he would come back strong, but never expected a year like this,” said Larry Fugate, the owner of Cash Rules.

Cash Rules raced seven times this year at Calder — all in stakes longer than a mile. He had five wins and a pair of second-place finishes.

“I think he is ready for a step up,” Fawkes said.

He said that could be in stakes early next year at Gulfstream Park.

“Other tracks are possible,” Fawkes said. “I also am thinking about trying him on turf.”

Cash Rules is a son of Peace Rules, the third-place finisher in the 2003 Kentucky Derby.

In the Elmer Heubeck, My Pal Chrisy took the lead around the far turn and coasted to a 7 ¼-length win over Flying Trip. Successful Song finished a nose behind in third.

My Pal Chrisy, at 6-1, was ridden by Luca Panici, and won in 1:47.58. She is trained and owned by Padarath “Tony” Lutchman.

Bad Debt returned to Calder for the first time since last year’s Bonnie Heath. He spent most of this year at New York and Maryland tracks for trainer Michael Trombetta.

Bad Debt was the 9-10 favorite in an eight-horse field.

He was sixth behind a wall of horses coming out of the turn.

But jockey Kendrick Carmouche found an opening and Bad Debt surged ahead and finished a neck ahead of Speak Easy Gal, the only female in the race.

Alley Oop Oop and Picou finished third and fourth less than a length behind Bad Debt, who won in 1:49.95.

The stewards conducted an inquiry because of bumping near the finish, but let the results stand.

“The more they kept coming out and bumping me, the more my horse wanted to go through there even faster,” Carmouche said. “All that contact got him riled.”

Read more Horse Racing stories from the Miami Herald

Get your Miami Heat Fan Gear!

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.

Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category