Rated by Merit reigned as the fastest 2-year-old in the land for part of the summer and on Saturday makes the much-anticipated second start of his career in the $100,000 Dr. Fager division of the Florida Sire Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The six-furlong dirt race shares a card with both the $100,000 Desert Vixen division for fillies led by Win N Your In and the $75,000 Mambo Meister.
Rated by Merit earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92 when he won on debut July 13 at Gulfstream. It was the year’s highest figure for a 2-year-old at the time, and now ranks second among colts and geldings behind the 96 earned by Ferocious on Aug. 3 at Saratoga. Rated by Merit won that maiden special weight by 9 3/4 lengths, zipping six furlongs on a fast track in 1:10.50.
“It was a wow performance,” said Michael Yates, who trains the son of Battalion Runner for breeder St. Elias Stable. “I thought that he would run well because I felt like he had trained well enough to run a good race, but there was a little more there than what met the eye.”
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Since the start, runner-up Forged Steel has returned to romp in a maiden race and is set to make his stakes debut Sunday at Kentucky Downs. Rated by Merit, meanwhile, has been working along at Gulfstream. His moves include a five-furlong bullet in 59.80 seconds Aug. 21. Rated by Merit will break from the widest post in the field of eight, under regular rider Jesus Rios.
“I’m very happy about how he’s training,” Yates said. “Mentally, he’s doing very well. He’s a talented horse, and I feel like we have him prepared to lead over there.”
Yates said the Dr. Fager made sense for Rated by Merit’s second start for a number of reasons, including the fact that he has familiarity with the surface at Gulfstream.
“It was kind of an uncomplicated move,” he said. “I think the Florida Sire Stakes gives a horse like him, with the spacing of the races, an opportunity to take one step at a time and allows him to develop moving forward.”
The series also includes the $200,000 Affirmed over seven furlongs Oct. 19 and the $300,000 In Reality over 1 1/16 miles on Nov. 30.
Candycrumbs enters the Dr. Fager off a win in the 5 1/2-furlong Hickory Tree at Colonial. He won his maiden in the race, one start after running second in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream.
Just Relax was second last out in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream that’s become a key race. The winner, Naughty Rascal, returned to win the Proud Man Stakes, while two others came back in their next starts to win maiden races at Gulfstream.
Classic of Course, who was just edged in the Proud Man when second by a neck, breaks from the rail in the Dr. Fager. Earlier this year, he was fourth in the Tremont at Saratoga.
Desert Vixen
Win N Your In will start from the rail in the Desert Vixen, which drew a field of seven.
“She’s very versatile,” trainer Carlos David said. “She can be fast, she can sit off the pace. I don’t think it really affects her going from the rail.”
Win N Your In has won her last two starts by a combined margin of 12 1/4 lengths. She was third in her debut June 6, then won a maiden special weight by more than seven lengths July 6 before capturing the $95,000 Sharp Susan against open company Aug. 10.
“This is the next spot,” David said. “We kind of mapped it out that way, and it’s been working out good, so we’re excited.”
Win N Your In is a daughter of Win Win Win and a half-sister to Miss Auramet, a multiple stakes winner who went 12 for 34 for earnings of $632,830. Win N Your In races for Troy Johnson and Maritza Weston and will be ridden by Miguel Vasquez.
“She’s got heart,” David said. “She’s great. She’s easy to work with.”
Wiggle An’ Wine could start as the second choice to Win N Your In. She was the runner-up in the Sharp Susan and is a half-sister to both Let Them Watch, winner of last year’s Sharp Susan, and It’s High Time, a past winner of the Desert Vixen.
R Morning Brew, who is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Dancing N Dixie, enters off a more than four-length debut win at Gulfstream.
◗ The Mambo Meister is an overnight handicap for 3-year-olds and up over a mile on turf. Awesome Bourbon enters off a third-place finish to 20-time winner Fly the W in a starter allowance at Gulfstream.
“He ran well, was running from off the layoff,” trainer Jose D’Angelo said. “I really like the way he has worked, and it’s why we we’re giving him a chance to run in the stakes now.”
The field includes K. C. Chief, who has won his last four starts, all on Tapeta.
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