SKIP AWAY S. (gr. III ), Gulfstream Park , March 30, 2013 , $100,000 Guaranteed , value of race $100,000 , 4 yo's & up , 1 3/16 miles , 1:56.84 Dirt FT .

Cigar Street picked a good day to join the ranks of stakes winners. The son of Street Sense got his initial black-type score March 30 by edging clear of Take Charge Indy by two lengths in Gulfstream Park’s Skip Away Stakes (gr. III). The Skip Away was run on the undercard for the Besilu Stables Florida Derby (gr. I) and the same day as the Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates (UAE-I) at Meydan. Cigar Street is out of Arcadiana, a Deputy Minister half sister to mighty Cigar, winner of the inaugural World Cup in 1996. Take Charge Indy won last year’s Florida Derby.

Sent off the 9-5 favorite in a field of nine, Cigar Street is owned by Miami Heat player Rashard Lewis and Jake Ballis and is trained by Bill Mott. Mott was in Dubai for the World Cup program to saddle two-time champion Royal Delta in the World Cup.

The winner is a striking 4-year-old dark bay or brown colt bred in Kentucky by Marvin Delfiner, Ted Folkerth, and Brookdale. Cigar Street was a $130,000 Keeneland April sale 2-year-old in 2011. Consigned by Niall Brennan Stables, agent, he was signed for by Hidden Brook Farm, agent. He was ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, a five-time winner on the card.

Arcadiana was last of 11 foals out of the Seattle Slew mare Solar Slew. Solar Slew, bred by Carl J. Maggio and Murty Farm, delivered more than one champion. Her second foal, Mulca, by Raised Socially, was champion imported 3-year-old filly in Puerto Rico in 1991. In addition to his World Cup win, Cigar was two-time champion older male and Horse of the Year in 1995-96 for Allen Paulson.

Arcadiana delivered a filly by Midshipman Jan. 25.

Cigar Street is a son of Street Sense, who was also represented March 30 by Fair Grounds Oaks (gr. II) winner Unlimited Budget. Champion and classic winner Street Sense served his first five seasons at Darley near Lexington. He is standing the 2013 season at Darley Japan near Hokkaido, Japan, for a fee of ¥4.5 million ($53,500).—E.H.

HAL'S HOPE S. (gr. III ), Gulfstream Park , January 13, 2013 , $100,000 Guaranteed , value of race $100,000 , 4 yo's & up , 1 mile , 1:35.69 Dirt FT .

Csaba has done nothing but win following his return to Florida after spending part of last summer in the Northeast. His latest victory came in the Hal’s Hope Stakes (gr. III) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 13 for owners Bruce Hollander and Cary Shapoff.

Following his return to Florida, Csaba has now won four stakes races in a row.

Csaba was bred by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, owners of Ramsey Farm near Nicholasville, Ky. The couple had planned to race Csaba and sent him to trainer Eddie Woods in Florida for conditioning. Woods informed Kenneth Ramsey that Csaba wasn’t doing well and that he should sell the bay colt along with several others. Ramsey had second thoughts.

“I told him you’re a 2-year-old sales’ trainer, and you’re trying to get them to go an eighth of a mile in :10 and change,” said Ramsey, who stands Csaba’s sire, Kitten’s Joy, at Ramsey Farm. “I told him most of the runners by Kitten’s Joy turn out to be turf or synthetic horses. I told him I’m not listening. And then he called me back two weeks later and said there are four you need to get rid of. So, I talked it over with my farm manager, Mark Partridge, and I sold the horses in a package of four for $20,000.”

Csaba wasn’t the only one of the foursome to do well. “There also was Empire Builder, a stakes winner, and an allowance horse in the group,” Ramsey said.

Empire Builder, also by Kitten’s Joy, developed into a multiple stakes winner and is graded stakes-placed.

Ramsey originally had picked out the name The Lexington School, named for a private school in Lexington, for Csaba, who is out of the winning War Chant mare High Chant.

“I have six grandchildren and all six are either going to The Lexington School or have graduated from that school,” Ramsey said. “One day I was talking to the headmaster, who said the school could use a little publicity and that I ought to name one of my best horses after the school. This was before I sold Csaba. I named him The Lexington School, but the gentleman who bought him had the name changed to Csaba after a friend. But we’re pleased he’s growing up to be one of the star 4-year-olds this year.”

Kitten’s Joy has sired 30 stakes winners, 14 of which were added-money winners in 2012. His 2013 fee is $50,000.—D.S.