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.

MEMORIAL H. ( ), Calder Race Course , May 25, 2013 , $75,000 Guaranteed , value of race $75,000 , 3 yo's & up , 1 1/16 miles , 1:46.20 Dirt FT .