A two-time stakes winner at Calder Casino & Race Course this season, R Free Roll will stay in South Florida as she tries to nail down the first graded stakes win of her career Dec. 14 at Gulfstream Park in the $100,000 Sugar Swirl Stakes (gr. III).
Owned by Silver Oak Stable and her breeder Averill Racing, Florida-bred R Free Roll enters Saturday's six-furlong race for fillies and mares off a one-length victory in the Bold World Handicap Nov. 2 at Calder. Carrying 116 pounds, R Free Roll led every step in the six-furlong Bold World.
A 3-year-old daughter of Rockport Harbor, R Free Roll has been assigned 114 pounds in the Sugar Swirl. She also scored a clear, gate-to-wire victory earlier this year in the six-furlong Unbridled Stakes at Calder.
While R Free Roll takes aim at her first graded stakes win, Classic Point will try for her first stakes win overall after finishing second to Galloping Giraffe in the Punkin Pie Stakes Oct. 24 at Belmont Park. Earlier this year Classic Point, a homebred for Joseph Shields Jr., finished second to Dance to Bristol in the Honorable Miss Handicap (gr. II) at Saratoga Race Course.
Trainer H. Allen Jerkens said he has enjoyed seeing the 4-year-old daughter of Flatter , who he had dropped to the claiming ranks for a confidence-boosting victory early in the season, progress this year.
"We always thought a lot of her as far as her workouts when she was younger. We were terribly disappointed when she didn't run any good," Jerkens said. "She finally came around, and we're happy about that."
At 117 pounds, Classic Point is the co-highweight in the field of six with Munnings Sister, a Charles Fipke homebred who boasts four stakes wins, including two this season.
$100,000 Sugar Swirl Stakes (gr. III, race 9, approximate post time 4:33 p.m. EST) Fillies & Mares, 3yo&Up, Six Furlongs
PP, Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Crazy About Me (KY), K. Carmouche, 114, J. Navarro
2. Twice Told Tale (KY), C. Lanerie, 114, R. Nicks
3. Heart Stealer (KY), J. Castellano, 114, M. Wolfson
4. Munnings Sister (KY), L. Saez, 117, B. Tagg
5. R Free Roll (FL), P. Lopez, 114, R. Ziade
6. Classic Point (FL), A. Solis, 117, H. Jerkens