Averill Racing and Silver Oak Stable's R Free Roll, a 3-year-old daughter of Rockport Harbor, will be seeking her third victory over males in as many starts in the July 6 Carry Back Stakes (gr. III) at Calder Casino & Race Course.
Trained by Ralph Ziadie, the Florida-bred filly carried a featherweight 110 pounds in a 6 3/4-length romp over males in the June 8 Unbridled Stakes at Calder. Sent off at 9-2 odds in the six-furlong Unbridled, R Free Roll broke third but quickly assumed control, steadily increasing her advantage en route to a winning time of 1:10.19.
In her previous start against males, the filly bred by Richard Averill rolled to a 3 1/4-length victory in an allowance test at Calder. From seven starts, R Free Roll has three wins and three placings to her credit, with earnings of $116,100. Jockey Antonio Gallardo is back aboard the filly who will break from the inside post position and carry 112 pounds.
Included among the six challengers to R Free Roll in the $150,000 Carry Back, a six-furlong test that is part of Calder's Summit of Speed card, are Natalie and Rowan Dixon's Rockyshomerun, Cloud Nine Lumoni's City of Weston, and DDRD Racing's Sr. Quisqueyano—the respective second, third, and fourth-place finishers in the Unbridled.
Sr. Quisqueyano, an experienced son of Exclusive Quality trained by Luis Olivares, checked in fourth as the 6-5 favorite in the Unbridled that followed a scintillating seven-length victory in the April 6 Calder Derby. The colt, who also won the Seacliff Stakes at Calder as a juvenile, began his 3-year-old campaign with a second to Itsmyluckyday in the Jan. 1 Gulfstream Park Derby. He was unplaced when elevated into graded stakes company in the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) and Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (gr. II). Sr. Quisqueyano, who toted 122 pounds in the Unbridled, is the 119-pound highweight in the Carry Back.
A 16-1 shot in the Unbridled, Rockyshomerun chased R Free Roll the entire way and then held off City of Weston for second. Previous to that race, the son of Mass Media hit the gate and was bumped at the start before recovering to win a six-furlong allowance test by 1 1/2 lengths for co-owner and trainer Rowan Dixon.
City of Weston, the most experienced runner in the Carry Back field, has finished first, second, or third in 11 of his 18 starts. The Holy Bull colt trained by Antonia Sano unleashed a three-race win streak earlier this year that included the Ocala Breeders' Sales Sophomore Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and Big Drama Stakes at Calder. The Carry Back will be the ninth 2013 start for the gray or roan colt.
Rounding out the field are Tom Gregerson and Chad J. Stewart's Red Rocket Express, the winner of four of five starts and making his stakes debut; Blackacre Farms' Gotta Be Fate, a Kathleen O'Connell trainee who has won two of three career efforts; and J. Kirk and Judy Robison's Mico Margarita, a Run Away and Hide colt who finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint Preview Stakes last year.
The Carry Back starts off the graded stakes action as the seventh race Saturday with an approximate post time of 3:32 p.m.
$150,000 Carry Back Stakes (gr. III, Race 7, approximate post time 3:32 EDT), 3YO, 6 furlongs
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. R Free Roll (FL), A A Gallardo, 112, R Ziadie
2. Rockyshomerun (FL), J N Delgado, 115, R Dixon
3. Red Rocket Express (FL), M R Cruz, 115, C J Stewart
4. City of Weston (FL), L Saez, 117, A Sano
5. Sr. Quisqueyano (FL), C Olivero, 119, L Olivares
6. Gotta Be Fate (FL), E O Nunez, 115, K O'Connell
7. Mico Margarita (KY), R Santana Jr., 117, S M Asmussen
Filly R Free Roll won the June 8 Unbridled Stakes over males.
Coady Photography