A Kales Company's R Associate; James Lewis Jr.'s Sea Pleasure; and Ione and Herb Elkins' Global Peace finished one-two-three, respectively, in a a mile allowance race on Aug. 31, separated by less than a length.Jockey Julio Garcia will be aboard R Associate, who will be making his first start for trainer Bill White after being developed by veteran horseman Dave Vivian. The son of Crafty Prospector was a $75,000 Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-year-old purchase.Sea Pleasure will have Beasley in the saddle for trainer Manny Tortora, who also trains Bee Bee Stable and his wife Jacqueline's Affirmed runner-up Supah Blitz, but will reserve that Mecke colt for the In Reality.Sea Pleasure dueled for the lead throughout the Aug. 31 allowance race before giving way grudgingly. Manoel Cruz rides Global Peace for trainer Bill Kaplan. The son of Announce was also in that duel with Sea Pleasure through most of the allowance race as R Associate rallied past both in the deep stretch.Completing the field for the Foolish Pleasure are Gordon Racing Corp.'s Poppy's Image, Carlos Gonzalez; Bea Oxenberg and Marion Montanari's Unbridels King, Gary Boulanger; Nelson Bunker Hunt's Fort Smith, Manuel Aguilar; and Annabel and William Murphy's The Name‚s Bond, Eduardo Nunez.
The $100,000 Brave Raj Stakes and $100,000 Foolish Pleasure Stakes at a mile and 70 yards each will give Calder's top 2-year-old prospects their first opportunity to be tested over a distance of ground in a stakes race on Sept. 21.The Brave Raj, for fillies, drew a field of eight with Gilbert Campbell's Ivanavinalot likely to be a solid favorite under regular rider Manoel Cruz. The Florida homebred daughter of West Acre won the seven-furlong Susan's Girl division of the Florida Stallion Stakes three weeks ago by 10 lengths.Trained by Kathleen O'Connell, Ivanavinalot won two of her three previous starts and might have been undefeated if not for a bad start in the six-furlong Desert Vixen division of the Florida Stallion Stakes in which she finished fourth. O'Connell sends her out as an entry with Campbell's maiden Truly the Best, a daughter of Sword Dance who finished fourth in her only start.Mike Sherman's Heavenly Miss finished a well beaten second behind Ivanavinalot in the Susan's Girl and will try her again as both fillies use the Brave Raj as a prep for the $400,000 My Dear Girl division of the Florida Stallion Series on Oct. 12. Heavenly Miss is a homebred daughter of Suave Prospect trained by Angel Salinas and finished a game second in the Desert Vixen ahead of the troubled Ivanavinalot. She became a stakes winner winning the $100,000 J j'sdream Stakes in June. Jockey Cornelio Velasquez will be aboard.Completing the field for the Brave Raj are Pyrite Stable's Arctic Dove, Jeremy Beasley; J D Farm's Dakota Light, Julio Garcia; M375 Thoroughbreds' Mary Murphy, Rosemary Homeister Jr.; Richard Rowan's Paxo Saco, Manuel Aguilar; and Greg Kaufman and Ron Stengel's Tune Up the Band, Eduardo NunezThe Foolish Pleasure appears very competitive with no throwouts in the field of nine and could be used by a few Florida Stallion Stakes eligible colts as a prep for the $400,000 In Reality division, also to be run on Oct. 12.Stride Rite Racing's Super Frolic, trained by Milt Wolfson, is a Kentucky homebred by Pine Bluff and has won both of his starts. Homeister gets a return call on the colt, who is out of the top-class stakes runner Lindsay Frolic.Trainer Ralph Ziadie sends out E. Paul Robsham's Trust N Luck. The son of Montbrook comes back from an unfortunate experience in the Affirmed Division of the Florida Stallion Stakes when he wheeled at the start and lost his rider. A $200,000 OBS March 2-year-old purchase, Trust N Luck was 4-5 in the Affirmed after winning his first two starts and finishing a game second as the favorite behind Lawbook in the Dr. Fager division of the Florida Stallion Series.