On Wednesday morning (April 1), five qualifying races were held at Olympia of Palm Beach Training Center, formerly known as the South Florida Trotting Center.
The first race saw driver Fern Paquet Jr. cut slow fractions as the pocket-sitting Celebrity Titan (Sam Stathis) went off-stride at the half-mile point. Paquet then just needed to keep Hall OF Faith on stride. The duo went on to win by 20 lengths in 2:10.1. The performance was only the second qualifying effort for Hall Of Faith. The three-year-old filly by Conway Hall is trained by Jennifer Sansone for owner Reuben Graber of Sugarcreek, Ohio. Paquet was greeted in the winner’s circle with some rolls of toilet paper. Each winning driver received a 12-pack of the hard-to-get item.
Paquet, whose daughter, Meghan, was the outrider for the qualifying races, made a return trip to the winner’s circle after Race 2. Driver Sam Stathis had gone right to the lead with Celebrity Bianca while Paquet was content to sit a two-hole trip with Celebrity Miracle, who had just won on March 16 at Pompano Park in a lifetime best clocking of 1:54.3. Stathis widened his lead with Celebrity Bianca in an effort to bottom out Celebrity Miracle and Paquet. Later in the race, the dup raced neck and neck around the final turn. Paquet and her charge ultimately posted a two-length win in 2:01. A four-year-old gelded son of Celebrity Maserati, Celebrity Miracle is trained by Sam Stathis and is owned by his Celebrity Farms of New York, NY. It would turn out that Celebrity Miracle’s mile was the fastest of the day.
The third race belonged to Stathis and his Celebrity Maserati, but it proved to be a tough mile. Stathis started off the show going right to the lead with Celebrity Maserati. Also in the race was Celebrity Serena (driven by Fern Paquet Jr.), who is sired by Celebrity Maserati, so the race was ‘father against daughter.’ Celebrity Serena (who is named after the tennis star) was content with the pocket trip as Celebrity Maserati cut all the fractions. Starting around the final turn, Paquet pulled the pocket and started to come after her sire, Celebrity Maserati. Those two horses duelled neck and neck down the stretch with Celebrity Maserati ultimately winning by a head in 2:05. Celebrity Maserati is a ten-year-old horse by Andover Hall. Due to injuries he was unable to race for years, but still was able to service numerous mares for Celebrity Farms and will return to the races once the tracks are able to reopen. Celebrity Maserati is trained by Stathis and owned by his Celebrity Farms.
Sweet Deisel (Dan Daley) pictured defeating Jimi Wind Ricks (Scott Zeron) by a neck in 2.01.1.
The fourth race saw trainer/driver Dan Daley sit a pocket trip with Sweet Deisel while Jimi Wind Ricks and driver Scott Zeron cut the mile. Through fractions of :31.3, 1:02.2 and 1:32, Jimi Wind Ricks was strong on the lead, but Dan Daley kept Sweet Deisel right in the pocket until the final turn and then came after Jimi Wind Ricks. It looked as if Jimi Wind Rocks and Zeron would be able to hold on, but Sweet Deisel kicked in a :28.4 last quarter and nipped Jimi Wind Ricks by a neck in 2:01.1. It was the second fastest mile of the day. Daley, an inductee to the Florida Harness Racing Hall of Fame, trains Sweet Deisel, a four-year-old gelding by Sweet Lou who is co-owned by his wife, Ann-Mari Daley and Crawford Farms. Sweet Deisel last year scored seven wins and won $43,000.
Due to scratches, the fifth race featured just one starter, Roll With Angel and driver Scott Zeron. They cut fractions of :32, 1:02.1, 1:32 and won the race in 2:01.4. Trained by John Mungillo, Roll With Angel is a three-year-old filly by Roll With Joe and is co-owned by Finish Line Investors, Thatsideofthefence, J. Papernik and L Wiler. She started 12 times last year at age two, earned over $43,000 in the New York Sire Stakes and had never won a race until Wednesday’s qualifier.
“This was just a super day,” said Stathis, who owns Olympia of Palm Beach Training Center. “We tried to make this event something special for people to watch. We had some Facebook Live and the video and droning of the races will be on our olympiapalmbeach.com website later today. I want to thank everyone that came out today and made things happen and kept proper social distances.
“We hope to do more events like this in the future,” Stathis added. “I know this virus is a terrible thing, but we will beat it and come back and be strong again.”
(With files from Olympia of Palm Beach Training Center)