Page 60 - 2 March 2012

south Florida Derby
iMA GAToR FAn
by John Moorehouse
Awalk down the track at Hialeah Park
by grandfather and grandson proved to be prophetic. Grover Wheeler Jr., the trainer of Ima Gator Fan, was sauntering down the Hialeah Park course with his grandson Zach on Feb. 19, mere hours before the South Florida Derby. The elder member of the pair stopped some 350 yards down the track before making a prediction.
“I told Zach, ‘If we’re running heads up right here they’re going to get beat at the wire,’” the trainer recalled.
Wise words. Ima Gator Fan was, indeed, running with the leaders entering the final 100 yards of the $193,150 stakes and finishing first by three-quarters of a length. In the process, Ima Gator Fan brought home an $81,123 payday for owner/breeder J.L. Gladwell III that improved the filly’s total earnings to $114,157. The filly also bettered her record at 440 yards to 2-1-0 after beginning to run at that distance heading into the 2012 campaign.
“She was just a super good filly to work with and we knew when we took her out that 440 was going to help her,” Wheeler told Speedhorse. “She just did everything right. She’s good in the gate. She’s just a good racehorse.”
In a warmup at the new distance, Ima Gator Fan ran a Jan. 14 overnight at Hialeah,
finishing first by three-quarters of a length. Then she finished second in her derby trial, logging the fourth-best qualifying time. Wheeler judged that out to be an aberration from Ima Gator Fan’s usual performance.
“She didn’t really kick in the trials like she did in her prep race at 440,” the trainer said. “She was a little dull. But I
knew the way she was acting
in the finals and just her
knowing her disposition,
showed me all week she really
was gonna run a big race. I
really felt we had an awfully
good shot of winning it if we
got away good.”
That ended up being a
pretty big if. Several competi-
tors in the 10-horse field got
into trouble during a very
bumpy start. Ima Gator Fan
drew the No. 7 hole but the
horses breaking on her immediate left all jostled one another. Jockey Tony Crissup kept Ima Gator Fan clear of the hubbub, and she began her smooth and steady run up the middle of the track en route to her first stakes win.
“We feel she’s a little better going the distance. So far she came back super good,”
Wheeler said, noting that he and Gladwell would “play it by ear” regarding future plans.
Ima Gator Fan is the only starter thus far out of her dam, Ima Special Rose, an unraced 2004 mare owned by Lisa Colclasure.
TF First Pick (Dash To First Place-Pick Your Passion), the betting favorite and fastest
qualifier, ended up second for Donald Ray Jacobs. The Ron Raper trainee had Oscar Delgado in the irons. Feature My News (Feature Mr Jess- Goodnews Montanna), an 18-1 longshot, finished third by a half-length. The colt is owned by Alicia Hill Smith and trained by Matt Frazier. Jockey Shanley Jackson rode.
SRD Bobwirebob (Coronas Prospect-Shouldabeenjoebob) reached the wire fourth, followed by Deer Oh Deer
(Tres Seis-Adorable Deer), Sizzling Gold (Gold Medal Jess-Strawfly Sting), Volcom Jr (Volcom- Diamonds For Casey), Cash For Wagon Boss (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Taras Streaker), Color Stone (SC Chiseled In Stone-Color Tip) and Country Boy Deluxe (Country Chicks Man- Corona Deluxe).
Hialeah Park $193,150 • 440 yards :21.440 • si 101
Storm Cat TB
City Place TB
Glitter Woman TB
IMA GATOR FAN, ‘09-f.
Strawfly Special
Ima Special Rose
Iama Rose
Under jockey Troy Crissup, the Florida-bred filly Ima Gator Fan won the $193,150 South Florida Derby by three parts of a length.
58 SPEEDHORSE, March 2, 2012
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