Page 49 - January 6 2012

Hialeah laddie Futurity
tF FiRSt PiCk
by Stacy Pigott
tF First Pick was unlucky in his first stakes attempt last summer, but made up for it at the end of the year with a convincing victory in the $223,840 Hialeah Laddie Futurity on Dec. 26.
“At Indiana Downs he got unlucky,” trainer Ron Raper said of TF First Pick. “He qualified fastest for the Heartland Futurity but in the finals he got run over. He was dead last and still was in the photo for the win and got third.”
TF First Pick had no such trouble in his second bid for black type. Ridden by Aron Hunt, he left the gates on the lead from the rail post and was never headed. He reached
the finish line a half-length in front of Sizzling Gold, who was on the opposite side of the track in post 10. The winning time for the 400 yards was :19.516.
“He was a gentleman that day,” Raper said of his charge. “He loaded up good, waited his turn, broke on the lead and it looked to me like he never relinquished it. He ran the right race at the right time.”
That hasn’t always been the case for TF First Pick, who started his career with a dis- qualification in his very first out.
“He started out good but we had some issues with him as far as gate works,” related Raper, who broke TF First Pick at his ranch in North Carolina. “He was stubborn because he was a colt. In his first race, he broke out and ran over the field. I finally convinced the
owner we needed to castrate him. From that point on he was a pretty solid runner.”
TF First Pick broke his maiden in his sec- ond race and then won a trial to the Heartland Futurity before the aforementioned third-place finish in the finals. He came back to win an allowance at Hoosier Park before traveling to Hialeah, where he was second in a Laddie trial to set the fourth-fastest quali-
fying time for the finals.
Despite the gelding’s improving form, Raper was concerned in the days leading up to the race when a red ant infestation at the barn caused TF First Pick some hock trou- bles that required treatment.
“Those red ants got in his
stall and got on his hocks, and
he started kicking the walls and
skinned up his hocks,” Raper
said. “We treated him off and
on. He wasn’t really lame, but he
had a little edema in his hocks. Luckily, he was very sound the last few days before the race.”
TF First Pick earned $94,013 for winning the Laddie, and has now won four of seven starts for owner Donald Ray Jacobs. Bred by Steve Tate, TF First Pick is a half-brother to graded stakes winner Hailfire N Brimstone. His dam, the winning Special Project mare
Pick Your Passion, has produced three winners in as many starters.
According to Raper, TF First Pick may make his next start in the South Florida Derby trials on Feb. 4. “He can run on the end. He’s always been a little slow away from the gates, but he can run on the end,” Raper said. “The South Florida Derby is 440 yards. He should like that.”
Mary Passmore’s Sizzling Gold (Gold Medal Jess- Strawfly Sting) finished second at odds of 12-1 with William Ives in the saddle for trainer Jackie Kirby.
In third was 15-1 longshot Lil Shorta Cash (Panther Mountain-Shakem Ur Cash). Randy Edison rode the colt for trainer Brian Muse and owner Rodney Layne Harmon.
Favored Count The Menace (Executive Menace-Countess Rare Bar)
finished fourth, followed by Volcom Jr (Volcom- Diamonds For Casey), Mo Zoomo (Shazoom- Stylish Form), Hesa Winner (Stoli-Apollos Winner), Got Me A Hemi (FDD Dynasty-A Speeding Ticket), Valiant Corona (Valiant Hero- Corona Three), and Cash For Wagon Boss (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Taras Streaker).
Hialeah Park $223,840 • 400 yards :19.516 • si 94
First Place Dash
Dash To First Place
Its Your Loss
TF FIRST PICK, g.
Special Project
Pick Your Passion
Southern Knockout
With jockey Aron Hunt in the irons, TF First Pick ran a perfect race along the rail to win the $223,840 Hialeah Laddie Futurity.
SPEEDHORSE, January 6, 2012 47
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