Florida's reigning Breeder of the Year, Marilyn Campbell's Stonehedge LLC's Fiona's Magic tuned up for a start in the May 3 Kentucky Oaks (G1) with a six-furlong breeze in 1:15.16 at Gulfstream Park Tuesday morning. "We've just been doing some strong, long gallops with her. We breezed three-quarters. I told [exercise rider Jose Ortiz] to just go easy and finish up a little bit down the lane,” trainer Michael Yates said, “I feel like we’re going in the right direction. She was very relaxed and did it well within herself.”

National campaign highlights unprecedented investments in equine safety initiatives across the sport

NTRA PRESS RELEASE

Lexington, KY - On April 23, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced a new national campaign, Safety Runs First, and corresponding website to promote the sport's collective commitment to safety, welfare and integrity.

GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS RELEASE

Granpollo Stable's Grand Mo the First breezed six furlongs at Gulfstream Park Tuesday morning in preparation for a start in the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1). The Victor Barboza Jr.-trained son of Uncle Mo, who finished a distant third behind early Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness in the March 30 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream, was timed in 1:16.48 under jockey Emisael Jaramillo before galloping out a mile.

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Owners Tami Bobo, Julie Davies, and George Isaacs are from Ocala, Florida area. Bobo owns First Finds, a pinhooking operation and farm, and George Isaacs is the general manager of historic Bridlewood Farm. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is Florida-based racing at Gulfstream Park and is the 2023 leading Florida trainer by earnings with more than $2 million and co-leading trainer by black-type wins and overall wins.

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Trainer Todd Pletcher’s family are in the business in Ocala, Florida. His father JJ Pletcher has a training center.

The horse also received early training at the oldest active Thoroughbred farm in the state, Ocala Stud, under the tutelage of Joseph, David, and Mike O’Farrell. This means Fierceness trained on the very track famed Florida-bred Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled trained, passing the turn where dreams are made, Dreamer’s Point.

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He earned enough qualifying points for the Derby in Florida in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby in early March and finished third.

His trainer hails from Venezuela, Victor Barboza Jr., and he has been a previous leading trainer from his homebase at Gulfstream Park. His jockey , fellow Venezuelan Emisael Jaramillo moved to Florida in 2015. Jaramillo is the all-time leading rider in Venezuela, having won his nation’s Triple Crown three times out of the eight crowns. He rode in his first Kentucky Derby in 2016.

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The horse trains in South Florida at the famed Payson Park Thoroughbred Training Center known as Club Med for horses, in Indiantown. The track is rated as one of the top five dirt tracks in the country. Part of the horse’s ownership, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Westerberg, have had success with Florida-breds including 2021 Florida Horse of the Year Golden Pal.

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Resilience trains at the famed Payson Park in Florida. The horse received both his two-year-old early schooling and later workouts between races there. His jockey Junior Alvarado got his start in South Florida at Calder Race Course and made his home there until he joined the jockey colony in New York a few years later.