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<\/a><\/p>\nFlorida-bred Wine Candy \u2013 \u00a9Ryan Thompson<\/p>\n
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL\u2014Florida-bred stablemates Fourth and Central<\/a> and Wine Candy<\/a>, each coming off maiden victories nearly a month apart, will take the next step in their development when they line up together for Saturday\u2019s $75,000 Proud Man<\/a> at Gulfstream Park.<\/p>\n The Proud Man for 2-year-olds and $75,000 Sharp Susan for 2-year-old fillies<\/a>, each sprinting six furlongs on the main track, are the co-headliners on an 11-race program that kicks off at 12:50 p.m.<\/p>\n Bred and owned by trainer Michael Yates\u2019<\/a> Shadybrook Farm Inc.<\/a>, Fourth and Central has not raced since a determined four-and-a-half-furlong debut victory<\/a> May 31 at Gulfstream, taking a length-and-a-half lead into the stretch and holding off next-out winner Camigol<\/a> by a neck in :55.17.<\/p>\n \ufeff<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The chestnut gelding is by Stonehedge Farm South stallion Cajun Breeze<\/a>, whose progeny include Grade 3-winner Dean Delivers<\/a> and stakes-winners Breeze On By<\/a>, Zydeceaux<\/a>, Cajun\u2019s Magic<\/a>, Cajun Firecracker<\/a>, Grade 2-placed Sunny Breeze<\/a> and Grade 3-placed Cajun Brother<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHis first race was I think a little better than the time may suggest,\u201d Yates said. \u201cI thought it was a good race. He\u2019s been training forwardly since the race. I\u2019m really happy with how he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n \u201cHe certainly appears to be a little above average, for sure,\u201d he added. \u201cHe was a little green in his first race but he\u2019s always shown that he\u2019s got some natural talent. He just keeps kind of moving forward all the time with his training. Hopefully he continues to pass each test.\u201d<\/p>\n Fourth and Central is out of Little Red Frog, by Munnings and the chestnut gelding has earnings of $50,000.<\/p>\n He is eligible for the lucrative Florida Thoroughbred Breeders\u2019 and Owners\u2019 Association Florida Sire Stakes<\/a> for 2-years-old by registered Florida Stallions<\/a>. The series begins Sept. 6 at Gulfstream with the $100,000 Dr. Fager, for colts and the $100,000 Desert Vixen for fillies, both at six furlongs.<\/p>\n Marcos Meneses<\/a> will ride from post five.<\/p>\n Pinnacle Racing Stable\u2019s<\/a> Wine Candy, by champion Vino Rosso and also bred in Florida, dueled early before tiring to be last of four in his May 2 unveiling. He stretched out to five-eighths for his return June 29<\/a> and responded with a four-and-a-half-length romp over Fear<\/a>, a popular next-out winner Aug. 2.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s kind of in the same boat,\u201d Yates said. \u201cHis second race obviously was much improved. His first race was kind of a throwout. I think a lot of it was due to greenness and he didn\u2019t run well. But he trained well after that and he duplicated it in the afternoon. I look for him to move forward, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Leonel Reyes<\/a> is named on Wine Candy from outermost post nine.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they both probably look like they should stalk,\u201d Yates said. \u201cI\u2019m not crazy about that, but I think the biggest reason why I decided to run them both in there was because it\u2019s more about their development at this point. Although I would prefer to have separate spots to run them in, the importance of their development kind of supersedes that at this moment. So, we need to lead them both over there and run them and see where the chips fall.\u201d<\/p>\n Wine Candy is out of Clawback, by Candy Ride (Arg) and was bred in Florida by Valerie Mastromonaco<\/a>, Tristan de Meric<\/a> and Gus King<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trainer Patrick Biancone<\/a> also entered a pair of Florida-breds in Squire<\/a> and Diciassette<\/a>.<\/p>\n Co-owned by Biancone<\/a> and Amy Dunne<\/a>, Squire graduated by a head first-time out going four-and-a-half furlongs<\/a> April 18 then moved to the turf for the five-furlong $125,000 Royal Palm Juvenile May 10 where he ran second by a length-and-a-half to Sandal\u2019s Song. Sandal\u2019s Song went on to be third in the Norfolk Stakes (G3) at Royal Ascot.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Squire is a son of Leinster<\/a>, whose three graded-stakes victories include the 2021 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint (G3) in what turned out to be his career finale. Leinster stands in Florida at Pleasant Acres Stallions<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s doing good,\u201d Biancone said. \u201cWe gave him a break after the race in May. We sent him back to the farm, we gelded him and we just gave him time because he had nothing to run in. We\u2019re targeting the [Florida Sire Stakes<\/a>], but we may run him. We\u2019re not sure yet because he\u2019s not 100 percent fit, but we may run him to give him a prep race for the sixth of September.\u201d<\/p>\n Green with MV Stable\u2019s<\/a> Diciassette, a son of champion sprinter Mitole whose name means \u2018seventeen\u2019 in Italian, wheels back 21 days following his come-from-behind half-length victory over fellow Florida-breds sprinting five furlongs<\/a> July 20 at Gulfstream.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe were expecting him to win first time out and he did. Now we\u2019ll see the second time if he can climb the next step. He\u2019s training very well and we\u2019re very happy with him. We\u2019ll see if he has enough talent to do that,\u201d Biancone said. \u201cThe [last] race came up and so we pointed for it, hoping he would do good and come back here for this race. We have to see if he\u2019s capable to go one step higher. It\u2019s the logical step.\u201d<\/p>\n Diciassette drew post two with Jonathan Ocasio<\/a>, who won his first career stakes race in the Aug. 2 Bear\u2019s Den<\/a> at Gulfstream, while Luca Panici<\/a> is named on Squire in post three.<\/p>\n Also entered are Copernium, a $375,000 son of Charlatan that beat Wine Candy May 2 in his lone start; fellow Florida-bred last-out winners I\u2019m Tuff Enough<\/a> and Trelawny<\/a>; Khon Han, beaten a nose at 34-1 in a June 13 maiden special weight at Gulfstream; and Street Player, off the board in the Prairie Gold Juvenile July 5 at Prairie Meadows.<\/p>\n Previous Florida-bred winners of the Proud Man include Naughty Rascal<\/a> in 2024, future millionaire and graded stakes-winner Bentornato<\/a> in 2023 and Hot Blooded<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n