Hot Rod Honey Turns on Afterburners to Win Sharp Susan

Back Em Up Scores Popular Victory in $70,000 Wildcat Red

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Troy Johnson, Wendell Yates and Robert Fritts’ Hot Rod Honey turned on the afterburners in the Gulfstream Park stretch Friday to win the $100,000 Sharp Susan.

Making her stakes debut in the 5 ½-furlong dash for 2-year-old fillies, the Carlos David-trained daughter of red hot first-crop Florida stallion Roadster followed up an off-the-pace debut victory with a gritty stretch drive to overpower loose-on-the-lead pacesetter Columbina to score by 4 ¼ lengths.

“I loved the way she won when she broke her maiden, stalking the pace. When I saw that, I knew I had something good,” David said. “Today, she handled the heat well.”

Hot Rod Honey broke cleanly from her rail post position to chase Columbina along the backstretch and around the turn into the stretch before turning up the heat on the pacesetter, who entered the stretch with a three-length lead. The David trainee responded to jockey Leonel Reyes’ urging to overwhelm Columbina, who drifted out while shortening stride in mid-stretch, and draw off without leaving the rail.

“Leonel said he wasn’t worried about coming on the inside. She’s not shy,” David said.

Hot Rod Honey ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1:08.08 as the 2-1 second betting choice. Columbina held second under Diego Herrera, two lengths head of third-place finisher Elegante Miz. Boots, Hot Rod Honey’s stablemate in the David barn, finished fourth as the 6-5 favorite after flashing early speed.

Although not powerfully built, Hot Rod Honey certainly has shown a lot of potential in her two starts.

“I think she’s going to be OK. I think she’s going to grow a little bit. She’s a little slim but she’s a good size, not too low to the ground,” David said.

Back Em Up Scores Popular Win in $70,000 Wildcat Red

Keough and Meaney and TCC Stables’ Grade 3-placed Back Em Up, second in three of four prior stakes attempts, broke through with a popular 3 ¼-length victory in Friday’s $70,000 Wildcat Red overnight handicap.

Ridden by jockey Samy Camacho for trainer Bobby Dibona, Back Em Up ($4.60) covered a fast main track in 1:37.13 for the one-turn mile to register his sixth career victory and fourth in 10 starts since being claimed for $25,000 last fall.

Second this year in the one-mile Fred Hooper (G3) and seven-furlong Army Mule during the 2025-2026 Championship Meet, Back Em Up was coming back four weeks after his rally came up a nose short in the June 6 Big Drama, also going seven-eighths.

“I lost a couple of tough ones. I got beat a nose in the Big Drama last time when everyone thought we won it, but he made up for it today,” Dibona said. “It looks like he’s got a future, that horse.”

Back Em Up settled in third as Roar of the Beast led 21-1 longshot Icelander through an opening quarter-mile in 24.60 seconds. The top two moved up on even terms following a half in 47.44 with Back Em Up poised to strike on the outside, when Camacho gave the 4-year-old gelding his cue leaving the far turn and they powered through the stretch to win convincingly.

Racing Driver rallied to be second ahead of Back Em Up’s 7-year-old Grade 2-winning stablemate Steal Sunshine, followed by Roar of the Beast, Icelandaer, Nothingsubtle and two-time defending Sunshine Classic winner Lightning Tones. The Thor, I Know I Know and Fiveeyesonskystars were scratched.

“It went just like we thought it would. He broke, sat a little bit, was on cruise control the whole way and then just drew out. It’s what I figured I was going to get,” Dibona said. “They both ran good. Sunshine, he made his move like he always does but he ran into a tough horse today.”

Florida-bred Wildcat Red won six of 22 career races and more than $1.1 million in purse earnings from 2013-17. In his 3-year-old season of 2014 he captured the Fountain of Youth (G2) and Hutcheson (G3) and was second in the Florida Derby (G1) – all at Gulfstream Park – and third in the Haskell (G1) and Oklahoma Derby (G3). He currently stands as a stallion at Howlett Ranch in Ohio.