R Disaster Comes Back Running in G3 Hurricane Bertie

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Averill Racing LLC, Two Eight Racing LLC’s and ATM Racing’s R Disaster made a winning 2026 debut Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained 5-year-old mare registered a front-running 5 ½-length victory in the $175,000 Hurricane Bertie (G3).

The Florida-bred daughter of Awesome Slew ran her career streak to 14 races in which she has finished no worse than second while capturing the 6 ½-furlong stakes for fillies and mares that headlined a 12-race program that also featured the $125,000 Silks Run, a five-furlong turf dash for older horses won by Stone Farm’s Litigation.

Just minutes before R Disaster entered the Gulfstream Park winner’s circle, Public Sector, who is owned by Joseph’s wife Morgan, captured the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup.

Joseph, who watched the Hurricane Bertie from Barbados, was pleased with R Disaster’s dominating performance off a four-month layoff.

“She was very impressive because I didn’t think she was 100 percent fit. She only had four works, but she does run well fresh,” Joseph said. “This was the first time we gave her a real break, so I was concerned about her fitness.”

R Disaster, the 4-5 favorite, went right to the lead and set fractions of 22.36 and 44.86 seconds for the first half-mile while Lynn’s Milky Way applied a little pace pressure to her inside midway through the backstretch. She moved away when asked by jockey Micah Husbands on the far turn and extended her lead to the finish line, completing 6 ½ furlongs in 1:16.28.

“She broke well and I didn’t take anything away from her. I just sat there and she did everything easy. That was just her, all her,” Husbands said. “She came back really good after her last race off the layoff and I’m so happy with the way she ran. She did it so easy today.”

R Disaster had been idle since finishing second by a head in the Nov. 8 Dream Supreme at Churchill Downs. In her previous start, she captured the Gallant Bloom (G2) at Aqueduct by 3 ½ lengths.

Sterling Silver, who finished second in the Inside Information (G2) Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park, saved ground while racing behind the pacesetters into the stretch and fought off Beyond Belief to finish second by a neck. Lynn’s Milky Way weakened to finish fourth another three-quarters of a length back.