St. Elias Stable Homebred 3-5 for 2nd Leg of FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – St. Elias Stable’s Rated by Merit is rated as the 3-5 morning-line favorite for a highly anticipated start in Saturday’s $200,000 Affirmed, the second leg of the 2024 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series, at Gulfstream Park.

Fresh off his record-breaking performance in the $100,000 Dr. Fager, the first leg of the series for 2-year-olds sired by accredited Florida stallions, Sept. 7, the homebred son of Battalion Runner is unquestionably worthy of heavy favoritism for the seven-furlong stakes that will co-headline Saturday’s 12-race program with the $200,000 Susan’s Girl, the second leg of the Florida Sire Stakes series for juvenile fillies.

Undefeated and untested in two career starts, Rated by Merit is scheduled to meet five other juveniles in the seven-furlong Affirmed. The Michael Yates trainee debuted July 13 with a 9 ¾-length victory that earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure that was the highest produced by all 2-year-olds in the country until Ferocious earned a 96 for his impressive debut at Saratoga two weeks later. Rated By Merit avoided a ‘bounce’ in his return in the six-furlong Dr. Fager, earning a 93 Beyer Speed Figure for his 6 ¼ length romp.

Despite the buzz surrounding the St. Elias homebred colt, Yates has been able to maintain his usual low-key approach to Rated by Merit’s return in the Affirmed.

“Due to the fact that he’s training well and he’s doing everything right, I don’t see anything at this point that we needed to do differently,” Yates said. “We’re just excited to get him over there and watch him perform.”

Rated by Merit, who ran six furlongs in 1:10.55 in his six-furlong debut, ran the same distance in the Dr. Fager in 1:09.45, surpassing Three Rules’ 2016 Dr. Fager record of 1:09.49 while finishing well clear of runner-up Neoequos.

It’s no mystery to Yates how Rated by Merit has distinguished himself as one of the most promising 2-year-olds in the country thus far.

“He’s a very well-balanced horse. Conformation-wise, he’s very correct. He’s very athletic,” he said. “Mentally, he’s very uncomplicated. He’s not a very complicated horse. He’s easy to handle. He minds his manners. You don’t know he’s in the barn.”

Jesus Rios, who has been aboard Rated by Merit’s two eye-catching victories, has the return mount Saturday.

Ian Parsard, Shining Stables LLC and Stefania Farms LLC’s Neoequos was hustled to an early lead over Rated by Merit on the backstretch in the Dr. Fager, but the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained son of Neolithic was no match for the 2-5 favorite the rest of the way. Neoequos held off Classic of Course by 1 ½ lengths to finish second.

“He ran well last time and took a lot of pressure. The winner, Rated by Merit, is a superior horse right now. We’re going to have to hope that he regresses a little bit,” Joseph said. “It’s a tall task. We’re kind of running hoping to run second. We’re running for second but hoping to win.”

Neoequos’ career got off to a bumpy start July 21 when he was bumped hard leaving the starting gate, unseating the rider. He bounced back Aug. 10 with a rallying 2 ½-length victory under Miguel Vasquez to break his maiden prior to making his stakes debut in the Dr. Fager.

“In his first start, he wheeled at the start, which is very uncharacteristic. He’s a very smart horse, nice horse. Barring that, he’s been nothing but professional,” Joseph said. “He came back and won well and beat a nice horse (Macho Music) that came back to win a Keeneland. He’s a solid horse. Is he as good as Rated by Merit right now? No.”

Drayden Van Dyke, who was unseated in Neoequos’ debut, has the call aboard the Joseph trainee.

Amy Dunne and trainer Patrick Biancone’s Classic of Course is the most experienced horse in the field, having run in five racing, including four consecutive stakes appearances following a 6 ½-length debut victory May 4. The son of Awesome of Course finished fourth in the Tremont at Aqueduct before returning to Gulfstream to finish second in the Proud Man, third in the Dr. Fager and fourth in the Aventura, in which he was squeezed at the start.

Joe Bravo is scheduled to ride Classic of Course for the first time in the Affirmed.

Arindel’s Lou and Alex and JoAnn Lieblong’s Big Paradise, both recent graduates, and John Minchello’s Zizka, seventh in the Dr. Fager, round out the field.