Sunday, September 12, 2010
Haitian Hero, a colt by Petionville racing for Ramon O. Gonzalez and Homero Varela, won Sunday’s $30,000 Harvest Stakes for 3-year-olds at The Downs at Albuquerque.
Saddled by Gonzalez and ridden for the first time by Jorge Gonzalez, Haitian Hero defeated Cali Ta by one length while going 5 ½ furlongs in 1:03.42. The colt’s victory was the third in 12 races for the one-time $15,000 claimer.
Haitian Hero was bred in Kentucky by Everest Stables Inc., and he is one of 31 stakes winners from 11 crops sired by Petionville, a son of the Mr. Prospector stallion Seeking The Gold who won five stakes in 1995, including the Ohio Derby (G2) at Thistledown, Louisiana Derby (G3) at Fair Grounds, and La Jolla Handicap (G3) at Del Mar.
Now 18, Petionville has sired the earners of more than $30.1 million, and his 477 starters include Island Fashion, a filly who won six stakes during her 30-race career, including the $256,450 WinStar Sunland Park Oaks in ’03. Petionville stands for a $7,500 fee at Margaux Farm at Midway, Kentucky.
Haitian Hero’s dam, Regal Boot, is an 8-year-old daughter of the Storm Cat stallion Storm Boot who ran third in the 2005 Scottsdale Handicap on the turf at Turf Paradise. The colt’s second dam, the Valdez mare Noble And Nice, earned $235,540 from 22 races, and her four wins included the 1991 Santa Ana Handicap (G1) at Santa Anita.
A 1986 Kentucky-bred foal, Noble And Nice foaled two winners from three starters, including the stakes-winning Storm Boot gelding Blue Blood Boot. Noble And Nice’s half brother, the Dayjur colt New Advantage, won the $150,000 Golden Gate Derby (G3) in 2000.
Haitian Hero traces back to his fourth dam, the winning Jaipur mare Coccinea. A 1970 foal, Coccinea produced Splendid Girl, a filly by Golden Eagle II who won three stakes in California from 1979-80.
A $12,000 buy at the January 2009 Keeneland Association’s Horses of All Ages Sale, Haitian Hero has banked $91,786. On April 20, the colt recorded his first stakes victory in the 6-furlong, $50,000 KHEY-Y96 Sprint Stakes at Sunland Park.
Haitian Hero began his career last fall in Kentucky. Shipped to Pennsylvania, he was claimed for $15,000 at Penn National Racecourse on November 28. In his next out for his new connections, Haitian Hero broke his maiden by 10 lengths going 1 mile and 70 yards at Penn National.
D G Wimbledon ran third and was followed by Develish Jack, Englefield Bay, 6-5 favorite El Confidential, and Eventful Conquest.
Runner-up Cali Ta earned $6,000 for his owner, Jose E. Perez. A Kentucky-bred colt by Forest Danger, Cali Ta has banked $21,970 from six starts, and he was coming off of an 8 ¼-length victory in a 5 ½-furlong allowance sprint at Albuquerque on August 30.
D G Wimbledon is a homebred Wimbledon colt racing for Janice M. Gardner, and he earned $3,000 to run his bankroll to $26,081 from three wins in 10 outs. Earlier this season, D G Wimbledon ran third in the 6-furlong Norgor Derby at Ruidoso Downs.