South Carolina farms and training center graduates found their way to the Winner's Circle ten times after stakes races between June 30 and July 17. This happened five times on July 6!
On June 30,
Saint Alfred proved best in the Thomas F. Moran S. at Suffolk Downs. Fourth early on,
Saint Alfred was in close quarters while between horses inside the 1/8 pole. He got up to win by a head.
Saint Alfred has spent time at both the Elloree Training Center and Webb Carroll Training Center.
Lady Luck looked kindly upon
Top Line Growth on July 5. While crossing the finish line second in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows, he was declared the winner when
Winning Number was disqualified for interfering with the third place finisher in the stretch.
Top Line Growth went through the breaking process with Donna Freyer in Camden.
South Carolina grads won three races in a row at Belmont Park on July 6. All three were graded stakes.
Concrete Rose stalked the leader for the opening mile in the Belmont Oaks Invitational S.-G1. She took the lead at the 1/8 pole and was drawing away to cross the line 2 ¾ lengths in front.
Concrete Rose learned her early lessons under Justin Wojczynski in Aiken.
Thirty-five minutes later,
Promises Fulfilled broke on top and never looked back in the John A. Nerud S.-G2. In the stretch,
Promises Fulfilled showed why he was the 3-5 favorite pulling away from the field being best by 4 ½ lengths. He was prepared for his racing career by Franklin "Goree" Smith at his Elloree Training Center.
Henley's Joy conquered a full field of 14 in the Belmont Derby Invitational S.-G1. Never far back while on the inside,
Henley's Joy angled out to the three path turning for home and in a determined effort, he came on to win by ¾'s of a length . This colt came up in Cary Frommer's program in Aiken.
South Carolina grads also won back-to-back stakes races at Delaware Park on July 6.
Dr Blarney showed speed out of the gate and led wire-to-wire in the Carl Hanford Memorial S. being first to the finish by 4 ½ lengths.
Dr Blarney came up under the watchful eye of Travis Durr at his Webb Carroll Training Center in St. Matthews. This six-year-old gelding has 20 wins in 28 career starts with career earnings of $628,640.
In the next race,
Eons proved best in his second stakes win in a row at Delaware Park in the Kent S.-G3. In a stretch long duel,
Eons would not be denied reaching the wire first by a neck.
Eons is a product of Brad Stauffer and Ron Stevens' Legacy Stable breaking process in Aiken.
Jaguar Poz broke like a rocket in the Leematt S. at Presque Isle Downs on July 7. He never really slowed down increasing his advantage during the final ¼ mile winning by 2 ½ lengths. He was prepared for his
racing career at Randy and Kala Rentz's training center in Erhardt, SC.
The July 27 edition of the
BloodHorse magazine contained an article featuring Franklin "Goree" Smith, Sr. and his Elloree Training Center. Goree talks about his earliest memories attending the races at the track in Elloree. After spending time at various racetracks, Goree started leasing the Elloree Training Center before buying it in the mid-1970's.
