Nicks seeks Sire Stakes sweep

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s officially called the Florida Sire Stakes series. But trainer Ralph Nicks, who is poised to sweep all three legs of the open division of the longstanding series for 2-year-olds, looks at it a bit differently.

“I call it the Florida Sire Triple Crown because it’s so taxing on a young horse,” said Nicks. “Three races in a row for babies is tough.”

Nicks will be heavily favored to complete the sweep when he sends Soutache postward in Saturday’s $400,000 In Reality Stakes.

The 1 1/16-mile In Reality, which goes as the second race of the day, will share top billing on Saturday’s 14-race program at Gulfstream Park with its filly counterpart, the $400,000 My Dear Girl. The marathon card, which begins at noon Eastern, also includes four turf stakes valued at $75,000 apiece.

Nicks will have two of the six starters in the In Reality, with the maiden Maranatha joining Soutache. The remainder of the lineup comprises His Name Is Sue, Tip Sheet, Yeehaw, and Highborn.

A victory by Affirmed Stakes winner Soutache or Maranatha would make Nicks just the third trainer to sweep all three legs of the open division with two different horses since the series began at Calder in 1982. Nicks won the opening race in the series, the six-furlong Dr. Fager, with Phantom Ro. Nicks would join Manny Tortora, who turned the trick in 1994 with Sea Emperor and Mecke, and Stanley Gold, who duplicated the feat three years ago with Sing Praises and Twotwentyfive A.

Soutache, a homebred son of Backtalk owned by GoldMark Farm, beat open company here at first asking on July 2. He finished third, 3 1/4 lengths behind stablemate Phantom Ro, in the Dr. Fager before taking a half-length decision from pacesetter World of Trouble in the seven-furlong Affirmed. Soutache, who raced with blinkers for the first time, earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure in the Affirmed, among the highest of any 2-year-old in the country this year.

“I feel to be able to sweep one of these series in basically my third year participating in the stallion stakes would be an outstanding accomplishment,” said Nicks.

Nicks’s main concern for Soutache is the toll that running in the opening two legs of the series might take on him.

“He’s carried his weight and everything’s fine, but he ran very fast [in the Affirmed],” said Nicks, who has been near or at the top of the trainer standings throughout the summer meet. “I just hope he doesn’t bounce off it as fast as he ran. I’m not a big numbers guy, but he ran a very fast number. With that and the distance, there are some questions to be answered Saturday.”

Maranatha has finished third in his only two starts and will get the same equipment change, blinkers on, that produced such a big forward move for Soutache in his last start.

“Both his races were solid,” Nicks said of Maranatha. “He’s kind of a real steady grindertype, and I think he’ll love the distance – the longer the better.”

Highborn finished fourth, 16 lengths behind Soutache, in the Affirmed after registering an impressive 7 1/4-length maiden win against open company three weeks earlier.

Both His Name Is Sue and Tip Sheet broke their maiden under claiming tags, while Yeehaw is a maiden.