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Rated by Merit’s Sizzling Debut Puts Spotlight on Sire Battalion Runner
7/28/2024
St. Elias Stable’s Stallion Exported to Uruguay Prior to Son’s Scorcher
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Estimated Jackpot $100,000
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – St. Elias Stable’s Rated by Merit made a grand entrance into racing at Gulfstream Park July 13, scoring an eye-catching 9 ¾-length victory in a six-furlong maiden special weight race for 2-year-olds.
By running six-furlongs in 1:10.50, the homebred son of Battalion Runner earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, the fastest produced by a 2-year-old in the country this year.
In doing so, Rated by Merit put his sire Battalion Runner on the radar of breeders with his sensational debut victory. One problem, however: after standing in relative anonymity at Ocala Stud since 2018, Battalion is no longer standing in Florida. Breeders would have to ship their mares to Uruguay to be bred to Battalion Runner.
“Before Rated by Merit won, we had some interest from a farm in South America and they sold the horse to a farm in Uruguay,” Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell said. “He actually has been exported to Uruguay.”
Battalion Runner had already been well-represented at Gulfstream by first-out winner Ghostly Rose on June 21. Bred by St. Elias Stable and sold for $3500 at the 2023 OBS Winter Mixed Sale to 47 Roses LLC, Javier Gonzalez-trained Ghostly Rose rallied from off the pace to win a maiden special weight race for juvenile fillies by 2 2/4 lengths.
A son of Unbridled’s Song out of Tamboz, a full sister to 2012 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Tapizar, Battalion Runner was bred to be a stakes winner. Although he never attained stakes-winner status, he showed potential for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. The $700,000 yearling purchase broke his maiden by 8 ¾ lengths at Gulfstream in his second career start and came back to capture a Gulfstream allowance, before making his stakes debut in the 2017 Wood Memorial (G2).
Battalion Runner finished second in the Triple Crown prep at Aqueduct, 3 ½ lengths behind Irish War Cry and another 3 ½ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Cloud Computing, who would capture the Preakness Stakes (G1) in his next start. Owned by St. Elias Stable’s Vinnie Viola and his wife, Teresa, Battalion Runner would be retired after finishing third in the Dwyer (G3) at Belmont and fifth in the Smarty Jones (G3) at Parx. Vinnie Viola, who also owns the 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, contacted Ocala Stud with a desire to stand him at stud in 2018.
“He called after breeding season had already started that year. He knew it was going to be an uphill battle. I didn’t sugarcoat anything. I told him it was tough to market a stallion that late in the season,” Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell said. “It really began as a passion project for Vinnie. Battalion Runner had a tremendous amount of talent as a racehorse, and he really believed in his prospects as a stallion.”
Viola supported Battalion Runner’s first season at stud.
“He knew it wasn’t a good business model and he was behind the ‘8’ ball, if you would. We gave him his start. Vinnie bred 10 mares to him, nine of which got in foal on really late covers,” O’Farrell said. “It’s tough in the second year, because the horse only bred 10 mares the first year, so it’s hard to breed to a horse who doesn’t have a whole lot of crop before then. It was more of a thing where Vinnie really believed in the horse, and it was more of a passion project.”
Battalion Runner has produced one stakes winner from three limited crops thus far – Lightnin Runner, a West Virginia-bred who won a pair of listed stakes at Charles Town. Along with Lightnin Runner, Rated by Merit and Ghostly Rose, Battalion Runner’s filly Rose View won the turf Saturday at Gulfstream in a maiden claimer.
Rated by Merit may very well turn out to be Battalion Runner’s second stakes winner with the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes kicking off at Gulfstream Sept. 7. The homebred colt is trained by Michael Yates, who has enjoyed considerable success in the series for nominated juvenile offspring of accredited stallions standing in Florida.
Breeders in Uruguay will surely be watching the son of Battalion Runner with heightened interest.
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Estimated Jackpot $100,000
The 20-cent Rainbow 6 will offer an estimated jackpot of $100,000 when racing resumes Friday with a 12:55 p.m. first race post time.
The sequence will begin with Race 4, a maiden claimer for 3-year-olds and up at seven furlongs on the main track. Jena Antonucci saddles Calumet Farm’s Taparino, entering off a second-place finish here oi the slop June 20 and dropping in class today. Come Dream With Me makes his 3-year-old debut after a pair of third-place finishes and a second-place finish in four career starts as a juvenile.
The Rainbow 6 concludes with a dozen 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 mile on the turf in a non-winner of two claimer. Bellwether, from the barn of Saffie Joseph Jr., has a win and second on the turf. Darling Darley broke his maiden on the turf for trainer David Fawkes and gets the rail.
The Rainbow 6 jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.