Octane Overpowers In Reality Stakes Field At Gulfstream

Octane wins the In Reality Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Arindel’s Octane overpowered his opposition at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., Saturday with a gutsy front-running victory in the $400,000 In Reality, the open-division finale of the 2021 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes.

The In Reality, a 1 1/16-mile route for 2-year-olds sired by accredited Florida stallions, co-headlined Saturday’s 12-race program with the $400,000 My Dear Girl, the 1 1/16-mile finale for Florida-sired 2-year-old fillies.

Coming off a front-running score in the $200,000 Affirmed, the seven-furlong second leg of the lucrative series for Florida-sired juveniles, Octane offered a repeat performance while carrying his natural speed around two turns for the first time.

The homebred son of Brethren broke alertly from his No. 7 post position to take the lead on the first turn and show the way along the backstretch, where he came under strong pressure to his outside by Cattin. Octane put away Cattin on the far turn, where Cajun’s Magic, the Affirmed runner-up, launched his bid after saving ground behind the pacesetters. The winner of the first leg of the FSS Series, the $100,000 Dr. Fager, kicked in through the stretch but was no match for Octane, the even-money favorite who scored by 1 ¾ lengths to win his third straight race since finishing second in his career debut.

The Carlos David-trained Octane ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.97 under Emisael Jaramillo. Cajun’s Magic, who was ridden by Jesus Rios, finished 6 ½ lengths clear of third-place finisher Cattin.

“I have plenty of confidence in Jaramillo. He’s a great rider. He’s one of the top jocks here in the summer and in the winter, as well. The plan was, obviously, he’s got speed, so we don’t want to take that away from him. Just break good, sit outside a little bit and whenever he wants to make the lead, let him do it and see where he goes,” David said. “He’s got that speed and every time you have a horse that goes to the lead [distance] is always a question. I’m just glad he was able to do it. He’s got a lot of talent.”

Octane exceeded the early expectations of Arindel stable manager Brian Cohen with his impressive two-turn debut.

“It’s great. Carlos has done a great job. Back before we sent him to Carlos, he worked one time on the farm super-fast. I wanted to send him a good one. He’s a little horse and Carlos does great with these speed horses,” Cohen said. “I never thought that he’d be doing the mile and a sixteenth. He just gets out there and doesn’t stop. We’re so happy. We have the perfect rider for him. It was just a great effort and a great effort by those guys.”

By passing the two-turn test in the In Reality, his connections have reason to at least take a look at the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., Nov. 5.

“We’ll see how the numbers come back and we’ll talk to Carlos and see how we fit,” Cohen said. “No rush, but we’ll make a decision in the next week or so.”