The Pasco Stakes ($150.000 Purse)
TAM- For Three Year Olds
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
January 11, 2025

The Pasco Stakes is a seven-furlong race, much like its companion race for fillies, the Gasparilla Stakes. This race was first contested back in 2005 for a smaller purse, and today will run for $150.000, which is the most offered by the race during that stretch of time. Fractious was the winning trainer of each of those races, winning the Pasco Stakes with Hurricane Ridge. The still active gelding went on to have a strong 2024, winning a pair of Grade 2’s, and appearing in the BC Sprint. He was recently auctioned off for $300.000 to The Sidley Stud, so more is expected out of him in 2025. The 2023 winner of the Pasco is also a standout, as that was Jacks Courage, for Mb Stables, who later won the Travers, among other big wins in his $3,000-plus, still active career. Those are some big stars that our field of six aspire to follow. Let’s see who will have that chance:

1- Domestic Product (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by D E Centeno)- He has seen the best of his age group, running third in the Grade 1 Champagne, sending him into the BC Juvenile. But he struggled there, placing 13th, and losing by seven lengths. Seemed destined for a bounce back in the Grade 2 Remsen, but he had lost by seven there. His works are perfectly fine, and do not show a decline, so he should be a lot better than he has shown in his last two but he’s going to need to bounce back here in at minimum, a competitive nature.

2- Oddly Enough (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by C Evans)- Has not been in the type of races that his stablemate as been in, but does come here out of the $100.000 Notebook, a NY-bred race at AQU that he ran third in. Oddly Enough has won twice, but they were not for high purses. This is a good spot for him to see what he can do, and for the trainer to stack him up against his more accomplished stablemate.

3- Generals Style (Blazin D, ridden by P Morales)- Five of this one’s six career races have been with the PA-bred condition, and all of his starts have been in his home state. His lone win came at PRX in July, and he has been running in stakes since then. While none have resulted in a victory, he put in a third-place effort in each of the McDernott Stakes and the PA Nursery Stakes. Now, he will see that there is racing life outside of Pennsylvania for the first time.

4- Michael Jordan (Nakamura Stables, ridden by A A Gallardo)- Out of Sponsored By Nike, so the name is certainly perfect. Of course, this now leads to big expectations with a name like this, and fittingly to this point, he is “2-for-3″. Hasn’t been racing for high purses yet and was actually just out there two weeks ago in the $40.000 Lost In The Fog Juvenile Stakes at TUP, where he was second. Works well, so there is plenty of potential here.

5- Sectumsempra (Delta Farms, ridden by J C Ferrer)- Last month, Sectumsempra had a strong showing at FG in the $100.000 LCD Juvenile, running second and just missing out in a photo finish. Overall, he has just win over his four starts, but the two competitive second place efforts show that he is plenty capable of racking up the victories. He’s going to run a little longer here than he is used to, and maybe that is all the will be needed to push him over the top.

6- Le Freak (Riggins Racing, ridden by Sa Camacho)- After a couple of wins for smaller purses, Le Freak was given a chance to show what he could do in the $60.000 Manzano Stakes, but that did not end up showing much. The trainer was not impressed, and gelded him after the race, then entered him into a $25.000 claimer. He won that race last month, so Riggins is once again confident in this horse. Works well, but probably still needs to step up here.

Prediction: 5-3-4-1

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded