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Honey Honey Honey Does It Again

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By BART O'CONNELL, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 20, 2008

OLDSMAR - Three weeks ago Honey Honey Honey was a lightly regarded contender not expected to make much of an impression among the 3-year-old crop at Tampa Bay Downs.

Even an all-out victory in the Inaugural Stakes on Dec. 29 was seen as a fluke, the 38-1 long shot just outdueling Run Sully Run, son of a Breeders' Cup Stakes winner.

But Saturday, still far from the betting favorite at 8-1, the black colt owned by Jacks or Better Farm, trained by Stanley Gold and ridden by Jose E. Lopez blew past Run Sully Run and six others in the $75,000 Pasco Stakes, a precursor to next month's Sam F. Davis Stakes.

Now, Honey Honey Honey is the undisputed top male 3-year-old in Oldsmar this meet, whether the bettors believe it or not.

"As long as we keep winning," said Jacks or Better Farm owner Fred Brei, "I don't care if they believe in him."

The only thing that would have made the 5 1/2 -length victory more impressive was if trainer Nick Zito hadn't scratched Cool Coal Man earlier in the day.

The 9-5 morning-line favorite and possible Kentucky Derby contender did not make the trip from Palm Meadows Training Center in South Florida for undisclosed reasons. Zito also scratched him from the Grade II Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park two weeks ago.

None of that made any difference to Brei, who plans to bring Honey Honey Honey back for the $200,000 Sam F. Davis next month and the Grade III Tampa Bay Derby in March if all goes well.

In the first stakes race of the day, the $65,000 Gasparilla for 3-year-old fillies, Aurora Springs Stable product Awesome Chic earned a half-length victory against Formal Arrangement. Previously unbeaten favorite Unfolding Wish, of the Kinsman Stable, was third.

The top three all battled for the lead early in a pack that also included Jules Concerto. Awesome Chic, ridden by Irwin Rosendo and trained by Rafael Ramos, began to fade in the turn, and it appeared Unfolding Wish would duel Formal Arrangement for the win. But Awesome Chic surged back on the inside and took the lead, holding off a brief rally from the other two.

"I was not surprised. That filly, her pedigree is long distance," said Aurora Springs Stable owner Jose Acero. "In my opinion, this filly is going all the way."

Awesome Chic finished third to Unfolding Wish as the favorite in the Sandpiper Stakes on Dec. 29, but the owners believe she has the talent to race the best 3-year-old fillies in North America and make it to the Kentucky Oaks on Kentucky Derby Day.

She certainly has the pedigree, with similar bloodlines as Ginger Punch, a winner of more than $1.7 million last year. Her next stop will be either the Suncoast Stakes at TBD or an Ocala Breeders Sales race.

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

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