LYNX

2022 FLORIDA-BRED CHAMPION 2-YEAR-OLD FILLY

Sleek and fast like her namesake, Arindel homebred Lynx proved precocity pays off with a Florida-bred championship crown.

Lynx won at first asking, breaking her maiden by a length-andthree-quarters on May 19 at Gulfstream Park. She also flashed some speed, stopping the clock in :58.65 for the five furlongs. Lynx seemed to be the perfect kind of juvenile filly for the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series and that prediction was correct.

The Carlos A. David trainee’s next appearance in the $100,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Desert Vixen on Aug. 6 at Gulfstream Park didn’t disappoint. She raced in sixth until around the far turn and slowly gained ground on leader Gemma’s Curls. Lynx rallied on the outside, overtaking Gemma’s Curls to win by a length and a quarter. Trust Me was third. Winning time for the six furlongs was 1:12.53.

Next up for predatory Lynx was the $200,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Susan’s Girl on Sept. 3 at Gulfstream Park. Again stalking her rivals, Lynx charged from fifth on the turn to win by four and three-quarter lengths over Guardian Angel. Cajun Tease came in for the show money. Lynx stopped the clock in 1:25.79 for the seven furlongs.

With a possible FSS sweep on the line in the $400,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes My Dear Girl on Oct. 1 at Gulfsteam Park, Lynx ran her typical come-from-behind race. But this time she wasn’t able to catch winner Atomically, who won by six-and-a-quarter lengths. Lynx had to settle for second best in her only defeat on the season.

A 2020 bay filly by Arindel stallion Brethren out of Darby Rose, by Red Bullet, Lynx recorded an outstanding juvenile season. On four starts, Lynx notched three wins, including two stakes, and one stakes second, in but four starts. She banked $303,000.

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LYNX

2020 bay filly by Brethren – Darby Rose, by Red Bullet

Breeder/Owner: Arindel

Trainer: Carlos A. David

2022 Race Record/Earnings

4-3-1-0/$303,000

2022 Black-Type Stakes Record

1st – FTBOA Florida Sire Susan’s Girl Stakes

1st – FTBOA Florida Sire Desert Vixen Stakes

2nd – FTBOA Florida Sire My Dear Girl Stakes

Hot Peppers

2019 bay filly by Khozan – Friends Pro, by Friends Lake

Breeders: Brent & Crystal Fernung

Owners: Michael Dubb & Michael J. Caruso

Trainers: Rudy R. Rodriguez & Ronald Spatz

2022 Race Record/Earnings

8-5-1-0/$381,500

2022 Black-Type Stakes Record

1st – Victory Ride Stakes (G3)

1st – Jersey Girl Stakes (L)

2nd – Test Stakes (G1)

2022 FLORIDA-BRED CHAMPION FEMALE SPRINTER

No matter where she ran, Hot Peppers managed to spice things up on her way to cooking up a Florida-bred championship title.

In but her second career start, Hot Peppers garnered some attention with a rousing maidenbreaking win by 14 ¹/₄ lengths. She also displayed her speed, posting a winning time of 1:03.25 for the five-and-a-half furlongs on Jan. 6 at Gulf-stream Park. In her initial win, she was owned by trainer Ronald Spatz, Tom Cannell and Debbi Gagne. Sold privately after her maiden win to Michael Dubb, Hot Peppers then posted back-to-back wins in an allowance and an optional claiming allowance.

By the time she started in the $145,500 Jersey Girl on June 12 at Belmont Park, Hot Peppers was owned by Dubb and Michael J. Caruso. She also had a new trainer in Rudy R. Rodriguez. Hot Peppers rewarded her new team with a wire-to-wire victory by six-and-three-quarter lengths over Stand Up Comic. Sweet Solare was third. In posting her first black type win, Hot Peppers stopped the clock in 1:10.24 for the six furlongs.

Just shy of a month later, Hot Peppers garnered her initial graded-stakes win in the Victory Ride Stakes (G3) on July 9 at Belmont Park. Hot Peppers broke slightly off, brushed with Sterling Silver, and raced three-wide around the turn. She moved into the lead at the top of the stretch and held off Half Is Enough to win by three-quarters of a length. Sterling Silver finished third.

Hot Peppers added to her black-type resume with a second to Chi Town Lady in the Test (G1) on Aug. 6 at Saratoga. On the season, Hot Peppers posted five wins, one graded stakes and one stakes, and one Grade I second in eight starts. She earned $381,500 on the season.

Consigned by Journeyman Bloodstock Services to the 2020 OBS October yearling sale, Hot Peppers sold for $40,000 to De Meric Sales. The latter then consigned the filly to the 2021 OBS June juvenile sale, where she was bought for $16,000 by Ronald Spatz.

Bred by Brent and Crystal Fernung, Hot Peppers is a 2019 bay filly by Khozan out of Friends Pro, by Friends Lake. Khozan, who stands at the Fernungs’ Journeyman Stud, was the leading Florida sire in 2020, 2021 and 2022.