From the Mayor

from theMAYOR Ocala’s hopes ride with Simplification

BY MAYOR KENT GUINN

In May all eyes turn to Lexington, Ky., and this year we send all our strong Ocala vibes with Simplification, the Florida-bred Bay Colt owned by Tami Bobo and trained by Antonio Sano.

When I went out recently to the Ocala Breeders Sales, I stopped by Tom Ventura’s office to tell him what a great job they had done with the sale and trainer Mark Casse happened to be there. I took the opportunity to pick their brains about a good horse to pick for the upcoming Kentucky Derby and Casse and both were quick to jump on Simplificiation. When someone like Casse, who trained War of Will to victory in the 2019 Preakness Stakes and Sir Winston to victory in the Belmont that same year, says he likes a horse then you had better take it seriously. I know on good authority there are other trainers out there saying the same thing. If you’ve watched the horse, you’ll know it’s great at coming from behind; it just kind of hangs out there and finishes real strong. On top of that, Bobo tells me the horse loves running on the dirt, so the Derby could be a natural fit for him. I was lucky enough to get to meet and speak with Bobo, and she will make it real easy to root for Simplification. She’s a great horsewoman and is very humble. She truly is someone who has worked real hard to get where she is. We talked about walk from the track to the winner’s circle and how special it would be, but also about the fair amount of luck involved. “I hope I get to walk that walk,” she said. Bobo remarked that it takes a combination of things to win the Run for the Roses: “You have to do all the right things to get lucky.”

On a side note, I’m always curious as to how horses get their names, and such is very much the case with Simplification. According to Bobo, the horse’s original name was Simple Confection, but the people working in the barn had a difficult time pronouncing it, mistakenly saying ‘Simplification.’ So, in order to “simplify” matters, Bobo decided to just call the horse Simplification.

I believe this horse is going to win and that’s why I am taking it for my annual friendly bet with Louisville mayor Greg Fisher, who has not yet revealed his pick. He generally puts up some Kentucky Bourbon while I offer up some Kendall Jackson wine – may the best horse win.

In four starts this year, Simplification has won twice with one second-place and one third-place finish. His victory came in March at the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, which basically qualified the horse for the Derby and which is no small feat as a Kentucky Derby prep race. The win there put Simplification in some pretty good company of past winners: Spectacular Bid, Tim Tam, Kauai King, Bet Twice, Forty Niner, Proud Truth and Thunder Gulch.

Here’s to Ocala’s next great horse coming down the stretch with a victory in its sights!