Showing speed and tenacity, Markhamian fell back to third approaching the stretch after pressing the early pace in the $125,000 Pasco Stakes Jan. 15 at Tampa Bay Downs, only to prove resurgent down the lane to defeat race favorites Provocateur and Cattin.
The 3-year-old son of Social Inclusion responded tenaciously in the final sixteenth of a mile under Marcos Meneses to notch a 2 1/2-length victory over Provocateur, who had gained the upper hand from a stalking position by midstretch. The 8-5 choice Cattin, winner of the Inaugural Stakes at Tampa last month, was a length back in third.
Markhamian ($12.60) raced seven furlongs on a fast track in 1:23.23 after pushing splits of :22.22 and :44.86 set by eventual fourth-place finisher Magical Mousse.
Juan Carlos Avila trains the winner for Sergio Ripamonti's Santa Rosa Racing Stables. Markhamian made $105,000 Saturday, pushing his record to 2-1-0 in three starts with earnings of $146,250. He had previously won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race Dec. 19 by 4 1/2 lengths at Gulfstream Park after a debut second there Sept. 25.
"This horse did everything perfect today," Meneses said. "The fractions were a little fast, but I knew I had the horse in the last furlong."
Bred in Florida by Ripamonti, Markhamian is out of the Colonel John mare Peruvian Jane. Four of the dam's five foals have raced, with three winning and Markhamian becoming her first stakes winner. She has a yearling filly by The Big Beast and was bred to Adios Charlie for 2022.
Markhamian is the first stakes winner for Social Inclusion, who stands this year for an advertised fee of $5,000 at Diamond B Farm in Pennsylvania.
"I thought he might be done on the turn, but this horse has a lot of (guts)," Ripamonti said of his colt. "Marcos did a good job urging him, and he had the heart to get it done. It was a courageous effort and he drew away at the end.
"He was coming into the race fantastic; he was in great shape and his color and skin tone were good. He was super-ready."
The next leg in Tampa's 3-year-old stakes series is the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) going 1 1/16 miles Feb. 12.
Video: Pasco S. (BT)
A race later, LNJ Foxwoods' Outfoxed captured her third straight stakes victory in Florida, this time defeating open company in the $125,000 Gasparilla Stakes.
The Valiant Minister filly was third at Saratoga Race Course on debut last summer at 2, then broke her maiden in the FTBOA Florida Sire Susan's Girl Stakes before annexing the FTBOA Florida Sire My Dear Girl Stakes, both wins coming at Gulfstream.
The seven-furlong Gasparilla marked her 3-year-old debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, and jockey Samy Camacho rated her in fifth early as Platinum Gem opened with a :22.09 quarter-mile on the fast main track. The pacesetter ran the half in :44.65 but began to give way while Camacho was calling upon his mount, the even-money favorite.
Outfoxed picked off rivals in the turn, entered the homestretch four wide, and put away Strategic Bird to gain the lead in the final sixteenth. Goddess of Fire made her own rally from the back but Outfoxed held on to win by three-quarters of a length and paid $4.20 to win. The final time was 1:23.37.
"It was a different group of horses on a different racetrack, and I thought it took her about a quarter-mile to get her legs under her," said Mott, who watched the race from South Florida. "But she was able to get up in gear enough for the win and was very professional about it.
"The water is going to get deeper from here on, and I think her toughest tests are ahead of her," added Mott, who said the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes Feb. 12 at a mile and 40 yards could be an option for Outfoxed's next start. "We want to keep the doors open at Tampa and elsewhere."
Goddess of Fire rallied belatedly to finish second by three-quarters of a length ahead of weakening third-place finish Strategic Bid in the eight-horse field.
Outfoxed was bred in Florida by Baoma Corp. and is the first foal out of the stakes-winning Kantharos mare Savingtime. The dam has since produced a 2-year-old Tunwoo filly, a yearling Valiant Minister filly, and was bred back to Valiant Minister for 2022.
First time through the auction ring, Outfoxed sold for $27,000 to Jesse Hoppel out of Abbie Road Farm's consignment to the 2020 Ocala Breeders' Sales October Yearling Sale. She was then picked up for $360,000 by the bloodstock agency partnership of Solis/Litt from Hoppel's Coastal Equine consignment to the 2021 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. After four starts, her earnings stand at $477,000.
