Hallandale Beach, FL - Sent off at even odds when making his second start, three-year old Grand Slam colt, Presto Change O, an impressive dark bay, made the lead from the outside post and cruised to an increasing nine length victory under a hand ride on Saturday, February 21^st in the opener at Gulfstream Park.   The favorite galloped out strongly under jockey Alan Garcia.  Trained by Jimmy Jerkens for Susan Moore and M and M Thoroughbred Partners, the fleet bay set fractions of  :22 and :45 before crossing the line at :57.1, nine lengths ahead of the field.

Out of the winning Capote mare Lovethespell, a full sister to stakes winner Bashful Charmer, the colt is one of three winners from four starters and is a full brother to stakes winner and multiple grades stakes placed Cool Spell.  When making his first start, Presto Change O clipped heels early on and lost his rider.  He made no mistakes this time and easily demolished some good horses, including a $2.6 million purchase trained by Todd Pletcher, the Unbridled Song colt Europe, who ran fourth.   Runningforspeight was 2^nd and Storm’n Warrior was half a length back of him for third.

Presto Change O was assigned a 95 Beyer, placing him among an elite group that has run that fast this year, according to the DRF Leaderboard.  As at February 21st, only 29 three-year olds had notched Beyers of 95 or higher.  Ragozin assigned him an impressive 8 ¼ number. Reached for comment, John Moore of M and M Thoroughbred Partners said, “We knew he was very fast, and we have high hopes for him.  They tell us that he cruises well at any speed.  He’ll stretch out from here, of course.  We chose the five furlong race just to get him started, rather than waiting another week for the three-quarter mile race.  We’ll see where we take him as things move along.  He’s obviously a stakes quality colt.”