Ribo Bobo claims the Caixa Eletronica

Along with fellow New York fan favorite Saginaw, Caixa Eletronica was arguably one of the best claims in recent memory. Picked up for $62,500 by Repole Stable on March 9, 2011, Caixa Eletronica went on to become a multiple graded stakes winner and earner of $1,863,505 for his new connections before his untimely passing at the beginning of this year. While Saginaw raced solely on the New York circuit, Caixa Eletronica began his career in the Sunshine State, and his trainer, Todd Pletcher, winters there every year. While it seemed strange at first that Gulfstream Park should be the one to honor Caixa Eletronica with a stakes race since the gelding rose to popularity in New York, one look at his early records shows that it all makes sense. In a fitting ending to the inaugural running of the Caixa Eletronica Stakes, it was another superb claim, Ribo Bobo, that took down the winner's share of the offered $75,000 purse.

Clearly much the best throughout the race, Ribo Bobo was sharp out of the gate and rocketed straight out to the front to contest the lead. For the very early running of the race, the Louis Quatorze gelding was content to sit right off pace-setting Mongolian Saturday. Under a complete lockdown by jockey Paco Lopez, Ribo Bobo took it upon himself to engage Mongolian Saturday entering the far turn and wheeled for home with a short lead. Dad'z Laugh tried to make a race out of it in the stretch run, but Ribo Bobo simply played cat and mouse with that rival, hitting the wire the winner by half a length. Dad'z Laugh was the best of the rest, finishing 3 lengths in front of fading pace-setter Mongolian Saturday. Hardened Wildcat and Songa completed the order of finish.

Ribo Bobo completed the six furlong stake in 1.08:98, just off the track record of 1.08:12 set by Big Drama in 2011. As the favorite, the gelding returned $3.00/$2.20/$2.10 for a $2 wager. Dad'z Laugh, the second betting choice, paid $2.60/$2.20, and Mongolian Saturday paid $2.60 for the show. The $2 exacta paid a mere $7.40, the $1 trifecta returned $11.50, and the $1 superfecta was only worth $21.10.

Ribo Bobo was claimed for a cool $8,000 by Mr. Amore Stable on January 9, 2013. In his very next start, Mr. Amore lost his new addition to Daniel C. Hurtak for $6,250. Determined to get Ribo Bobo back, Mr. Amore Stable dropped $6,250 to pick the gelding up out of 6 furlong claiming race on March 8, 2013. Since then, Ribo Bobo has lost only once for his new connections, amassing a record of 10: 9-1-0 off the second claim for Mr. Amore Stable and trainer Jason Servis. He counts five stakes races among those victories plus an additional score in the Claiming Crown Express.