It’s a great time of year to have 3-year-olds in the barn who are steadily improving. Sophomores Aqua Regia and Ring Weekend notched their first career victories over the weekend, and had our Partners celebrating in frigid New York and sunny Florida.

It’s a great time of year to have 3-year-olds in the barn who are steadily improving. Sophomores Aqua Regia and Ring Weekend notched their first career victories over the weekend, and had our Partners celebrating in frigid New York and sunny Florida.

Aqua Regia, a daughter of Pollard’s Vision, drew clear to a comfortable 3 3/4 length victory in her first try around two turns on Saturday at Aqueduct. Trained by Tom Albertrani, she proved her previous third place effort was no fluke and proved much the best under Eddie Castro.

“Before the race I advised a shivering Eddie Castro that it’s always warmer in the front, and he followed directions to a tee,” WPT Chief Operating Officer Tom Bellhouse said with a smile. “She broke great, settled off a longshot speed demon, made her move when Eddie asked her, and just kept going. It wasn’t a particularly fast race, and they didn’t give her a huge number, but we just love how she keeps improving every time she goes out there.”

Just 17 minutes later, Graham Motion trainee Ring Weekend broke his maiden against a promising group of maidens at Gulfstream Park. Our team was concerned about breaking from the dreaded 10 hole prior to the race because only one horse out of 30 had won from post eight or wider at the current meet.

The concern turned into celebration less than two minutes later following a picture perfect ride by jockey Alan Garcia. Due to the short run into the first turn, Ring Weekend was caught five wide in the early stages of the race. He then settled into a very comfortable position down the backside, stuck his nose in front on the turn under a chilly Garcia, and held sway while under firm encouragement.

“The Partners were absolutely ecstatic after the race,” said WPT Executive Vice President Clif Hickok. “We had several new owners who were in the winner’s circle for the first time. It’s great to see people experiencing the thrill of victory with their families.”

Ring Weekend will likely contest a first level allowance at Gulfstream next, but will also be nominated to a number of 3-year-old stake races.