Photo:

Ryan Thompson / Gulfstream Park

The Breeders’ Cup means nearly everything in deciding year-end championships. In the 2-year-old divisions, that is especially true, but as we well know, not all the best juveniles run in the Breeders’ Cup. Rated by Merit is just such a horse.

No 2-year-old has been awarded higher speed figures, but all the impressive numbers for the St. Elias Stables’ homebred had come sprinting. That was until Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Looking right at home going two turns for the first time, the son of Battalion Runner cruised along on the lead and sprinted home the easiest kind of winner in the $300,000 Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ & Owners’ Association Florida Sire In Reality Stakes.

In so doing Rated by Merit improved his career record to a spotless four wins from four career starts.

Trained by Michael Yates and ridden once again by Jesús Rios, the gray colt still may be somewhat anonymous on a national scale, but in South Florida they know.

He was sent to the post as a prohibitive favorite in the 1 1/16-mile final leg of the Florida Sire Stakes series against seven other juvenile males.

Breaking sharply from the inside, Rated by Merit grabbed control heading into the first turn. The undefeated colt ran comfortably up the backstretch with a short lead while setting moderate early fractions.

Heading into the far turn, the race’s second choice Classic of Course made a big move to make things briefly interesting, but Rios had still not moved a muscle on the favorite. Given his cue at the top of the lane, Rated by Merit responded and quickly put his competition away on his way to a six-length victory.

No match for the winner, Classic of Course was much the best of the rest and finished a full nine lengths ahead of the third horse.

The winning final time of 1:45.71 for Rated by Merit was nearly four full seconds faster than that of My Denysse, who upset heavily favored Stunner a few races earlier in the $300,000 My Dear Girl, the female version of the In Reality.

“At the beginning of the race I decided to put the horse in the best position possible. When I took the lead at the beginning I was expecting some pressure, but I didn’t get any. For that reason I was very relaxed with the horse, and in the final stretch he got wide a little bit, but the horse was very strong in the last part of the race,” Rios said. “He is a very special horse. I feel very blessed to win this race and win the triple crown of the Florida Sire Stakes.”

In winning for the fourth time in as many starts, Rated by Merit became the 11th horse to sweep all three legs of the Florida Sire Stakes series since it began in 1982.

Out of the Speightstown mare Banner Waving, the impressive Florida-bred comes from a deep and rich female family of William S. Farish, which includes top-notch mares Runup the Colors and Up the Flagpole.

As for his sire, Battalion Runner is a 10-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song out of a Tapit mare who enjoyed success before seeing his career cut short by injury. The Todd Pletcher-trained runner finished second at the favorite in the 2017 Grade 2 Wood Memorial behind Irish War Cry and ahead of Cloud Computing. From his third crop, Rated by Merit is his top horse to run so far.

Rated by Merit was unveiled for the first time going six furlongs at Gulfstream Park on July 13 and romped home by nearly 10 lengths. Next came an easy victory in the six-furlong Dr. Fager Stakes, the first leg of the Florida Sire Stakes series.

He then earned his third consecutive 90-plus Beyer Speed Figures, according to Daily Racing Form, and received a 99 for comfortably winning the Affirmed Stakes, the seven-furlong second leg of the series six weeks before stretching out to two turns for the In Reality.

Saturday’s victory was his final race at 2, having won his first four races by a combined margin of 25 3/4 lengths.

“We’ll freshen him and then map up a plan for the winter meet here,” Yates said.

It remains to be seen whether the unbeaten and unheralded colt will be a true contender at 10 furlongs in Kentucky Derby 2025 five months from now, but it would be a mistake to fail to recognize him as one of America’s best 2-year-olds.