October 17

Luca at the Spa, confidently ridden by Andrew Worrie, rallied to win drawing away on Monday, breaking his maiden at Finger Lakes. Luca at the Spa was in hand along the two-path, three-path into the lane, chased, responded to take the lead and drew clear late.

We spoke with trainer Jeff Englehart after the race and Jeff said, “This horse has been training great. I believed that he wanted to go two turns and he confirmed my belief this afternoon. He’s a very nice horse.”

We also spoke with Hibiscus Stables CEO Mike Oliveto after the race. Mike said, “It’s all about putting horses in the right spots and allowing them to do their thing. This horse needed the Finger Lakes. He’s only a 3-year-old and he’s now got confidence and he’s coming into his own. He’s going to be a fun horse for us. This race was a lot fun for the partners.”

Luca at the Spa earned $16,060 for Monday’s win.

We’ll see how Luca at the Spa comes out of the race and Jeff will point him accordingly, most likely to an Allowance N2L at Finger Lakes..