Coffee Boy rallies past D' Funnybone in Carry Back

Last updated: 7/10/10 7:24 PM

Coffee Boy finished fast for
his first graded stakes win
(Jim Lisa Photos)

Gary Barber’s COFFEE BOY (Yonaguska) sprung an upset in Saturday’s
$200,000

Carry Back S. (G2) on the Summit of Speed program, rallying past 1-9
favorite D’ Funnybone (D’wildcat) in deep stretch of the six-furlong
event for three-year-olds at Calder. Winner of the Unbridled S. over the
track/distance in his previous outing, the Marty Wolfson-trained colt
scored by a length in his graded stakes debut, stopping the teletimer in
1:11 2/5 with Jermaine Bridgmohan.

D’ Funnybone broke well and had seized control of the pace by the
time he reached the quarter-pole in :22, with Coffee Boy about 1 1/2
lengths back stalking the pace along the rail. The heavy favorite
continued to show the way by a half-length after a half-mile in :45 3/5
and edged clear after turning for home, passing the five-furlong mark in
:58 2/5 with a 1 1/2-length advantage. But Coffee Boy responded to the
urgings of his jockey in final eighth of a mile, perhaps catching Edgar
Prado and D’ Funnybone by surprise as they gamely closed up the rail to
snatch the victory in the final yards.

“We were fortunate enough to be sitting in a perfect spot going down the
backstretch,” Bridgmohan said. “I knew I had a lot of horse around the turn, so
it was just a matter of whether or not we could run down the leader. The rail
opened up and when I asked him for more he fired up in there.”

“Jermaine (Bridgmohan) rode a great race today,” Wolfson commented. “He was
patient and never came off the rail. He’ll most likely go on the road next,
probably Saratoga, but Gary Barber (owner) is from California and he might want
to run him out there, which would be fine.”

Prado was diplomatic following the defeat.

“No excuses, (D’ Funnybone) ran his race,” Prado said. “We were sitting
forwardly placed, made our move around the turn into the lead and in the stretch
he kicked on for me. The other horse just had a little more than we did at the
end of it.”

Off as the 4-1 second choice among four rivals, Coffee Boy paid $10.80 and
$2.10. D’ Funnybone totaled $2.10, and it was 4 3/4 lengths back to Peace at
Dawn (Peace Rules), who was followed under the wire by Dream of Atlantis (Stormy
Atlantic). Bernie the Maestro (Bernstein) was scratched. The 1-2 exacta returned
$15.20.

Bred in Florida by Get Away Farm, Coffee Boy was transferred to Wolfson
following an 8 1/2-maiden win over state-bred rivals in his second career start
at Gulfstream Park on March 18. After a nearly two-month freshening, the dark
bay jumped up to stakes company with a runner-up in the May 8 Ride the Rails S.
at Calder, and he was exiting a three-quarters of a length score in the June 12
Unbridled. Coffee Boy has now earned $207,750 from a 5-3-1-0 line.

He’s out of the unraced Unbridled’s Song mare Heythisis Sarah, who is a
half-sister to multiple stakes winner Act Smart (Smarten) and the dam of three
younger half-brothers by Imperialism: the unraced juvenile Mr. Dunkin, the
yearling Coffee Man and a 2010 foal. This is the same family of multiple Grade 2
heroine and Grade 1 runner-up Two Item Limit (Twining).