Former claimer R Disaster, a graded stakes winner last year at age 4, is now one at age 5.
Making her first start of 2026, the speedster returned in top form in the $167,500 Hurricane Bertie Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park, taking command soon after the start and dominating on the front end by 5 1/2 lengths under jockey Micah Husbands. The Florida-bred daughter of Awesome Slew , unraced since running second in the Nov. 8 Dream Supreme Stakes at Churchill Downs, raced 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.28 after setting fractions of :22.36 and :44.86.
"I just sat there and she did everything easy. That was just her, all her," Husbands said.
None of her rivals could threaten the runaway winner, with Sterling Silver finishing as a distant runner-up, a neck in front of third-place Beyond Belief.
"She was very impressive because I didn't think she was 100% fit," trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said from Barbados, where he won the Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup with Public Sector. "She only had four works, but she does run well fresh. This was the first time we gave her a real break, so I was concerned about her fitness."
R Disaster improved to 8-6-0 in 14 starts and advanced her earnings to $720,890. The Hurricane Bertie was her second win at the graded level after she took the 2025 Gallant Bloom Stakes (G2) last fall at Aqueduct Racetrack. She races for owners Averill Racing, Two Eight Racing, and ATM Racing.
She was bred in Florida by Ocala Stud and J. Michael O'Farrell Jr. out of the Gottcha Gold mare Making Havoc.
Awesome Slew, the fourth-leading sire in Florida in 2025, is again among the state's leaders through the first few months of 2026. He stands at Ocala Stud for $4,000.
Video: Hurricane Bertie S. (G3)
Litigation Sizzles on Gulfstream Turf
In earlier stakes action Saturday at Gulfstream, Stone Farm's Litigation notched a second consecutive stakes victory in capturing the $105,000 Silks Run Stakes in near-record time. The 1 3/4-length victory followed a narrow score in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Stakes in late January at Gulfstream.
Rezasrolex finished second ahead of Eamonn in third.
The winner, a homebred 4-year-old son of the Twirling Candy out of the Storm Cat mare Argue, sped 5 furlongs on firm turf in :53.80 under Mario Gutierrez—just off the course record of :53.61 set by Pay Any Price in 2017. Litigation closed from fifth from behind blistering opening fractions of :20.49 and :42.26 established by Souper Quest under pressure from Coppola. They would fade to finish last and second to last, respectively, in the field of seven.
Litigation split those rivals after saving ground around the turn and drew clear late. He paid $4.80 to win as the second favorite.
Litigation's victory gave trainer Brian Lynch a Championship Meet-leading ninth stakes victory, all on turf, and a sixth with Gutierrez up.
"It's been absolutely fantastic," said Lynch, who is also among the overall meet leaders. "I'm just thrilled to be a part of it."
