Former Gulfstream Park and Hialeah Park attorney David Romanik has enjoyed great success this year with his own runners and in various partnerships with trainers Ron Spatz and Michael Lerman, and Ocala’s Southern Cross Farm. His latest score came on Friday at Colonial Downs with Catarina, a 3-year-old filly by First Dude bred by SCF, and whose best efforts in her first seven tries were a recent pair of thirds.

Ismerio Villalobos was in the saddle for start No. 8 and Catarina drew the rail for the six-furlong test. She broke well and followed the two pacesetters down the backstretch in a stalking position, then slipped through along the inside at the top of the stretch and out-gamed her rivals to the wire, breaking her maiden by three-quarters of a length, clocked in 1:11.23. Catarina paid $5 and picked up a check of $16,800 for Romanik, increasing her earnings to $22,650.