Florida-bred R Disaster Dominates G3 Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream

R Disaster powered to victory in the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream Park, reinforcing a 5-year-old résumé that has never seen her finish worse than second in 13 career starts. The Florida-bred daughter of Awesome Slew was ridden by Micah Husbands for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and entered the race as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in her first start of 2026.

Race 11, Hurricane Bertie Stakes (G3), Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida: 6 1/2 furlongs, dirt, $175,000 purse, 4-year-olds and up fillies and mares, scheduled 5:52 PM local, field of nine, Florida-bred Incentive Fund includes $25,000. FTBOA’s photo caption summed the finish: "Florida-bred Thoroughbred R Disaster, piloted by jockey Micah Husbands, gallops to the wire at Gulfstream Park unchallenged, winning the 2026 Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie," photo ©Lauren King.

Owned by Rich Averill and Two Eight Racing LLC, R Disaster is a 5-year-old by Awesome Slew, a stallion that stands in Florida at Ocala Stud. TrueNicks and Gulfstream Park kept the emphasis on her durability and class: she has seven wins in 13 starts and, per the career ledger cited in pre-race notes, has never finished outside the top two. Her 2025 résumé includes a victory in the Gallant Bloom Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct and runner-up efforts last year in the Hurricane Bertie, the Vagrancy Stakes (G3) and the Honorable Miss Stakes (G2), where she finished ahead of Scylla, later the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. had a heavy hand in the race, representing five of the nine starters in the Hurricane Bertie. Gulfstream’s entries sheet listed R Disaster as the stable’s headliner for the day; the mare was making her seasonal debut for Joseph. Micah Husbands, named on Gulfstream’s card, had the call aboard the favorite.

The field included established rivals and veteran stakes performers. Mark T. Anderson’s Sterling Silver, a 7-year-old daughter of Cupid with 11 career wins including seven stakes and more than $1.3 million in earnings, was among the principals; trainer Anthony Margotta Jr. emphasized her maturity and temperament, saying, "She’s very straightforward. She’s one of the easiest horses to train. She does everything you ask. She’s just a mature 7-year-old, very classy mare, very classy." Helen Alexander’s Roswell, Mott-trained and listed at 7-2 on the morning line with Edgard Zayas aboard, sought her first stakes victory after winning two of her last four starts. Smith Ranch Stables’ Lynn’s Milky Way, a 4-year-old by Volatile trained by Luis Ramirez, entered off back-to-back six-furlong optional-claiming wins with Mario Gutierrez taking the mount. Gulfstream also named Dylan Davis on Indy Bay, Jorge Ruiz on Luvumorgan, Edwin Gonzalez on Taliesin and Miguel Vasquez on Andrea, with Beyond Belief rounding out the field.

The Gulfstream card also featured a strong performance elsewhere: Litigation set a near-record in the Silks Run Stakes on the same day, a card-side note that underscored a high-quality program at Hallandale Beach. BloodHorse, TrueNicks and Gulfstream Park provided pre-race and recap context for R Disaster’s win, while FTBOA supplied the photo and caption that captured her unchallenged stretch run.

R Disaster’s Hurricane Bertie victory underlines the statistical thread that has run through her career: seven wins in 13 starts and no finish worse than second. With the $175,000 purse and a $25,000 Florida-bred incentive share on the line, the performance reinforced her status as one of the division’s steadiest graded-stakes sprinters heading into the rest of 2026.