LNJ Foxwoods' Outfoxed, a record-setting stakes winner to break her maiden last month, followed up with another eye-catching performance to earn a second straight stakes victory in Saturday's $400,000 My Dear Girl at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
The My Dear Girl for fillies and $400,000 In Reality for colts and geldings, both going 1 1/16 miles, co-headlined the final leg of the tradition-rich FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series for juveniles sired by accredited stallions standing in Florida.
Breaking from the rail against seven rivals as the 1-5 favorite in her two-turn debut, Outfoxed ($2.40) completed the distance in 1:47.34 over a fast main track to win by 9 ¼ lengths over 25-1 long shot Veiled Prophet. She was a 13 ½-length winner of the $200,000 Susan's Girl Aug. 28 at Gulfstream, the largest margin in race history.
“She's certainly done good things for us in the last 30 days, that's for sure,” trainer Bill Mott said. “She beat this group easily enough. We know the water can always get deeper.”
Outfoxed had a much different trip under meet-leading rider Edgard Zayas than her previous start, when she balked at the starting gate before loading and then raced outside horses in the seven-furlong Susan's Girl. Her unveiling came in a 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight sprint July 15 at Saratoga, where she ran third.
“The first time coming down to Florida last time she was a little nervous, but they schooled her in the morning after the race and they said she was doing awesome. The gate crew knew her already and she was really nice in the gate. She actually was a little sharp today,” Zayas said. “[Judging by] the way she won last time, and I think she has a lot of class, I was pretty confident she was going to handle the distance pretty good.”
Susan's Girl runner-up Devilette was once again out on the lead under Cristian Torres tracked by My Sassenach, third in the Susan's Girl, and Cajun Cousin, while Zayas and Outfoxed found themselves hemmed in along the rail in fourth by 30-1 long shot Sequin Lady midway down the backstretch.
As the field approached the far turn, Zayas was able to put Outfoxed in the clear four wide and the daughter of Valiant Minister responded by closing in quickly on the leaders. She overtook My Sassenach at the midpoint of the turn and straightened for home with an open lead that expanded through the stretch under a hand ride and ultimately geared down nearing the wire.
“Last time she was on the outside and I had a clean trip the whole race, and it was a little shorter so the pace was a little faster. Today the pace was a little slower and going two turns, I really didn't want to put her out there on the lead,” Zayas said. “She was the target of the race [so] I wasn't going to go against her. I just wanted to cover up a little bit and then put her in the clear and let her do her thing. She did awesome.”
Outfoxed, who fetched $360,000 at the 2020 OBS October sale, is only the second horse to represent Mott in the FSS series. The other, Inner Light, finished seventh in the 2017 In Reality. She has been with Mott's former assistant, Gulfstream-based trainer Ralph Nicks, since the Susan's Girl.
“She's been training good and put on some weight,” Nicks said. “She's a nice horse, plain and simple. The real boss is going to have a lot of fun with her.”
Mott was unsure whether the Breeders' Cup in November at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., could be on the horizon for Outfoxed.
“I think I'd have to talk to the powers that be. We'll talk to the owners and managers,” he said. “That would be a big step, but we'll see what they want to do. I couldn't answer that question right now myself.”
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