R Harper Rose Basks In Forward Gal Win

R Harper Rose (Khozan) represented her fellow Florida-breds well in Saturday's GIII Forward Gal S. over the Hallandale strip as she dropped the hammer down the lane to win.

The OBS March grad made her debut a winning one as she streaked to a gate-to-wire finish by 6 1/4 lengths at Gulfstream Park in early August. Stepping into optional claiming company over the same surface Sept. 22, the filly was equally as potent when she won by 5 3/4 lengths.

On her home floor last fall, the bay took on Florida sire stakes company and won going seven furlongs in the Susan's Girl S. Oct. 21, but ran out of steam at a mile and sixteenth as the runner-up in the My Dear Girl S. Dec. 2.

Cutting back and as the 2-1 second choice here, the 3-year-old was content to allow Fiona's Magic (St Patrick's Day) to show the way up the backstretch. R Harper Rose kept close tabs on the leader and around the far turn she was given her cue. With a fluid, sweeping move, she took control at the quarter pole and ran on professionally to collect her first graded stakes win as the early pacesetter was second.

“She's so fast but she can settle, and back doing what she wants to do going one turn,” said trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.

“I'm just proud of her today. Everything went right into this race, and she showed it today. Edgar [Zayas] was very patient. They broke well, [Fiona's Magic] wanted the lead and he didn't force the issue. I think the first three-eighths of the race it worked to our advantage. It wasn't a crazy pace.

“This is it for her, one turn. We're not going to experiment. Last time things didn't go right but we're going to keep her to one turn. There's a lot of races for her at one turn.”

Pedigree Notes:
This is multiple leading Florida sire Khozan's fourth stateside graded stakes winner out of six crops of racing age. The winner's dam registered a foal last year when she produced a filly by Leinster, but True Bliss was not bred for this season. Her half-siblings include MSW Cherokee Triangle (Cherokee Run) and GSW Hierro (Hard Spun), who Stonestreet acquired for $350,000 at the OBS Select 2-Year-Old Sale in 2011.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FORWARD GAL S.-GIII, $145,000, Gulfstream, 2-3, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:24.34, ft.
1–R HARPER ROSE, 120, f, 3, by Khozan
                1st Dam: True Bliss, by Yes It's True
                2nd Dam: Brief Bliss, by Navarone
                3rd Dam: Annul, by Conquistador Cielo
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($16,000 Ylg '22 OBSOCT; $60,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-Averill Racing LLC and Two Eight Racing LLC; B-Sally J. Andersen (FL); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.; J-Edgard J. Zayas. $86,725. Lifetime Record: 5-4-1-0, $344,025. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Fiona's Magic, 120, f, 3, St Patrick's Day–Mollie's Magic, by Factum. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Stonehedge LLC (FL); T-Michael Yates. $30,750.
3–Chi Chi, 120, f, 3, Audible–Simply Confection, by Candy Ride (Arg). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($47,000 RNA Ylg '22 OBSWIN). O-Sam Wilensky; B-France Weiner (FL); T-Herman Wilensky. $16,375.
Margins: 2, 1 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 2.20, 5.30, 24.30.
Also Ran: Scalable, Nikitis, Witwatersrand. Scratched: Kissedbyanangel.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Kenny McPeek’s Mystik Dan Upends Oaklawn’s Southwest

One of four Kentucky Derby preps run Saturday, the $800,000 GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn Park was the richest. It also promised to be the most wide-open betting contest and it didn't disappoint as a mud-splattered 11-1 MYSTIK DAN (c, 3, Goldencents–Ma'am, by Colonel John) pulled the upset for trainer Kenny McPeek. Last fall's Ed Brown S. winner Just Steel (Justify) got up for second while GIII Street Sense S. winner Liberal Arts (Arrogate) secured third. The Southwest offers points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale for the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Out from the 10 post in the mud, Mystik Dan broke sharply only to angle over to the rail and settle midpack under Brian Hernandez, Jr. Otto the Conqueror (Street Sense), winner of the Springboard Mile S. in December, set a :23.56 and :47.95 pace up front with his ears pricked while previously undefeated race favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Carbone (Mitole) pressured him from the outside. Meanwhile, Mystik Dan bided his time on the rail, with Hernandez carefully concealing the power about to be unleashed. Just Steel, keen early in fourth, collared Otto the Conqueror from the outside off the turn and looked to be running easily while Mystik Dan, so close to the rail he could have scraped paint, found a seam and burst through. The two spent the briefest of moments on even terms before Mystik Dan thumbed his nose at the competition, simply forgetting to stop as he looked stronger with every stride and sailed home eight lengths to the good after being geared down late. It was a visually impressive performance as Just Steel held for second, a neck over a closing Liberal Arts, who was nine lengths clear of the rest.

An open-daylight maiden sprint winner at Churchill in November, Mystik Dan brought a field-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure into the Southwest. Last seen finishing fifth behind Catching Freedom (Constitution) in Oaklawn's Smarty Jones S. on New Year's Day at his first try at the Southwest distance, he had faded in the stretch that day after pressing the pace.

McPeek and Hernandez also teamed up to win Oaklawn's Kentucky Oaks points race on Saturday–the $250,000 Martha Washington S.–with longshot Band of Gold (Preservationist). The pair of victories marked the first wins by each of the veterans in both of the races.

Well clear in the stretch | Coady/Robi Heffington

Pedigree Notes:

A homebred for the team of Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby, and 4G Racing LLC, Mystik Dan is out of a Colonel John mare bred by the late Lucy Bassett and originally trained by McPeek. Ma'am, out of a full-sister to GI Hollywood Futurity and GII Lane's End Breeders' Futurity winner Siphonic (Siphon {Brz}), also hails from the same family as GISW Laragh (Tapit), MGSW and sire Summer Front (War Front), and MGSW & GISP Dixie Dot Com (Dixie Brass). Ma'am has a 2-year-old Unified filly named Yes Ma'am and a yearling Knicks Go filly named Ford's Ma'am for the same team. She was bred to Wells Bayou for 2024.

Two-time GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner and Spendthrift sire Goldencents has 27 black-type winners worldwide. Mystik Dan is his seventh graded winner while also being the 10th black-type winner out of a daughter of Colonel John. The latter was last reported to be standing in Korea.

 

Saturday, Oaklawn
SOUTHWEST S.-GIII, $800,000, Oaklawn, 2-3, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.67, my.
1–MYSTIK DAN, 118, c, 3, by Goldencents
                1st Dam: Ma'am, by Colonel John
                2nd Dam: Lady Siphonica, by Siphon (Brz)
                3rd Dam: Cherokee Crossing, by Cherokee Colony
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Lance
Gasaway, Daniel Hamby & 4G Racing LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G.
McPeek; J-Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. $408,000. Lifetime
Record: 5-2-1-0, $510,110. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple
Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for
the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Just Steel, 117, c, 3, Justify–Irish Lights (Aus), by Fastnet Rock
(Aus). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($500,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP).
O-BC Stables, LLC; B-Summerhill Farm (KY); T-D. Wayne Lukas.
$136,000.
3–Liberal Arts, 119, c, 3, Arrogate–Ismene, by Tribal Rule.
O/B-Stephen Ferraro & Evan Ferraro (KY); T-Robert Medina.
$68,000.
Margins: 8, NK, 9. Odds: 11.40, 10.30, 4.90.
Also Ran: Awesome Road, Common Defense, Otto the Conqueror, Carbone, Linebacker, Charleston, Magic Grant, Wynstock. Scratched: Maycocks Bay.
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Hades Guts It Out In the Holy Bull As Fierceness Folds

All eyes were on Eclipse Award and runaway GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Fierceness (City of Light) making his seasonal debut in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream Park.

The tote read 1-5 on the champ, but the Repole homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' was out of gas when push came to shove, and, in a bit of an oddly run race, D J Stable and Robert Cotran's unbeaten Hades (Awesome Slew) controlled a moderate tempo, slipped away from Fierceness in the final furlong and held off Domestic Product (Practical Joke) by two lengths for a 9-1 upset and 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

“This is what you hope for,” D J Stable's Jonathan Green said. “You hope you have a horse that's this good that can carry your dreams into another level for the Florida Derby and then the Kentucky Derby. The thing that was so exciting to me about this race was not only the way that (trainer) Joe (Orseno) campaigned the horse, which was outstanding. He knows how to handle a horse and get him into the Triple Crown races. But I was so happy that our horse went eyeball-to-eyeball with a champ and put him away. To me, that really shows something. It means the horse really wants to (win), and that's something you can't teach.”

Making his two-turn debut Saturday, Hades, a $130,000 OBS April purchase, was driven away from his rail draw by Paco Lopez, and Fierceness was also given a dig by John Velazquez in an effort to gain some forward position, but Fierceness did get fired up a bit as a result. Hades made the running from Inveigled (Enticed) and a three-wide Fierceness, and sensing a slow pace, Velazquez sent Fierceness into the lead a good three furlongs from home.

Right alongside and in with every chance, Fierceness and Hades appeared to lightly brush inside the eighth pole and while Fierceness had no more to give, Hades kicked on to cause the surprise. Domestic Product, making his first start since a well-beaten seventh in the GII Remsen S. Dec. 2, sat an inside trip and got through at the fence into the stretch before going on to claim second.

Hades rallied from last of seven to win at first asking going 5 1/2 furlongs in a $50,000 maiden optional claimer (not in for the tag) at Gulfstream Park Dec. 9. He dueled free from his rail draw to win by daylight in a first-level state-bred allowance going seven furlongs at Gulfstream last time Dec. 31.

“The plan was to go to the lead, but if somebody was pushing him he was going to rate him,” Orseno said. “It looked like he started to do that when that one horse went up to him, and then Paco had to go. He knew it. When the horse accelerates, he's just got another gear at the top of the stretch. He showed it to us last time. Of course, a champion eyeballs him and he dug in and took off. He ran away from a very good horse. It was our day today. We'll see next time, but right now we'll enjoy the moment.”

Orseno added, “I'm going to let the horse tell us (what's next). Right now, I would say no (to the Fountain of Youth), but if the horse is sharp… he's lightly raced. He's run five and a half and seven furlongs. It's not like he's been pushed.”

It wasn't the easiest of journeys for Fierceness, who was defeated by 3 1/2 lengths following a wide trip after getting pinballed at the start. His resume also includes a puzzling seventh as the heavy favorite in last fall's GI Champagne S.

“He didn't get off to a very good start,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “The inside horse bumped him pretty good and then he got sandwiched and kind of had to shove him into the race and try to get the position we wanted, which we eventually did. But, he had to overcome a pretty rough start to get there. It seemed like he got into a good rhythm and straightened away for home and just kind of flattened out a little bit. Disappointed in the outcome. I think if you watch the replay of the start, it was a pretty rough start, kind of similar to what happened in the Champagne. If he doesn't get away well, he doesn't get into the flow of the race the same way.”

He continued, “I don't think we're going to change any plans. We'll obviously assess how the horse comes out of the race. We know he's better than that, so we've got to regroup a little bit and do better next time. He's shown that he can recover from a subpar performance with a good one.”

Pedigree Notes:

Hades is the second stakes winner and first at the graded level for Awesome Slew. The win gave broodmare sire Quality Road his 11th black-type winner and fifth graded/group winner worldwide. D J Stable went to $130,000 (:21 1/5) to recruit Hades from the 2023 OBS April Sale. The year prior, his half-sister Devious Dame (Girvin) brought $240,000 from One Up Bloodstock out of the OBS March Sale. Devious Dame won her first two races by a combined 10 3/4 lengths and lived up to heavy favoritism with a sharp victory in the Astoria S. at Belmont Park. She brought $185,000 from Woods Edge Farm at the 2023 KEENOV sale. Hades's third dam is GISW Pretty Discreet (Private Account), herself the dam of GISWs Discreet Cat (Forestry) and Discreetly Mine (Mineshaft). Their unraced dam The Shady Lady is a half-sister to MSW & MGSP Courtesan (Street Sense). She is also represented by a 2-year-old full brother to Hades and a yearling filly by Girvin. She visited Win Win Win for 2024.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
HOLY BULL S.-GIII, $260,000, Gulfstream, 2-3, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:46.07, ft.
1–HADES, 118, g, 3, by Awesome Slew
                1st Dam: The Shady Lady, by Quality Road
                2nd Dam: Lady Discreet, by Boundary
                3rd Dam: Pretty Discreet, by Private Account
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($130,000 2yo '23 OBSAPR). O-D. J. Stable LLC and Robert Cotran; B-Ocala Stud, Joseph M. O'Farrell III, David O'Farrell, et al. (FL);
T-Joseph F. Orseno; J-Paco Lopez. $161,900. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $225,000. *1/2 to Devious Dame (Girvin), SW, $120,560. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Domestic Product, 118, c, 3, Practical Joke–Goods and Services, by Paynter. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Klaravich Stables (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $49,000.
3–Fierceness, 124, c, 3, City of Light–Nonna Bella, by Stay Thirsty. 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Repole Stable, Inc. (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $24,500.
Margins: 2, 1HF, 2HF. Odds: 9.20, 14.40, 0.20.
Also Ran: Inveigled, Dancing Groom, Otello, Sea Streak. Scratched: No More Time.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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