Shifty She Earns 94 Beyer Speed Figure For Noble Damsel Win

Chris Pallas and Harvey Rothenberg's Shifty She paired up a career-best 94 Beyer for her impressive gate-to-wire score in Saturday's $200,000 Grade 3 Noble Damsel, a one-mile Widener turf test for fillies and mares at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The 5-year-old Gone Astray mare missed her 4-year-old campaign with a tendon issue but has enjoyed a productive season after joining the barn of trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., winning 3-of-6 starts.

“She was very gutsy,” said Joseph, Jr. of the Noble Damsel effort. “She always shows up and her numbers were trending in the right direction. It was a competitive race also and you could finish second or third and still run your race, but I'm glad she got the job done and is a Grade 3 winner.”

Shifty She was reunited Saturday with jockey Edwin Gonzalez, who had piloted the hard-trying bay to victories in the open-company Powder Break in May and the Ginger Punch against Florida-breds in June, both at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

“He's 3-for-3 on her now. He gave her a very good ride,” Joseph, Jr. said.

Joseph, Jr. said he knew he'd landed a talented mare when she battled gamely on the lead in her seasonal debut traveling one-mile over firm Gulfstream turf in April to finish a close fourth off a 16-month layoff.

“I gained so much respect for her that day. There was a wicked speed duel but she never gave in off the layoff,” Joseph, Jr. said. “She gives you her all each and every time.”

Joseph, Jr. said Shifty She's long-term target is the $500,000 Grade 3 Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf on January 29 at Gulfstream.

“That's the dream goal. The Pegasus is at home at Gulfstream so it makes sense to backtrack from that and maybe get one more race in before,” Joseph, Jr. said.

Joseph, Jr. said Shifty She bounced out of the race in good order and will ship back to his care at Gulfstream this afternoon.

John Fanelli, Cash is King, LC Racing, Paul Braverman, and Team Hanley's New York-bred Ny Traffic breezed a half-mile in :48.27 Sunday over the Gulfstream main track.

The 4-year-old Cross Traffic gray, bred by Brian Culnan, enjoyed a productive sophomore season through a record of 7-1-3-1, including a game runner-up effort to Authentic in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Ny Traffic opened his current campaign with a dominant 6 3/4-length score in a seven-furlong state-bred optional claiming sprint, garnering a career-best 103 Beyer. He returned with a good second to Informative in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile ahead of off-the-board efforts traveling nine furlongs in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup in July and the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic on August 27.

Joseph, Jr. said he is hoping that Ny Traffic will return to winning form in Saturday's 6 1/2-furlong $150,000 Hudson on Empire Showcase Day with an eye towards a start in the $750,000 Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap on December 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

“His comeback at seven [furlongs] at Belmont was in a New York-bred race and he ran well. After that, we ran him long at Monmouth and it was OK,” Joseph, Jr. said. “I've always wanted to bring him back to one turn because that seven-eighths race was so impressive. If he runs well our target would be the Cigar Mile in December, but we'll go one race at a time.”

Joseph, Jr. said Ny Traffic has worked consistently well at Gulfstream dating back to late September.

“He's coming into good form,” Joseph, Jr. said. “He worked very good this morning. All being well he should run a good race.”

The post Shifty She Earns 94 Beyer Speed Figure For Noble Damsel Win appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Shifty She Takes Field Wire To Wire In Noble Damsel At Belmont

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.'s Shifty She was shifty indeed, taking the lead right out of the gate and eluding challenges from Tamahere and High Opinion to win the Grade 3 Noble Damsel at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Breaking from post five, Shifty She darted out to the early lead, controlling the pace through fractions of :23.33 and :46.20 around the first turn and into the backstretch. Tamahere ran second, poised to challenge Shifty She in the stretch with High Opinion behind her in third. Around the far turn, Tamahere got within a half-length of Shifty She, entering the stretch pressuring the front-running Shifty She.

In the stretch over the firm Widener turf, Tamahere was unable to stay with Shifty She, fading as High Opinion tried to mount a bid for the lead. Shifty She had too much momentum, repelling those challenges to win by 1 1/2 lengths. High Opinion was second, and Flower Point was third.

The final time for the one-mile Noble Damsel was 1:33.24. Find this race's chart here.

Shifty She paid $15.20, $6.90, and $4.70. High Opinion paid $3.90 and $3.10. Flower Point paid $6.60.

Bred in Florida by Chris Pallas and George Klein, Shifty She is by Gone Astray out of the Strong Hope mare Perilous Hope. She is owned by Chris Pallas and Harvey Rothenberg. With her win in the G3 Nobel Damsel, Shifty She has three wins in six starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of six wins in 10 starts and career earnings of $317,395.

The post Shifty She Takes Field Wire To Wire In Noble Damsel At Belmont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Shifty She Shines In Ginger Punch Stakes At Gulfstream Park

Pedigree Partners LLC's Shifty She seized control at the start of Saturday's $75,000 Ginger Punch Stakes at Gulfstream Park in Hallendale Beach, Fla. and held on tenaciously to capture the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for Florida-bred fillies and mares.

The 5-year-old daughter of Gone Astray collected a $25,000 win-only bonus available to FTBOA Florida Sires Stakes-nominated starters in addition to the $45,105 winner's share of the purse.

While capturing her second consecutive stakes and winning her fifth race in her last six starts, the 4-5 favorite set a pressured pace while posting quarter-mile fractions of :23.77, :47.15, 1:10.09, and 1:33.93 on her way to a final clocking of 1:40.13.

“She loves to win. She definitely has the will to win,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “You can see that. If you look at her record, even before we got her. You can't teach that.”

Despite the race-long pressure, she had more than enough energy in reserve to hold off the late rally of Sun Summers by a half-length under Edwin Gonzalez, who earlier in the day notched his 1,500th career win.

“This is a nice filly. She doesn't have a problem going to the front or staying in the middle of the pace. I let her settle on the lead today and she went nice and easy. She likes to fight,” Gonzalez said.

After finishing fourth in her career debut, Shifty She won three straight races, including an open allowance at Gulfstream in December 2019, before going to the sidelines for 16 months. Transferred to Joseph following her hiatus, she set a pressured pace before weakening to finish fourth in her April 9 return to action. Chris Pallas and George Klein's homebred mare came back to capture the May 15 Powder Break, defeating open company while rallying from just off the pace.

“You can't train that. She always finds a bit more. She knows where the wire is. Even in the race off the layoff when she got beat, she dueled the whole way and still hung in there,” Joseph said. “I think after this we'll try to find a graded stakes somewhere and at least give her a chance to win a graded stakes.”

The Joseph-trained Lovely Luvy rallied from far back to finish third, three-quarters of a length behind Sun Summers.

The post Shifty She Shines In Ginger Punch Stakes At Gulfstream Park appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights