Edgeway Earns Initial Stakes Victory In Oaklawn’s Carousel

Prominent from the outset, Hronis Racing LLC's Edgeway got the jump on even-money favorite Frank's Rockette and cruised to victory in Saturday's $250,000 Carousel Stakes at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, Ark., giving the daughter of Competitive Edge her first triumph in a black type race.

Trained by John Sadler and ridden by Joel Rosario, Edgeway ran the six furlongs on a fast main track in 1:10.13 and paid $4.60 as the second wagering choice in the field of six fillies and mare, aged 4 and up.

Frank's Rockette closed to within three-quarters of a length of Edgeway at the wire to be second, with Casual another 1 1/4 lengths back third and Wildwood's Beauty fourth.

Edgeway, third to Kimari in just her second career start in the Purple Martin Stakes at Oaklawn last year, was coming off a Feb. 7 allowance win at Santa Anita, her first start since a runner-up performance in the Grade 3 Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs last June. She trained up to the Carousel at Santa Anita.

Mucho Amor jumped out to an early lead, with Edgeway to her outside, but that pair was quickly joined by Wildwood's Beauty who rushed up along the inside to put her nose in front. Those three raced as a team, with Edgeway three wide around the turn and Frank's Rockette track her while a couple of lengths further back. Early fractions were :22.54 for the opening quarter mile and :46.12 for the half.

Edgeway took command in the stretch, passing the furlong marker in :58.08 and sailed on to victory, her fourth in six starts.

Produced from Magical Solution, by Stormin Fever, Edgeway is a 4-year-old bred in Kentucky by Pope McLean, Valerie and David Blethen. She sold for $275,000 at the OBS April Sale of 2-year-olds in training in 2019, where she was consigned by Mayberry Farm.

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‘Competitive’ Affair in Forward Gal

John Minchello's Competitive Speed (Competitive Edge) will put her three-race win streak on the line when she makes her debut in graded company in Saturday's GIII Forward Gal S. at Gulfstream Park.

“This is going to be a big test, but I think she can make it,” trainer Javier Gonzalez said. “She's doing good and she is one of those horses that is never going to make you look bad,” he added. “I think she's going to run a very good race.”

Competitive Speed, sixth facing open maidens in the Gulfstream West slop Oct. 31, graduated by 1 1/2 lengths against $25,000 maiden claimers at Gulfstream West Nov. 12, beating a pair of next-out winners in the process. Shipped to Gulfstream for her next start Dec. 6, the chestnut came from off the pace to take a starter optional claimer by 4 1/2 lengths, then stepped up to add the 6 1/2-furlong Glitter Woman S. Jan. 2.

Competitive Speed, who failed to meet her reserve as a yearling at Keeneland in the fall of 2019, sold for $5,000 the following season at OBS in July.

“She's always doing better every day, and that's happened from the very first day that she came to the barn. When she came to us and started training and working and get condition, she was doing better,” Gonzalez added. “When we put her in company, she did better. Whatever we ask her to do, she did better. She's passed every test.”

Competitive Speed has breezed twice at Gulfstream West since the Glitter Woman, including a half-mile in :48.40 Jan. 16, third-fastest of 18 horses. Leonel Reyes will ride back from Post 3 in a field of eight.

“It was a little bit faster than I wanted, but she came back good. The next day she ate everything and she was happy,” Gonzalez said. “She's coming into the race really well.”

Shadwell Stable homebred Zaajel (Street Sense), enters the Forward Gal off a 7 1/4-length maiden special weight romp going seven panels at Gulfstream Dec. 20.

“She was very impressive in her debut and she's trained great since then,” Todd Pletcher said. “Ideally, I'd kind of like to run her in an allowance race, but we don't really have an option at the moment. Considering how well she ran at the distance and over the surface here, we'll give it a try. The seven furlongs was no problem in her debut.”

Luis Saez, up for her debut, gets the return call from Post 7.

Also one to watch is Coach Jer's Joy (Palace), who earned the top spot over a field that included Competitive Speed in the aforementioned Gulfstream West maiden Oct. 31. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., the chestnut will be joined by freshly anointed Eclipse award winning rider, Irad Ortiz Jr.

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Bargain Buy Competitive Speed Puts Three-Race Win Streak On The Line In Forward Gal

John Minchello's Competitive Speed, a bargain $5,000 juvenile purchase turned stakes winner in less than a year, will put her three-race win streak on the line when she tries graded company for the first time in Saturday's $100,000 Forward Gal (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

The 39th running of the seven-furlong Forward Gal for 3-year-old fillies is among five graded-stakes worth $600,000 in purses on a 12-race program highlighted by the $200,000 Holy Bull (G3), Gulfstream's next step for 3-year-olds on the road to the Florida Derby (G1).

First race post time is 11:45 a.m.

A chestnut daughter of Competitive Edge, a Grade 1 winner at 2, and granddaughter of 2003 champion older horse and Horse of the Year Mineshaft, Competitive Speed failed to meet her reserve as a yearling in the fall of 2019 and was sold as a 2-year-old in training last July. She debuted in the slop at Gulfstream Park West in October, finishing sixth in a six-furlong maiden special weight, but hasn't lost since.

“She's always doing better every day, and that's happened from the very first day that she came to the barn. When she came to us and started training and working and get condition, she was doing better,” trainer Javier Gonzalez said. “When we put her in company, she did better. Whatever we ask her to do, she did better. She's passed every test.

“This is going to be a big test, but I think she can make it. She's doing good and she is one of those horses that is never going to make you look bad,” he added. “I think she's going to run a very good race.”

Competitive Speed graduated by 1 ½ lengths in a 6 ½-furlong maiden claimer at Gulfstream West less than two weeks after her unveiling, beating a pair of next-out winners in the process. She made her Gulfstream debut Dec. 6, coming from off the pace to take a starter optional claimer by 4 ½ lengths, then stepped up to stakes company in the 6 ½-furlong Glitter Woman Jan. 2.

Once again, Competitive Speed was able to rate under regular rider Leonel Reyes before taking a short lead at the top of the stretch and going on to win by three lengths and give Gonzalez – a multiple group stakes winner in Puerto Rico, including the 2013 Clasico Ano Nuevo (G1) – his first stakes triumph in the U.S.

“That was very special. I came here two years ago and was working hard to find a good horse. You never know which one is going to be the one,” Gonzalez said. “I was looking and waiting because then people start to look at you with respect. She is doing so good. She will always have a big, big space in my heart.”

Competitive Speed has breezed twice at Gulfstream West since the Glitter Woman, including a half-mile in 48.40 seconds Jan. 16, third-fastest of 18 horses. Reyes will ride back from Post 3 in a field of eight.

“It was a little bit faster than I wanted but she came back good. The next day she ate everything and she was happy,” Gonzalez said. She's coming into the race really well.

“She's very quiet in the stall. If you pass by her you would never know she was there,” he added. “When she won the stake, one of the exercise riders saw her and asked, 'Which horse is this one?' She's a really nice horse.”

The one horse that beat Competitive Edge, Legacy Racing's Coach Jer's Joy, returns for the first time since her Oct. 31 debut. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., the Palace filly has breezed seven times at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, for her return. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount from outside Post 8.

Shadwell Stable homebred Zaajel, a bay daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Street Sense, also enters the Forward Gal off one race, a 7 ¼-length maiden special weight romp going seven furlongs Dec. 20 at Gulfstream for Championship Meet-leading trainer Todd Pletcher.

“She was very impressive in her debut and she's trained great since then,” Pletcher said. “Ideally, I'd kind of like to run her in an allowance race, but we don't really have an option at the moment. Considering how well she ran at the distance and over the surface here, we'll give it a try. The seven furlongs was no problem in her debut.”

Luis Saez, up for her debut, gets the return call from Post 7.

Rounding out the field are Queen Arella, a maiden special weight winner in debut last May at Gulfstream but off the board in back-to-back stakes in New York; last-out maiden winner Three Tipsy Chix; Wholebodemeister, who also broke her maiden last summer at Gulfstream and is trying stakes company for the third time; Dial to Win, fifth in the Glitter Woman; and Lady Traveler, runner-up in Rags to Riches last fall in Kentucky for trainer Dale Romans.

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Competitive Edge to Valor Farm in Texas

Competitive Edge (Super Saver–Magdalena’s Chase, by Cape Town), winner of the 2014 GI Hopeful S. at Saratoga and a nationally ranked first- and second-crop sire over the past two years, was purchased by Douglas Scharbauer to stand at Valor Farm in Texas. He previously stood at Ashford Stud in Kentucky. His 2021 fee will be $5,000.

Competitive Edge, who also covered mares in the Southern Hemisphere while with Ashford, was North America’s sixth ranked first-crop sire with more than $1.3 million in progeny earnings in 2019. He is currently ranked among the Top 15 second-crop sires, with total progeny earnings of nearly $3.6 million thorough early December. He is represented by 12 stakes horses, including Saratoga stakes winners Fierce Lady and My Italian Rabbi, and graded-stakes placed Reagan’s Edge and Edgeway.

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