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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.”

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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.

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Edwin Gonzalez Back At Full Strength At Gulfstream Park

Jockey Edwin Gonzalez made it clear that he has made it all the way back from a midsummer injury Thursday at Gulfstream Park, riding the winners of four races, including impressive maiden winner Palmach, on an eight-race card.

The 29-year-old journeyman, who had become an immediate success while riding at Gulfstream Park full time during the Spring/Summer Meet for the first time, was sidelined for seven weeks with a hairline fracture in his right leg that was sustained in a racing mishap July 3. He won three races on his first day back in action Aug. 21, but Gonzalez didn't continue to quite maintain the strike rate that he had enjoyed prior to his injury.

“I'm feeling great. I had 50 days out – that's a long time for me,” said Gonzalez, who won with his last mount Sunday and his first three mounts Thursday. “I'm feeling strong. I kept saying, 'Keep working hard, and everyone will be happy and I'll keep winning races.'”

D J Stable's Palmach bucked the trend on Gulfstream's Tapeta track while capturing the featured $60,000 maiden special weight race for 2-year-old fillies in Race 4. The Mark Casse-trained daughter of Violence broke alertly to assume an early lead that she would never relinquish on her way to a four-length victory, becoming only the second horse to win from gate to wire in the first 20 races on the newly installed all-weather surface.

“She likes the Tapeta. The first time she was a little green and the turf was a little soft because it was raining that day,” said Gonzalez, who finished fifth aboard Palmach in her Sept. 10 debut over a good turf course. “Today, she loved the Tapeta.”

Although she was the first front-running winner since Wow Tapit wired the field in only the second race run on Tapeta, Palmach did follow an early trend on the all-weather surface, becoming the 12th favorite to come through for their backers. Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Beachnut Trophy, Ken and Sarah Ramsey's homebred daughter of Real Solution, closed from far back to finish second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Todd Pletcher-trained Five Prizes, a daughter of Bernardini who

Palmach, the 9-5 favorite, gave Gonzalez his second of four victories Thursday, when he connected aboard World Gone Wild ($5) in Race 2, Bramble Berry ($8) in Race 5 and Souper All Star ($14.80) through a disqualification in Race 8. Souper All Star was Gonzalez's seventh win from his last 12 mounts.

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Gonzalez Makes His Return To Riding A Winning One With Three Wins At Gulfstream

Edwin Gonzalez made a rapid return to the Gulfstream Park winner's circle Saturday, scoring victories aboard his first two mounts while notching a three-win day on his first day of riding since sustaining a hairline fraction in his right leg in a July 3 mishap.

The 30-year-old journeyman, who ranked third with 59 victories during his first Spring/Summer Meet at Gulfstream in Hallandale Beach, Fla., when he went to the sidelines, won aboard Mark Casse-trained Credibility ($6.60) in Race 3 and Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Harper Be Good ($15.20) in Race 6. He came back to score with his fifth and last mount of the day, Dem a Wonder ($11) in Race 11.

“Coming back after two months off, I have to get that ground back,” Gonzalez said. “I have to keep working and the winning will take care of itself.”

Gonzalez, who relocated from Penn National in late March, notched his 1500th career victory June 12 at Gulfstream, where he has won four stakes – Powder Break and Ginger Punch aboard Shifty She, English Channel on Yes This Time, and Sunny Isles aboard Caribou Club – during the Spring/Summer Meet. He had been scheduled to ride Miles Ahead in the $200,000 Grade 3 Smile Sprint on the July 3 program. Filling in for Gonzalez, Victor Espinoza rode Miles Ahead to victory in the Summit of Speed co-feature.

“I want to thank all the trainers – Casse and Saffie have helped me a lot – and my agent. It's so hard here. I have the opportunity to keep going, win races and work hard, like I did before,” said Gonzalez, whose is represented by agent Kevin Meyocks.

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