Belying almost 37-1 odds when she aired in the Churchill slop first out Oct. 30, the dark bay handled the next step with aplomb, taking the Nov. 26 Fern Creek S. by daylight over a next-out allowance winner back under the Twin Spires.

Off as the narrow second choice behind multiple local stakes winner Atomically–last seen finishing seventh in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies–Red Carpet Ready broke on top but was reined in by Luis Saez to stalk in a close-up third. She mounted her three-deep challenge and took over rapidly into a :45.98 half, but had Chad Brown-trained debut romper Undervalued Asset breathing down her neck as they straightened for home. Red Carpet Ready slammed the door on her pursuer as soon as Saez asked her for more, and she strode out nicely from there to prevail with room to spare. Undervalued Asset held off Atomically for second.

“I had a pretty good trip,” Saez said. “She broke from there running  and she's pretty fast. We just tried to have a target in front and eveything came out so perfect. She's a pretty nice filly. She has everything. She can run from anywhere, in front or behind, and she keeps going.”

Trainer Rusty Arnold said, “She's answered the bell every time we've run her. She's pretty special… I'd be shocked if she doesn't go long. I was more worried that she wasn't a sprinter… Luis said she wanted to break so sharp, she her lost her footing a little bit, but after she recovered, she did everything right.”

Ashbrook Farm patriarch Glenn Bromagen passed away in June. His son Bo manages stable operations. Past standout fillies conditioned by Arnold for Ashbrook include 2016 GI Central Bank Ashland S. winner Weep No More (Mineshaft, $120,000 OBSMAR); and 2019 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. heroine Concrete Rose (Twirling Candy, $61,000 FTMMAY turned $1.95-million KEENOV '20 Topper).

Red Carpet Ready was bought back for $100,000 at last year's OBS April sale after breezing in :10 1/5.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FORWARD GAL S.-GIII, $125,000, Gulfstream, 2-4, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:23.54, ft.
1–RED CARPET READY, 120, f, 3, by Oscar Performance
                1st Dam: Wild Silk, by Street Sense
                2nd Dam: Spun Silk, by A.P. Indy
                3rd Dam: Spunoutacontrol, by Wild Again
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($180,000 Ylg '21 FTSAUG;
$100,000 RNA 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Ashbrook Farm & Upland
Flats Racing; B-Lynn B. Schiff (KY); T-George R. Arnold, II; J-Luis
Saez. $74,400. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $265,470. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Undervalued Asset, 118, f, 3, Speightstown–Hard Headed
Temper, by Hard Spun. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK
TYPE. ($150,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.;
B-Speightstown Syndicate & Cloyce C. Clark, Jr. (KY); T-Chad C.
Brown. $24,000.
3–Atomically, 120, f, 3, Girvin–Shesunbelievable, by
Uncaptured. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Eclipse
Thoroughbred Partners, Michael G. Bernard & Harry Colburn;
B-Tracy Pinchin & Michael Bernard (FL); T-Todd A. Pletcher.
$12,000.
Margins: 2 1/4, 1, 7 3/4. Odds: 2.30, 2.70, 2.20.
Also Ran: Positano Sunset, Apropos, Flakes, Twice as Sweet, Arella Star, Adeliese's Smile. Scratched: Lynx. Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Red Carpet Ready is the second graded winner from the first crop of talented turfer Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy). The Mill Ridge Farm inmate's other GSW, Andthewinneris, returned a winner himself last week in Sam Houston's Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile. Street Sense is the broodmare sire of a dozen graded/group winners worldwide. His one highest-level winner to date is Roaring Lion, by Oscar Performance's sire Kitten's Joy.

Red Carpet Ready is out of a half-sister to GISW sprinter Joking (Distorted Humor) and from the deep female family of Tale of the Cat, Fed Biz, et al.

Unraced Wild Silk, purchased for $70,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November Sale, has a 2-year-old full-sister and yearling full-brother. The filly was a $65,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred sale acquisition by Deuce Greathouse's Pura Vida. Wild Silk is due this year to Not This Time.

The post Unbeaten Oscar Performance Filly ‘Ready’ Off the Bench appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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On the heels of a very successful GI Pegasus World Cup weekend, Gulfstream Park offers a tremendous card with five graded races, including the 34th running of the GIII Holy Bull S. named for the Hall of Famer and 1994 Horse of the Year, who won that year's GI Florida Derby. Forty Kentucky Derby points are on the line with the winner collecting the lion's share.

Cyclone Mischief (Into Mischief) enters off a 5 3/4-length allowance romp at a mile over this surface Jan. 8. The $450,000 KEESEP yearling purchase is out of a half to GSW Suddenbreakingnews (Mineshaft) and hails from the female family of MGIW Composure (Touch Gold).

“I think he's one of the best 3-year-olds in the country, and he's training like one,” trainer Dale Romans said. “There are a lot of good horses out there, but we're in a good spot right now.”

Legacy Isle (Shackleford) would be undefeated and the only stakes winner so far of the bunch after wiring the Mucho Macho Man S. on New Year's Day, but was disqualified for bothering a rival in the lane and was placed second.

Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott entered two in the Holy Bull, Rocket Can (Into Mischief) and Shadow Dragon (Army Mule).

The GIII Claiborne Swale S. doesn't offer any Derby points and isn't considered a Derby prep, but it is named after the 1984 Derby winner and Hall of Famer who died suddenly eight days after the GI Belmont S.

The streaking Super Chow (Lord Nelson) drew the outside in the six-runner test, which will be contested at seven furlongs. The winner of five of his six career races is coming off three straight listed stakes wins and makes a jump back into graded company. He broke his maiden in his debut July 2 at Gulfstream and was third in the GII Saratoga Special S. before shipping back to Florida to collect his last three wins.

“He's in his best shape ever,” trainer Jorge Delgado said. “He's been maturing race to race. He's been showing a lot of class. From race to race, he's a more professional horse. He's becoming a man.”

Not to be overshadowed by the boys, 10 fillies are set to race seven-eighths on the main track in the GIII Forward Gal S.

Atomically (Girvin) is the likely favorite in her first start since an even seventh-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 4. It was her first start for trainer Todd Pletcher after being sold privately to a group headed by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners after winning the Florida Sire My Dear Girl S. over the Gulfstream Park main track Oct. 1.

Ginger Brew S. winner Cairo Consort (Cairo Prince) is the 2-1 morning-line favorite against eight other sophomore turf fillies in the 1 1/16-mile GIII Sweetest Chant S. The Todd Pletcher-trained filly won Woodbine's Catch A Glimpse S., was second in the GI Natalma S. and third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. This race will be her first start beyond a mile.

Only four will line up in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S., a 1 1/16-mile test offering 41 Road to the Derby points to the top-four finishers on a 20-8-6-4-2 scale. This is where the race's Kentucky Derby implications take a turn. Each of the four runners are trained by a single trainer and that trainer–currently–is forbidden from participating in racing at Churchill Downs.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has saddled a record 10 winners of the Robert B. Lewis–including the last four in a row–sat in a Louisville courtroom for two days this week. His team of attorneys is seeking an injunction against his two-year ban from competing at Churchill Downs following Medina Spirit's post-race positive for the prohibited steroid betamethasone after crossing the wire first in the 2021 Derby. Medina Spirit also won the 2021 Lewis.

Arabian Lion (Justify) will lead his stablemates. The $600,000 OBSAPR 2-year-old was a dismal fifth in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 17 at odds of 2-5 but has been working lights out for his return here.

Newgate (Into Mischief) hasn't reached the winner's circle since breaking his maiden at Del Mar but was a short second in the GIII Sham S. a month ago. The $850,000 KEESEP yearling was also second to last week's GIII San Vicente S. winner and stablemate Havnameltdown (Uncaptured) in the GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar Nov. 20. Maiden winner Hard To Figure (Hard Spun) and maiden Worcester (Empire Maker) round out the Baffert quartet.

The post Busy Weekend For Derby Preps on Both Coasts appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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One week after the Cox-trained Knicks Go was denied a repeat victory by Life Is Good in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream, Girl With a Dream led throughout the seven furlongs of the $100,000 Forward Gal (G3) to notch her first graded-stakes success by a length.

“There just aren't a lot of graded stakes opportunities where we run, at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn, so we had targeted this race after her last start. She was doing good and came out of her last race strong, so we shipped her over Tuesday,” Cox said from Fair Grounds. “We thought we'd let her do her thing and go to the front and try and make them catch us and it worked out great.”

The Forward Gal was among five graded stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday's program that was headlined by the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3), the first graded stakes on the Road to the Curlin Florida Derby (G1).

Girl With a Dream ($12.80) went right to the lead under Luis Saez to show the way along the backstretch as favored Radio Days dropped well off the pace. The Cox trainee set fractions of 22.85 and 45.73 seconds for the first half mile with graded stakes-placed Diamond Wow in close pursuit entering the turn into the homestretch. Radio Days launched a wide sweep into contention entering the stretch but was unable to catch the loose-on-the-lead daughter of Practical Joke.

“She broke from there pretty sharp. She went and she was pretty comfortable all the way,” Saez said. “We came to the top of the stretch and I felt like I had a lot of horse. She kept battling, and she beat them. She felt pretty big in front. I felt like every step when the other filly came close to her, she responded more. I was pretty happy to be on top of her.”

Girl With a Dream ran seven furlongs in 1:23.42. Radio Days, who entered the Forward Gal 2-for-2, finished second under Dylan Davis, 6 ¼ lengths ahead of Last Leaf and jockey Miguel Vasquez.

Girl With a Dream won her debut at Ellis Park in July before finishing far back in the Spinaway at Saratoga in September. The Kentucky-bred filly rebounded to finish second at Keeneland next time out before winning her last two starts of 2021 at Churchill Downs and Fair Grounds.

“She was really impressive in her Ellis win and I liked her in the Spinaway but she was inside and she didn't get away great and then didn't run her race,” Cox said.

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She was sent to the lead and showed the way through an opening quarter in :22.85. The chestnut let it out a notch rounding the far turn as unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Radio Days (Gun Runner) launched her bid from the back to set her sights on the leader.

Girl With a Dream still had plenty left for the stretch, however, and held the heavily favored Radio Days, who was making her first start since a runaway optional claiming victory at Aqueduct Dec. 2, safe by a length for a career high.

A runaway debut winner at Ellis last summer, Girl With a Dream wasn't quite ready for the big leagues yet, and reported home a distant eighth after a troubled trip in Saratoga's GI Spinaway S. Second in an optional claimer at Keeneland Oct. 21, she's been perfect in three subsequent starts, including a front-running score in the Letellier Memorial S. last time at Fair Grounds Dec. 27.

“There just aren't a lot of graded stakes opportunities where we run, at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn, so we had targeted this race after her last start,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She was doing good and came out of her last race strong, so we shipped her over Tuesday. We thought we'd let her do her thing and go to the front and try and make them catch us and it worked out great.”

Winning owners Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister also campaign unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) in partnership.

Pedigree Notes:

Girl With a Dream became the second graded winner for Coolmore America sire Practical Joke, who has been firing on all cylinders with his initial crop and ranks second only to sensation Gun Runner on the first-crop sire list. Practical Joke has also sired last year's GSW and MGISP Wit, as well as four other black-type winners. Girl With a Dream is also in on the ground floor with her damsire, Corinthian, as she's just the seventh stakes winner out of one of the Pulpit stallion's daughters.

A $115,000 Keeneland September purchase, Girl With a Dream is out of a half-sister to MGSW & MGISP Mr. Commons (Artie Schiller). Machmer Hall and D + J Racing Stable bred Girl With a Dream out of Machmer Hall's 2016 Keeneland November broodmare purchase Henley ($31,000). The mare has a 2-year-old filly by Twirling Candy and was bred back to a Twirling Candy son, the Machmer Hall-bred Gift Box, for this spring. Like last week's GI Pegasus World Cup winner Life Is Good, who is by Practical Joke's sire Into Mischief, Henley traces directly to French and American blue hen Frizette (Hamburg), her 10th dam.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FORWARD GAL S.-GIII, $100,000, Gulfstream, 2-5, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:23.42, ft.
1–GIRL WITH A DREAM, 120, f, 3, by Practical Joke
                1st Dam: Henley, by Corinthian
                2nd Dam: Joustabout, by Apalachee
                3rd Dam: Fleetside Review, by Quadratic
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($115,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-Bakke, Jim and Isbister, Gerald; B-Machmer Hall & D + J
Racing Stable LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Luis Saez. $60,760.
Lifetime Record: 6-4-1-0, $231,480. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Radio Days, 120, f, 3, Gun Runner–Remembered, by Sky
Mesa. 'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK
TYPE. ($750,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Allen Stable, Inc.; B-Hinkle
Farms (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $19,600.
3–Last Leaf, 120, f, 3, Not This Time–My Miss Kallie, by Paddy
O'Prado. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($7,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV;
$10,000 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $23,500 Ylg '20 OBSOCT). O-Monarch
Stables, Inc.; B-Khalid Mishref Alkahtani (KY); T-Ronald B.
Spatz. $9,800.
Margins: 1, 6 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 5.40, 0.60, 60.10.
Also Ran: Diamond Wow, Greatitude, She's So Beautiful, Disco Ebo. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Another Step ‘Forward’ for Practical Joke Filly appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Owned by Allen Stable Inc. and trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the $750,000 KEESEP graduate made it two-for-two in a blowout optional claiming victory at this same seven-furlong distance at Aqueduct last time Dec. 2. Her worktab includes a four-furlong bullet in :48 3/5 (1/19) at Payson Jan. 12.

“She's a filly we're really excited about. Her first two races have been really good,” McGaughey said. “She's had a little bit of a break now. She's going to run Saturday, and hopefully her future is ahead of her.”

Diamond Wow (Lookin At Lucky), winner of the rained-off Our Dear Peggy S. over course and distance Sept. 18, just missed by a head in her latest going two turns over grass in Keeneland's GII JP Morgan Chase Jessamine S. Oct. 13.

“We gave her a break and she has grown and developed well. We're happy with the way she's worked,” trainer Patrick Biancone said. “It's a comeback race. She is not perhaps 100% yet but it's time to come back and prepare for the spring.”

Girl With a Dream (Practical Joke) enters riding a two-race winning streak for Brad Cox, led by a wire-to-wire tally in the Letellier Memorial S. at Fair Grounds last time Dec. 27.

The post Unbeaten ‘Rising Star’ Radio Days Returns in Forward Gal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“She was misbehaving in the gate and she missed the break a little,” winning jockey Luis Saez. “After that, she just kept coming and everything went well, and she kept coming.”

Added Pletcher, “I was really pleased with the outcome. I was pretty concerned at the start. She got a little antsy in the gate and missed the break, and she put in a long, sustained run. That's hard to do, especially in her second start going from a maiden to a graded stake. But she's trained like a quality filly and she overcame some adversity today, so we're proud of her.”

Pedigree Notes:
Lightly-raced Asiya, a two-time winner for Shadwell and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, placed in a pair of stakes during her abbreviated racing career. A daughter of Shadwell's GI Cigar Mile winner Daaher, himself a full-brother to dual Grade I-winning Spun Sugar, Asiya's first foal Ajaaweed (Curlin) showed some promise at two winning his route debut in his second start before finishing a close-up second in the GII Remsen S. later that season. In his sole start at three, he finished third in last year's GIII Sam F. Davis S. In two subsequent seasons, the 11-year-old mare's foals failed to survive and she was bred to Blame on her latest cover.

Saturday, Gulfstream
FORWARD GAL S.-GIII, $100,000, Gulfstream, 1-30, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:24.72, ft.
1–ZAAJEL, 118, f, 3, by Street Sense
                1st Dam: Asiya (MSP, $136,200), by Daaher
                2nd Dam: Khalila, by Elusive Quality
                3rd Dam: Indy Flash, by A.P. Indy
   1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O/B-Shadwell Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Luis Saez.
$60,140. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $84,140. *1/2 to Ajaaweed
(Curlin), MGSP, $139,850. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Lady Traveler, 118, f, 3, Quality Road–Ask the Question, by
Silver Deputy. ($350,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-West Point
Thoroughbreds, Ballantyne, John A., Freeman, William T. and
Valdes, Michael; B-Hidden Brook Farm, Candy Meadows LLC &
Chris Swann (KY); T-Dale L. Romans. $19,400.
3–Wholebodemeister, 120, f, 3, Bodemeister–Wholelottashakin,
by Scat Daddy. O/B-Sabana Farm, LLC (KY); T-Juan Carlos Avila.
$9,700.
Margins: 1 1/4, HF, 3/4. Odds: 0.60, 8.90, 17.70.
Also Ran: Dial to Win, Coach Jer's Joy, Competitive Speed, Three Tipsy Chix, Queen Arella. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

The post Street Sense Filly Runs to Short Odds in Forward Gal appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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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.

The post Bargain Buy Competitive Speed Puts Three-Race Win Streak On The Line In Forward Gal appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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