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Doswell Does It in Ft. Lauderdale

Joseph Allen homebred Doswell (Giant's Causeway) hadn't seen the inside of a winner's circle since October 2020, however, marked his return with aplomb, scoring by a front-running, 1 1/2-length margin over longshot Atone (Into Mischief) in Saturday's GII Ft. Lauderdale S. at Gulfstream.

Sent to the front by Junior Alvarado straight away, the 9-2 shot showed the way as the stalking duo of GSW Analyze It (Point of Entry) and English Bee (English Channel) kept him in their sights. Still in front and moving well with a half mile left to negotiate, Doswell ramped up the tempo as 17-1 chance Atone burst on the scene approaching the quarter pole, spurted clear in early stretch and finished up with good energy late to win. English Bee held on for third, only a half-length adrift of the runner up.

“He broke good, I put him on the engine a little bit and then tried to slow him down, and he rated kindly for me,” said Alvarado. “When we turned for home, I asked him and he gave me a nice kick. I knew they were in trouble as soon as I started asking him, because he picked it up very quickly and I thought they'd have to be flying at the end to go by.”

A front-running victor in a Belmont allowance in October 2020, the dark bay finished runner up in this race last December before coming home third in the GIII W. L. McKnight S. in January. Sidelined after that effort, he didn't return to racing for nine months before running third in back-to-back optional claiming allowances Oct. 21 at Belmont and most recently, at Aqueduct Nov. 19.

“It was nice and easy,” added Alvarado of Saturday's effort. “Last year, they kind of told me to try to see if he would stalk to make sure he would finish strong, and we kind of took away his main [weapon]. Today, they told me, 'You're in the one [post], just leave out of there rolling,' and that's what I did.”

And is the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf in January in the cards for the 6-year-old?

“We're thinking about it. We'll probably go in it,” said winning trainer Barclay Tagg. “We'll see how he comes out of this. We'll see if he freshens up and if he's got [good] energy. I don't want to take him over there and just make a fool out of him if we can help it.”

Pedigree Notes:

The late, great Giant's Causeway, gone since the spring of 2018, continues to churn out stakes winners. The classy chestnut stood the whole of his career at Coolmore locations around the globe, but had his greatest success as a stallion during his longstanding engagement in Kentucky. The 6-year-old Doswell became the 164th Northern Hemisphere-foaled black-type winner for his sire and the 98th graded.

In contrast to Giant's Causeway was Doswell's broodmare sire Minardi, who was also a European champion raced by Coolmore connections, but hardly took the stallion ranks by storm. From 11 crops, he managed only three stakes winners from Malaysia to Europe, with Doswell's dam his only black-type winner in a major racing country (France). Doswell is the fourth black-type winner out of a daughter of Minardi. Doswell's half-brother Secretary At War (War Front) is one of the others.

In addition to her two stakes-winning sons, Ballet Pacifica has Grade III-placed Entrechat, a full-sister to Doswell, and a placed juvenile full-brother to Secretary At War named Fort Ticonderoga. Her yearling filly is named You're the Top (Into Mischief) and she visited both War Front and Not This Time for next term. Ballet Pacifica is out of Irish champion, three-time U.S. GISW, and $1.05-million broodmare Kostroma (Ire), making Ballet Pacifica a half to 2008 GI Santa Anita Oaks winner Ariege (Doneraile Court).

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FT. LAUDERDALE S.-GII, $200,000, Gulfstream, 12-18, 3yo/up,
1 1/8mT, 1:45.60, fm.
1–DOSWELL, 121, g, 6, by Giant's Causeway
                1st Dam: Ballet Pacifica (SW & GSP-Fr, GSP-USA,
                $120,100), by Minardi
                2nd Dam: Kostroma (Ire), by Caerleon
                3rd Dam: Katie May (GB), by Busted (GB)
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN.
O/B-Joseph Allen LLC (KY); T-Barclay Tagg; J-Junior Alvarado.
$115,320. Lifetime Record: 12-3-5-3, $314,621. Werk Nick
Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross
pedigree.*Full to Entrechat, GSP, $170,730; 1/2 to Secretary
At War (War Front), SW & GSP, $382,754.
2–Atone, 121, g, 4, Into Mischief–Captivating Lass, by A.P.
Indy. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($130,000
4yo '21 FTKHRA). O-Three Diamonds Farm; B-Godolphin
(KY); T-Michael J. Maker. $37,200.
3–English Bee, 121, h, 5, English Channel–Evil Kitten, by
Kitten's Joy. O/B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-H. Graham Motion.
$18,600.
Margins: 1HF, HF, 1 3/4. Odds: 4.50, 17.90, 21.20.
Also Ran: Space Traveller (GB), L'Imperator (Fr), Sole Volante, Renaisance Frolic, Breaking the Rules, Order and Law, Media Blitz, Analyze It, King Guillermo. Scratched: Brown Storm (Chi).
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Ghostzapper Gelding Shows No Fear in Harlan’s Holiday

Repole Stable's Fearless (Ghostzapper) ran to the money as the 3-5 chalk in Saturday's GIII Harlan's Holiday S., the local prep for the upcoming $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Jan. 29.

Drawn widest of all in post six, he tracked a pair of dueling leaders in a dream spot in third as they made their way up the backstretch. This term's GII WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile S. Feb. 27 winner revved up three wide rounding the far turn, kicked for home as the one to catch and took care of business from there to score by a facile four lengths over South Bend (Algorithms). The pacesetting dual Canadian Classic winner Mighty Heart (Dramedy) was third.

Trained throughout his career by Todd Pletcher, Mike Repole purchased Fearless, previously a $725,000 KEESEP yearling, for $205,000 at this summer's Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale following a second-place finish behind next out GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. winner Silver State (Hard Spun) in the GII Oaklawn H. Apr. 17 and a third-place finish as the favorite in the GIII Pimlico Special Match Series S. May 14. He resurfaced with a second-place finish as the chalk once again in his first start for Repole in a local $60,000 handicap Nov. 21. Fearless previously carried the colors of CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm.

Will we see Fearless next in the Pegasus?

“That's all up to Todd,” Pletcher's assistant trainer Anthony Sciametta said. “The horse is moving forward. He's run two good races and come back good from his vacation. That's all we can ask for.”

Pletcher was not present at Gulfstream Saturday due to family obligations.

Pedigree Notes:

Fearless is one of 89 stakes/48 graded winners for Hall of Famer Ghostzapper. He is also one of 102 stakes/53 graded winners for the late Street Cry as a broodmare sire.

Fearless's dam And Why Not, who hit the board over seven furlongs as a juvenile in the 2011 GI Spinaway S. and over 10 panels in the 2013 GI Delaware H., hails from one of the deepest families in the stud book.

Second dam is GSP Alchemist, in turn the dam of GSW Far From Over (Blame), and GISW third dam Aldiza produced one graded winner and the dams of two others. Fearless's fifth dam is none other than 1983 Broodmare of the Year Courtly Dee (Never Bend).

And Why Not has an unraced 2-year-old filly named Marzipan (Candy Ride {Arg}) and a yearling filly by Blame ($500,000 KEESEP purchase by Juddmonte). She was bred to Gun Runner for 2022.

Saturday, Gulfstream
HARLAN'S HOLIDAY S.-GIII, $150,000, Gulfstream, 12-18, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:42.19, ft.
1–FEARLESS, 123, g, 5, by Ghostzapper
1st Dam: And Why Not (MGISP, $262,965), by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Alchemist, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Aldiza, by Storm Cat
($725,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP; $120,000 RNA 4yo '20 FTKHRA;
$205,000 5yo '21 FTKHRA). O-Repole Stable; B-Helen K.
Groves Revocable Trust (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-Luis Saez.
$92,070. Lifetime Record: 11-5-3-1, $576,550. Werk Nick
Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
*1/2 to Just Whistle (Pioneerof the Nile), SW & MGSP,
$260,865.
2–South Bend, 121, c, 4, Algorithms–Sandra's Rose, by Old
Trieste. ($47,000 RNA Ylg '18 FTKJUL; $70,000 2yo '19
OBSMAR). O-Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, Peter Deutsch,
& Pantofel Stable, LLC; B-Highclere Inc. (KY); T-William I.
Mott. $29,700.
3–Mighty Heart, 126, c, 4, Dramedy–Emma's Bullseye, by
City Place. O/B-Lawrence Cordes (ON); T-Josie Carroll.
$14,850.
Margins: 4, 1 1/4, 7 1/4. Odds: 0.60, 6.20, 2.30.
Also Ran: Blue Steel, Twenty Twice, Eye of a Jedi.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Ghostzapper Gelding Shows No Fear in Harlan’s Holiday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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American Pharoah’s Sweet Melania Ends Drought in Suwannee River

Robert and Lawana Low's Sweet Melania (American Pharoah), without a victory in 18 months, broke through to record her first win of the 2021 season in Saturday's GIII Suwannee River S. at Gulfstream.

She jumped well from her outside draw in post 10 to chase from second as favored Shifty She (Gone Astray) sped off on a clear advantage. Sweet Melania, off at 6-1, set her sights on the pacesetter beneath John Velazquez at the top of the stretch, hit the front shortly thereafter and had a half-length over that game foe at the wire. It was another half-length back to In a Hurry (Blame) in third.

Sweet Melania, heroine of the 2019 GII JPMorgan Chase Jessamine S. at Keeneland and 2020 GIII Wonder Again S. at Belmont and also the third-place finisher in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita, was winless in five prior tries this season. She hit the board in her three most recent attempts, including a second-place finish in the One Dreamer S. at Kentucky Downs Sept. 9 and another runner-up effort in a Keeneland allowance last time Oct. 15. The chestnut hadn't had her picture taken since the Wonder Again last June.

“She was super sharp coming into it,” winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “I loved the way she was training and she got a beautiful ride from Johnny. It was a good setup, and I thought she ran a good race. I felt like she had been rounding back into form and had some good performances and just didn't quite get there. She did seem super sharp, and we were hoping for an improved performance.”

Pletcher added that Sweet Melania would be under consideration for the $500,000 GIIII Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf Jan. 29.

Pedigree Notes:

Sweet Melania, a $600,000 KEESEP graduate, is one of 23 stakes winners and 12 graded winners from Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. She is one of 12 stakes winners and three graded winners for broodmare sire Discreet Cat.

The E. Paul Robsham-bred SW & GSP Sweet N Discreet did not produce a foal in 2018 and her 2019 Carpe Diem filly died. She had a Liam's Map colt in 2020 ($200,000 KEESEP purchase by Jackpot Farm) and a filly by American Pharoah this year. She was bred back to Tapit.

Sweet N Discreet, a $1.1-million purchase by Crupi's New Castle Farm on behalf of Sweet Melania's breeder St. Elias Stables at the 2014 FTKNOV sale, brought $1.6 million from Mt. Brilliant Farm, in foal to Liam's Map, at Fasig-Tipton November in 2019.

Sweet N Discreet is a full-sister to GSW and GISP Discreet Dancer and a half to GSW Travelin Man (Trippi).

Saturday, Gulfstream
SUWANNEE RIVER S.-GIII, $100,000, Gulfstream, 12-18, 3yo/up, f/m, 1mT, :00.00, fm.
1–SWEET MELANIA, 121, f, 4, by American Pharoah
                1st Dam: Sweet N Discreet (SW & GSP, $366,447), by Discreet Cat
                2nd Dam: West Side Dancer, by Gone West
                3rd Dam: Bering Cruise, by Danzig
   ($600,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Lawana L. & Robert E. Low;
B-St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher; J-John R.
Velazquez. $57,660. Lifetime Record: GISP, 15-4-4-4,
$571,210. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for
   the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Shifty She, 125, m, 5, Gone Astray–Perilous Hope, by
Strong Hope. O-Pedigree Partners LLC; B-Chris Pallas &
George Klein (FL); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $18,600.
3–In a Hurry, 121, f, 4, Blame–Scampering, by Afleet Alex.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Stuart S.
Janney, III LLC (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $9,300.
Margins: HF, HF, 2HF. Odds: 6.80, 2.30, 5.90.
Also Ran: Keeper of Time (Ire), Summering, Kelsey's Cross, Alms, Dawn's Dancer, Princess Causeway, Classic Lady, Quiet Company, La Babia.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Weekend Lineup: Pegasus Prep Day At Gulfstream

This weekend's horse racing action is highlighted by a quartet of graded stakes race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, featuring preps for the track's Pegasus World Cup card in late January. The best gambling race on the card is likely the Grade 2 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes on the grass, which drew an overflow field of 13 to contest nine furlongs.

In addition, Saturday will feature a pair of $500,000 stakes for New York-bred 2-year-olds at Aqueduct, and a pair of $100,000 stakes races for Maryland-bred or -sired 2-year-olds at Laurel Park.

Prior to all that, Kentucky Derby points are on the line in the Remington Park Springboard Mile on Friday night in Oklahoma.

Saturday

1:54 p.m. – G3 Suwannee River Stakes at Gulfstream

As Pegasus World Cup Day looms on the horizon, owners Chris Pallas and Harvey Rothenberg and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. are hoping to navigate Saturday's $100,000 Suwannee River (G3) as a way to the inaugural $500,000 Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf (G3) next month.

Shifty She became a graded-stakes winner in her most recent start, a front-running 1 ½-length triumph in the one-mile Noble Damsel (G3) Oct. 23 at Belmont Park. It followed a summer and fall away from her South Florida home that included a third in the Aug. 8 De La Rose at Saratoga and fourth in the Sept. 11 Ladies Turf (G3) at Kentucky Downs, beaten 1 ¾ lengths each time.

There was some consideration given to training Shifty She up to the Pegasus program, scheduled this year for Jan. 29, but the Suwannee River gives the 5-year-old Gone Astray mare six weeks to the 1 1/16-mile Filly & Mare Turf and comes at a distance where she is 3-for-6 lifetime.

Sanford Bacon and Patrick Biancone Racing's Kelsey's Cross will be seeking her first win in five starts since beating Shifty She in April. The 5-year-old mare, trained by Biancone, ran third in the 2019 Wonder Again (G3) at Belmont as a 2-year-old, won the 2020 Ginger Punch and ran third in the Hillsborough (G2) as a 3-year-old, and has placed in five other stakes. Sixth in a one-mile handicap Nov. 27 at Gulfstream, her only dirt start in 23 career races, she ran fifth in last year's Suwannee River behind multiple Grade 1 winner Starship Jubilee.

Other graded winners in the field are Alms, Keeper of Time and Sweet Melania. Godolphin's Alms, a homebred daughter of City Zip, won her first four career races including the six-furlong Matron (G3) at Belmont and one-mile Jimmy Durante (G3) at Del Mar in 2019 to cap her juvenile campaign. She is winless in her last four, spread out from February 2020 to Nov. 25 at Fair Grounds, where she was beaten a neck when second in the Joseph R. Peluso Memorial. During that time she also ran third by a head in the July 2020 Appalachian (G2), which preceded a 15-month layoff.

Suwannee River Entries

3:28 p.m. – G3 Sugar Swirl Stakes at Gulfstream

Frank's Rockette will be on a quest to add another graded-stakes success to her resume Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the Frank Fletcher Racing Operations Inc.'s homebred filly scored the first stakes victory of her racing career nearly two years ago. The 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief is scheduled to race seven other fillies and mares in the $100,000 Sugar Swirl (G3), a six-furlong sprint.

OXO Equine LLC's Center Aisle will seek her first stakes victory Saturday while coming off a pair of impressive of optional claiming and allowance victories at Churchill Downs and Keeneland in her first two starts for trainer Paulo Lobo. Formerly trained by Chad Brown, the 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief finished third behind Frank's Rockette in both the Victory Ride (G3) and Prioress (G2) last year.

Breeze Easy LLC's Bronx Beauty, who lost last year's Sugar Swirl by a head, is slated to return in the six-furlong sprint. The 5-year-old stakes-winning daughter of Liaison is coming off an Sept. 6 allowance victory at Monmouth Park.

Arindel's Quinoa Tifah, Cumberland Stables' Music City Star and Team Hanley and Paul Braverman's Loriloupies are also entered in the Sugar Swirl after finishing first, second and third, respectively, in an optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream.

Sugar Swirl Entries

3:59 p.m. – G3 Harlan's Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream

Repole Stable's Fearless will make a bid to return to graded stakes-winning form while making his second start off a six-month layoff in Saturday's $150,000 Harlan's Holiday (G3) at Gulfstream Park. Fearless is coming off a second-place finish in the Nov. 21 Miami Gardens overnight handicap, in which he lost for the first time in fourth starts at Gulfstream. The 5-year-old Ghostzapper gelding was the even-money favorite in his first start since finishing third in the May 14 Pimlico Special (G3).

Multiple graded-stakes winner Mighty Heart looms as a formidable opponent for Fearless in the Harlan's Holiday. The Lawrence Cordes homebred is coming off a front-running victory in the Autumn (G2) at Woodbine after finishing fourth in the Durham Cup (G3). The 4-year-old son of Dramedy won the 2020 Queen's Plate over Woodbine's Tapeta surface before capturing the Prince of Wales on dirt at Fort Erie. The Ontario-bred colt won the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs, finished second in the West Virginia Governor's Cup (G3) at Mountaineer, and finished third in an optional claiming allowance at Keeneland in his other starts on dirt.

Owner/trainer Steve Budhoo's Eye of a Jedi, who finished second in last year's Harlan's Holiday, will seek to improve on a trio of recent starts at a mile around one turn. The 6-year-old gelding won the 1 1/8-mile Ghostzapper (G3) around two turns with Javier Castellano aboard last year. The Hall of Fame rider will return aboard Eye of a Jedi Saturday.

James Woodruff's Blue Steel, winner of the Claiming Crown Iron Horse Kent Sterling Memorial; Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, Peter Deutsch and Pantofel Stable LLC's South Bend, an optional claiming allowance winner at Churchill Downs; and Calumet Farm's Twenty Twice round out the field.

Harlan's Holiday Entries

4:32 p.m. – G2 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream

Already with a handful of prospects for next month's $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), a race he won in 2020, trainer Mike Maker may wind up strengthening his hand following Saturday's $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

Maker will send out two of the seven horses he nominated to the Fort Lauderdale, Atone and Media Blitz, as well as supplemental entry Order and Law. Three Diamonds Farm's Atone is a 4-year-old Into Mischief gelding with four wins in nine career tries on grass, two of them coming in his last three starts, most recently a 2 ½-length optional claiming allowance triumph Nov. 21 at Aqueduct.

Media Blitz will be making his first start since Maker spent $100,000 to claim the 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt for himself out of a third-place finish Nov. 26 at Del Mar. He has faced graded company twice previously this year, finishing off the board in the Del Mar Handicap (G2) and John Henry Turf Championship (G2).

Order and Law was also claimed at Del Mar, this time for $80,000 on behalf of Paradise Farms Corp. The 5-year-old gelding – whose grandsire, Shakespeare, was a multiple Grade 1 winner on turf – ran fifth in the Oct. 2 City of Hope Mile (G2) in his first start for Maker. He rebounded to finish second by a neck at odds of 10-1 behind favored Neptune's Storm in the one-mile Lure, also at Santa Anita.

Ft. Lauderdale Entries

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