Gulfstream | Horse Racing Free Tips

Got Stormy Makes Seasonal Bow in Honey Fox

MGISW Got Stormy (Get Stormy) makes her first start for her new owners Saturday in Gulfstream's GIII Honey Fox S. Winner of the GI Fourstardave H. and GI Matriarch S. in 2019, the chestnut checked in second against males in this year's renewal of the Fourstardave Aug. 22. The chestnut captured the GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint S. Sept. 12 and followed suit with a win in Keeneland's GIII Buffalo Trace Franklin County S. Oct. 9. Closing out her 2020 campaign with a fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint S. Nov. 7 at Keeneland, Got Stormy was purchased by Spendthrift Farm for $2.75-million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale and returned to Mark Casse's care for another year. My Racehorse, who partnered with Spendthrift on reigning Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief), teams up with B. Wayne Hughes's operation again on this popular mare.

“We're very pleased with her. Last year I felt like maybe I didn't have her quite as ready for her first start when we ran her, and the one thing I did was I tried to get her ready on the dirt,” Casse said. “So, this year I changed my mind and I sent her down and she's been breezing over the turf. She loves to breeze on the turf. She should be a good and ready.”

Zofelle (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) was a close second in the Sand Springs S. here last March and completed the trifecta in the GIII Mint Julep S. at Churchill May 30. Tiring to fifth after a wide trip behind Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in Belmont's GI Just a Game S. June 27, the bay kicked off this term with a late-rallying score in the GIII Marshua's River S. over course and distance Jan. 23.

MSW Feel Glorious (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) has been knocking at the door of a graded success for most of her career. Third in both the GII New York S. and GIII Matchmaker S. last summer, the bay captured Saratoga's Perfect Sting S. in August, but failed to fire when seventh in Belmont's GIII Noble Damsel S. Sept. 26. Fourth in that venue's GIII Athenia S. Oct. 25, she won the Forever Together S. at Aqueduct last time Nov. 27.

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Weekend Lineup: Trio Of Eclipse Award Winners Back In Action

Three Eclipse Award winners will be in action this weekend with reigning juvenile male champion Essential Quality – the top-ranked horse on the NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Thoroughbred Poll – headlining the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, champion 2-year-old filly Vequist making her seasonal bow in the Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, and champion older dirt female Monomoy Girl getting her 6-year-old campaign started in Sunday's Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn. In addition, Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Fire At Will is set to be part of the field of 10 in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, which will anchor Saturday's 14-race program with nine stakes at Gulfstream Park.

America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, will air eight total hours of live racing coverage this weekend encompassing action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park and Gulfstream Park.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will broadcast from 2-7 p.m. ET on Saturday on FS2, while Sunday will feature coverage on FS2 from 4-5 p.m. with FS1 airing the program from 5-7 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 27

12:26 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

We Got This Stables' I Get It will go for her first graded-stakes victory in Saturday's Herecomesthebride, a 1 1/16-miles turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies. I Get It has won four of her last five starts by a combined 14 ¾ lengths in going-away fashion while demonstrating an explosive late kick and a distinct fondness for the Gulfstream turf course. She broke through with a five-length maiden victory while not being equipped with the blinkers she wore in her first two unsuccessful starts. She came right back to capture a pair of optional claiming allowances at Gulfstream Park West before lacking her usual late kick in a fourth-place finish in the Jan. 2 Ginger Brew at Gulfstream. She bounced back with a sharp three-length optional claiming allowance score in her most recent start.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA3-EQB.html

12:55 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Mac Diarmida Stakes at Gulfstream Park on TVG

It's all about threes when trainer Mike Maker sends out the trio of Aquaphobia, Temple and Tide of the Sea in search of a third consecutive victory in Saturday's 1 3/8-miles Mac Diarmida for older turf horses. Aquaphobia became a Grade 1 winner in last summer's United Nations at Monmouth, coming five starts since being claimed for $62,500 last winter at Gulfstream and run at the Mac Diarmida distance. This will be the seventh consecutive race facing graded company for Aquaphobia, who exits an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA4-EQB.html

2:53 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Canadian Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

After two uncharacteristic off-the-board performances, Fancy Liquor steps right back into graded stakes company Saturday in the 54th running of Canadian Turf Stakes. Fancy Liquor, bred and owned by Louisville Ky.-based Skychai Racing and partners, had a very good 3-year-old season in 2020 for trainer Mike Maker. The son of Lookin at Lucky won three of eight starts – topped by a victory in the Grade 2 American Turf – and earned $497,187. His run of seven-straight in-the-money finishes to begin his career ended with a fifth in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream. In his most recent start, he was sixth in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA8-EQB.html

3:27 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer, who captured the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper, will seek to produce an encore performance in Saturday's Gulfstream Park Mile. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the 5-year-old son of Speightstown is slated to top a field of seven older horses in the one-turn mile event. Joel Rosario worked out a winning trip aboard Performer after breaking from the rail post position in the Hooper, also run at a one-turn mile. Pinned down on the rail along the backstretch, Performer was swung to the outside on the turn into the homestretch and out-battled Eye of a Jedi to the wire to win by a neck.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA9-EQB.html

4:20 p.m.—$600,000 Grade 3 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park on FS2 and TVG

Multiple graded stakes winner Owendale aims to halt a five-race skid when he faces six challengers in the 1 1/16-miles Razorback. Trained by Brad Cox, Owendale hasn't visited the winner's circle since taking the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs last May 23 but did finish third last time out in the Grade 1 Clark Stakes on Nov. 27. Among the top challengers the son of Into Mischief is set to face is Mystic Guide, winner of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes last year and runner-up in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup last October.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP022721USA7-EQB.html

4:29 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Grade 1 winner Got Stormy will begin her fifth and final season of racing Saturday in the one-mile Honey Fox for fillies and mares 4 and up. Got Stormy will be returning to Gulfstream for the first time since winning an optional claiming allowance in March 2019. It is where the daughter of Grade 3 turf-winning mare Malabar Gold broke her maiden in her third lifetime start in February 2018. Given a freshening following her fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 7, Get Stormy joined trainer Mark Casse's string at Palm Meadows, where she has breezed five times since mid-January.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA11-EQB.html

5:04 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stable's Vequist, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2020, is set to launch her highly anticipated sophomore season against 11 rivals in Saturday's Davona Dale. Vequist, the 7-5 favorite in the Davona Dale, was the first champion for her trainer, Parx-based veteran Robert E. 'Butch' Reid Jr., who is approaching his 800th victory in a career that began in 1985. Vequist will be cutting back for her first race since a two-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 6 at Keeneland, a span of 114 days.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA12-EQB.html

5:36 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Heavenly Curlin, already a graded stakes winner on Woodbine's synthetic surface, will have another test on grass Saturday in the The Very One Stakes. Though her pedigree suggests that she ought to fancy turf, Gary Barber and John Oxley's 4-year-old filly, a $625,000 yearling purchase, is winless in her two tries on the surface, both at Gulfstream. In her most recent start, she was fifth in the Grade 3, 1 ½ miles La Prevayonte on Jan. 23. She will cut back in distance in The Very One to 1 3/16-miles.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA13-EQB.html

5:58 p.m.—$750,000 Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on FS2 and TVG

Godolphin's unbeaten homebred Essential Quality will be making his first start since clinching an Eclipse Award as the country's champion 2-year-old male in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile when he heads up the field for the Southwest Stakes, which offers 10 qualifying points to the winner on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Essential Quality earned his Eclipse Award after winning the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity Oct. 3 at Keeneland and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile there on Nov. 6. The son of Tapit will break from the rail in the 1 1/16-mile race. The Southwest and Bayakoa were originally scheduled to be run Feb. 15 before being postponed twice because of severe winter weather.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP022721USA10-EQB.html

6:10 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on FS2 and TVG

Courtlandt Farms' Greatest Honour, already a prime prospect on the strength of his dominating victory in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, will take a significant step along the Road to the Triple Crown in Saturday's Fountain of Youth, which distributes Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 scale to the top four finishers. Greatest Honour, who broke his maiden in his fourth career start Dec. 26 at Gulfstream, rallied from seventh in a field of nine to draw away by 5 ¾ lengths under Jose Ortiz in the 1 1/16-miles Holy Bull. The son of Tapit has shown trainer Shug McGaughey all the signs that he has moved forward in his training at Payson Park since his winning stakes debut.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GP022721USA14-EQB.html

Sunday, Feb. 28

6:11 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes at Oaklawn Park on FS1 and TVG

Two-time Eclipse Award champion Monomoy Girl will be making her first start since winning the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff when she begins her 6-year-old season as the heavy favorite in the Bayakoa Stakes. A winner of 13 of 15 career starts, Monomoy Girl was an Eclipse Award winner for champion 3-year-old filly in 2018 and captured champion older dirt female honors in 2020 after missing all of her 4-year-old season due to illness and injury. She drew the outside post 6 for the 1 1/16-mile Bayakoa, a major local prep for the $1 million, Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 17.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/OP022821USA9-EQB.html

The post Weekend Lineup: Trio Of Eclipse Award Winners Back In Action appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Encore Performance?

The highly regarded Performer (Speightstown), a hard-fought neck winner over Eye of a Jedi (Eye of the Leopard) in the GIII Fred W. Hooper S. Jan. 23, will look for his second straight tally over track and trip in Saturday's GII WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile S. The 2019 GIII Discovery S. winner was a disappointing third as the 4-5 favorite in the slop in the GI Cigar Mile H. two starts back Dec. 5.

“He gutted it out pretty good,” trainer Shug McGaughey said of Performer's Hooper win. “He was down on the inside. Joel [Rosario] looked up and saw those horses on the lead were going easy, so that's when he eased him to the outside. I don't think it killed him to win, but that horse that finished second is a pretty darn horse.”

Tax (Arch), a good second as the favorite behind Performer in the Discovery during his 3-year-old campaign, returned from the shelf with a razor sharp, front-running victory over the aforementioned Eye of a Jedi in the local GIII Harlan's Holiday S. Dec. 12, good for a gaudy 105 Beyer Speed Figure. The 2019 GII Jim Dandy S. and GIII Withers S. winner, however, failed to build on that effort in his next start, reporting home a disappointing 10th at 5-1 in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. Jan. 23. Trainer Danny Gargan adds blinkers for this cutback to one turn.

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Prime Factor Puts Two Hearts Farm Back in the Spotlight

Tony Braddock's Two Hearts Farm made quite a few headlines back in 2015 when their mare Fioretti (Bernardini) marked herself as a Breeders' Cup contender with wins in the Roxelana S. and GII TCA S. With that mare now retired to the Two Hearts Farm broodmare band, talented sophomore Prime Factor (Quality Road) has put his breeder back in the spotlight and looks to add another feather to Braddock's cap Saturday in the GII Fountain of Youth S.

Braddock was interested in horses and racing from a young age, attending fairs near his home in North Bergen, New Jersey, to learn more about the various equine breeds. He later moved to Virginia after retiring from the Army and decided to become part of the racing industry he had long admired.

“I got into the business in 1974 and that is when I met the Hamiltons here in Virginia,” Braddock said. “I resigned from the Army and got into businesses in Northern Virginia. I got involved with horses in Middleburg [Virginia] and began breeding.”

Braddock eventually decided he wanted to expand his operation and purchased a farm in Paris, Kentucky, in partnership with Joe Hamilton, whose son Anthony trained Fioretti.

“The people who owned the better stallions in Virginia passed away and all the big stallions were in Kentucky, so my plan was to move whatever I had at the time to Kentucky,” Braddock said. “I wanted to start at a higher level, so I sold some stock and I bought 50 acres in Paris.”

He continued, “Joe Hamilton passed away in 2015 and his son was my partner for a few years, but now I am the sole owner. I have about 15 mares and keep one or two foals to race. I have three right now in Florida being trained. One is half-brother to Prime Factor by Liam's Map, who I am told is a good horse.”

Braddock purchased Prime Factor's dam Haylie Brae (Bernardini) for $70,000 carrying a foal by Shackleford at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale. That price seems like a steal now between her pedigree and Prime Factor's potential. The 13-year-old mare is a half-sister to 'TDN Rising Star' and GSW young sire Speightster (Speightstown); SW & GSP West Coast Swing (Gone West), who is also a 'Rising Star'; and stakes winner Paiota Falls (Kris S). This is also the family of Canadian champions Dance Smartly (Danzig) and Dancethruthedawn (Mr. Prospector); and Grade I-winning top sire Smart Strike.

Prime Factor was the third foal Haylie Brae produced for Braddock and he proved to be special pretty early on.

“Several bloodstock agents come to the farm and look at my current yearlings [leading up to the sales],” Braddock said. “With this colt, when he was weaned, people began to take real notice of him and make some comments about his conformation and how he was growing. He even caught the eye of my blacksmith. He said, 'You've got a good one here. This guy is a seven-figure horse.'”

Braddock's blacksmith wasn't too far off. Prime Factor summoned $900,000 from the powerhouse partnership of WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, who also campaigned Triple Crown hero Justify, at the Keeneland September Sale. It was the breeder's biggest sale to date.

Romping by 8 3/4 lengths in his career bow going six furlongs at Gulfstream Dec. 12, the bay was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' for that impressive effort and completed the trifecta next out when trying two turns in that venue's GIII Holy Bull S. Jan. 30.

“It is very exciting,” Braddock said about breeding a colt on the GI Kentucky Derby trail. “He is already graded stakes-placed and I will certainly be watching and cheering him on Saturday.”

Between Prime Factor's potential, his juvenile half-brother Sea Lane (Liam's Map) in training and his yearling half-brother by Distorted Humor pointed to a yearling sale, Braddock has plenty to look forward to in 2021.

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