Lady Speightspeare | Horse Racing Free Tips

Aiming for ‘Glory’ in the Pegasus F/M Turf

Since its inaugural running in 2017, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational has become one of the marquee events during Gulfstream's Championship Meeting. Its 'Turf' equivalent, which was added in 2019, was won by that season's Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar, and three years later, a division for the fairer set is added to the card, the GIII TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational S.

Formerly the Marshua's River S., the 8 1/2-furlong test for older fillies and mares features a pair of Grade I winners–morning line favorite Peter Brant's Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) and Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown), a homebred for Charles Fipke.

The former, a half-sister to MGSW Night Prowler (Giant's Causeway), is an eight-time stakes winner, including the most recent Del Mar's GI Matriarch S. Nov. 28. Last season, she also annexed the Plenty of Grace S. and De La Rose S., in addition to finishing runner-up in the GI First Lady S. The daughter of MGSW Mary's Follies was plucked out of the Paul Pompa Jr. dispersal at Keeneland last January by Brant for $925,000.

Lady Speightspeare showed her class early on, taking her career debut while becoming a 'TDN Rising Star' at Woodbine in August before taking the one-mile GI Natalma S. at that venue to cap off her 2-year-old campaign. Back on top in her sophomore reappearance while facing her elders in a Woodbine optional claimer last September, she was scratched after acting up in the gate before Keeneland's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Oct. 16 and was scratched by her trainer Roger Attfield prior to the Oct. 29 GIII Rubicon Valley View S. Trying a synthetic surface for the first time in the seven-panel GII Bessarabian S. against older rivals at Woodbine Nov. 13, the chestnut rolled home by four lengths before finishing third behind the re-opposing Bipartisanship (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) in her final race of the season in Gulfstream's Tropical Park Oaks Dec. 26. Junior Alvarado rides the 4-year-old for the first time.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, offering very strong candidates in the other two Pegasus races, is represented in this inaugural running by Robert and Lawana Lowe's Sweet Melania (American Pharoah). The consistent filly has hit the board in 12 of 15 lifetime starts, including a recent win over the local turf course in the one-mile GIII Suwanee River S. Dec. 18. On that occasion, she defeated several horses marking their returns here, including runner-up Shifty She (Gone Astray).

“She's had six weeks since [the Suwanee River] and she's eating well, putting on a little more weight,” said Pletcher. “She's also been training very enthusiastically. All the signs you'd like to see. Her coat is better than it was. She just seems to be blossoming right now. This will be a tougher ask, but she's doing great.”

Making her U.S. debut Saturday, Gary Barber and Team Valor's Wakanaka (Ire) (Power {GB}), winner of six of eight starts in Italy while under the care of trainer Diego Dettori. In her final race in Italy, the bay won the G3 Regina Elena Italian 1000 Guineas at Capannelle in Rome last April. Purchased by the current partnership 10 months ago, she suffered from bone bruising after her arrival in the U.S., postponing her Stateside debut.

“Everybody wants to win the 1000 Guineas equivalent. There it's a Group 3, but it's a Classic,” said Team Valor's Barry Irwin. “That's the big focal point for all the fillies.”

He continued, “She was a good 2-year-old. She would have been the second-best 2-year-old filly in Italy. She had six starts: four wins, two seconds. She got beat by the filly [Aria Importante] that wound up being the champion.”

Trained by Bill Mott, the filly will break from post 2 under Umberto Rispoli.

“She's a very likable filly,” said Irwin. “She's got a lot of pizazz about her. And she's got instant turn of foot, which is the one thing that we liked. That's why we buy so many horses over there. You tell them to go and it's like now.”

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Shifty She Faces Toughest Challenge Yet In Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf

Fully recovered from a career-threatening injury that cost her all of 2020, Shifty She, with her distinctive name and background, is ready for a stern test Saturday in the inaugural running of the TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational Presented by PEPSI (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

Peter Brant's Grade 1 winner Regal Glory, trained by Chad Brown, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the 1 1/16 miles turf test that drew a field of 11 stakes runners. Regal Glory will start from Post No. 4 with jockey Jose Ortiz. The lineup includes Robert amd Lawana Low's Sweet Melania, who edged Shifty She in the Suwannee River (G3) on Dec. 18, and Team Valor's Irish-bred Wakanaka, who will make her U.S. debut.

The $500,000 Filly and Mare Turf is the newest addition to Gulfstream Park's program of seven graded stakes topped by the sixth running of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) present by 1/ST Bet.

Shifty She, a Florida-bred daughter of Gone Astray, had won three of four starts as a 3-year-old in 2019 before going to the sidelines with a tendon injury.

“In this game you have to be very patient and I'm a very patient guy,” said Chris Pallas, who is the mare's co-breeder and co-owner.

Pallas credits the vets at Ocala Equine with the treatment that enabled her to resume her career.

“We got her back and she is just a pleasure to be around,” he said. “She's just a very smooth horse. When you watch her, she glides over the grass. She's very graceful and she loves what she's doing. That's really her mindset. She's all about the business and she loves to run.”

Since her return in April with new trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., the speedy daughter of Gone Astray has a record of 3-1-1 from seven starts, topped by a victory in the Noble Damsel (G3) on Oct. 23 at Belmont Park.

Chris Pallas and his brother-in-law George Klein bred the mare and Pallas is a co-owner in Pedigree Partners. Pallas and Klein were given the unraced broodmare Perilous Hope and they followed their plan to have the Phipps family mare Pure Profit on both sides of Shifty She's pedigree. Pure Profit's daughter, Educated Risk, is the third dam of Perilous Hope and her Hall of Fame daughter, Inside Information, is the third dam of the Florida-based sire Gone Astray.

“We had won a silent auction to a season with Gone Astray so we kind of did this for practically nothing. Here we are today,” Pallas said. “This is an expensive sport and if you can match up your pedigrees you can do this fairly inexpensively and you can get pretty lucky.”

Pallas, a longtime Fort Lauderdale resident, said there was a similar breeding approach with the graded-stakes winning sprinter Mambo Meister he co-owned from 2007 to 2012.

Shifty She – Pallas fashioned the name from her breeding – showed stakes ability while tiring and finishing fourth in her comeback race in April in an optional claimer and has been in stakes company since. At her best when on or near the lead, she led from gate to wire in the Noble Damsel.

“I was numb for three days after that. It was amazing. She had two really sharp works here and when you're an owner and you can come and watch the workouts, you learn a lot more about your horse than at a race. I knew she was ready to run. Everybody that handled her from here to Belmont was fantastic. Just being there that day, it was an overcast day, it was cool. She ran them off their feet. She just did her thing.”

Brant purchased Regal Glory for $925,000 in January of 2021 in the disbursement of the late Paul Pompa's racing stable. The daughter of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Animal Kingdom has been trained by Brown throughout her career. Last year, she won the Plenty of Grace at Aqueduct and De La Rose at Saratoga around a fourth in the Just a Game (G1) then finished second by a half-length to stablemate Blowout in the First Lady (G1) at Keeneland. In front from the start, she picked up the coveted Grade 1 victory in the Matriarch on Nov. 28 at Del Mar.

Sweet Melania, a 5-year-old daughter of American Pharoah, was in the money four times during a seven-race winless streak going into the Suwanee River. She stayed within striking distance of pacesetting Shifty She, engaged her in the stretch and earned her third graded stakes victory by a half-length. Sweet Melania, the 5-1 second choice on the morning line, will start from the rail.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher liked what he saw Saturday when the mare worked a half-mile in :48.98 at Palm Beach Downs.

“I thought her last race was one of her best. I think she's actually coming into this one even better,” Pletcher said. “This will be a more demanding race, but she's training like she's made a move forward since the last one. Hopefully she can step up.”

Charles Fipke's homebred Lady Speightspeare won the first four starts of her career, all at Woodbine in suburban Toronto, before finishing third as the 6-5 favorite after a troubled trip in the Tropical Park Oaks on Dec. 26. The daughter of Speightstown out of the Theatrical mare Lady Shakespeare, will have a new rider with Junior Alvarado. She drew Post No. 3 and is 8-1 on the morning line.

Fortune Racing's Bipartisanship won the Tropical Park Oaks at 19-1 for trainer Graham Motion and has two wins and a third in four starts since being imported from Ireland last year. She drew the outside post and is 20-1.

Stuart Janney's homebred 5-year-old In a Hurry finished third in the Suwannee River behind Sweet Melania and Shifty She. Her regular rider Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano has the mount on the daughter of Blame, who will start from Post No. 10.

Trainer Michael McCarthy will saddle Nicest, the Irish-bred daughter of American Pharoah. She was third in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks (G1) and Ribblesdale Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot before being imported last year. In her most recent start, she was second in the off-the-turf American Oaks (G1) on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

Godolphin's Alms was seventh in the Suwannee River after missing by a neck in her previous start at Fair Grounds. Gift List will be making her first start for trainer Brian Lynch since finishing third as the favorite in the Wonder Again (G3) on June 3 at Belmont Park. Summer in Saratoga, trained by Joe Sharp, closed out the 2021 season with three wins in four starts. In her most recent race, she won the Blushing KD by a neck at Fair Grounds on Dec. 26.

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Bipartisanship Records First Stakes Win In Eventful Tropical Park Oaks

Fortune Racing LLC's Bipartisanship overcame traffic while also benefitting from a fast early pace Sunday at Gulfstream Park, rallying from far back to prevail in a most eventful running of the $100,000 Tropical Park Oaks.

The Tropical Park Oaks, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies, co-headlined Sunday's day-after-Christmas program at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track, with the Tropical Park Derby, a 1 1/16-mile turf event for 3-year-olds.

Bipartisanship, a British-bred daughter of Bated Breath who was sent to post at 19-1, scored by a half-length after jockey Paco Lopez found room between horses in the stretch to record her first stakes victory. The Graham Motion-trained filly was purchased privately following a third-place finish in a Group 3 race in Ireland in July.

Bipartisanship saved ground while racing well behind a lively pace set by multiple graded-stakes winner Lady Speightspeare, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Emma-Jayne Wilson, and pressed by Tobys Heart. The pacemakers set fractions of 23 and 46.99 seconds for the first half mile before continuing to do battle on the turn into the homestretch. Previously undefeated Lady Speightspeare, who captured the Natalma (G1) on turf and the Bessarabian (G2) on Tapeta at Woodbine, suddenly veered five paths to the outside entering the stretch to briefly lose the lead to longshot Mademoiselle Nova, but quickly recovered to take back the lead in mid-stretch.

The pressured pace and her greenness, however, took its toll on the heavy favorite in deep stretch, when Bipartisanship, who was blocked at the top of the stretch, surged between horses to get to the wire first. Stunning Finish also made a wide rally to finish second, a neck ahead of Lady Speightspeare.

“I was a little worried at the top of the stretch. It looked like [Lopez] had nowhere to go, but it all worked out. I think she was much the best. She didn't have a very good trip,” Motion said.

Bipartisanship, who broke her maiden at Laurel in her second U.S. start, was coming off a seventh-place finish in the Winter Memories at Aqueduct.

“Last time, [Jevian Toledo] was mad at himself because they kind of slowed the race up and he left her with way too much to do,” Motion said. “When she came to me, she was already stakes-placed as a maiden. The day she ran in New York she just walked out of the gate, but she won very impressively at Laurel. She has done things very nicely. She's nice filly to be around.”

Bipartisanship ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:40.16 on a firm turf course, providing another Tropical Park Oaks upset victory to her trainer, who saddled Ultra Brat for a 36-1 upset in 2016.

Motion has no immediate plans for Bipartisanship's next start.

“I haven't really thought beyond this race,” he said. “I was actually a little worried about running today because I thought it was very competitive.”

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Tropical Park Oaks: Tobys Heart Looking For More Against Undefeated Lady Speightspeare

Already a multiple-stakes winner with more than $500,000 in earnings, Terry Hamilton and trainer Brian Lynch's Tobys Heart will be on a quest to add a significant achievement to her resume in Sunday's $100,000 Tropical Park Oaks.

The Tropical Park Oaks, a mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies, will co-headline Sunday's day-after-Christmas program at Gulfstream Park with the $100,000 Tropical Park Derby, a 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds.

Tobys Heart has won stakes at Saratoga, Belmont Park and Kentucky Downs but has yet to win a stakes around two turns. The daughter of Jack Milton's quest for two-turn success doesn't figure to be an easy one with the likes of undefeated Lady Speightspeare among the eight fillies entered in the Tropical Park Oaks.

“It would be nice seeing her win around two turns. We'll keep our fingers crossed for Sunday,” Lynch said. “This is a good time, because it's the last chance to win against her age group.”

Tobys Heart finished third at Saratoga in the Lake George (G3) and second in the Tepin at Churchill Downs, both at a mile. Back around one turn, the Kentucky-bred filly drew off by 2 ¾ lengths to win the $500,000 Music City Stakes at Kentucky Downs Sept. 12.

In her most recent outing, Tobys Heart finished fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Valley View (G3) over a yielding course at Keeneland.

“She was down on the inside and took the worst of it. I thought she ran really well. She got beat a neck for second and the winner loves the soft going and won well,” Lynch said.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who was aboard at Saratoga, has the call.

Charles Fipke's Lady Speightspeare looms as a short-priced favorite in the Tropical Park Oaks off victories her flawless record in four starts at Woodbine, including victories in the Natalma (G1) at a mile on turf and the Bessarabian at 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta.

Emma-Jayne Wilson, who has been aboard the home-bred daughter of Speightstown in all of her starts, has the return call.

Trainer Mark Casse will be represented by a pair of fillies, Live Oak Plantations' Inthewinnerscircle and SBH Racing Inc.'s Mademoiselle Nova, who finished 1-2, respectively, in the 1 1/16 Cellars Shiraz over Gulfstream's Tapeta course Nov. 5.

Luis Saez has the call on Inthewinnerscircle, also a stakes winner on turf. Edwin Gonzalez has the mount on Mademoiselle Nova, who won back-to-back optional claiming allowance victories on turf at Woodbine before losing by a neck to her stablemate in the Cellars Shiraz.

Fergus Galvin, R. A. Hill Stable, Black Type Thoroughbreds, John Arenson and Alan Lefevre's Breaker of Chains, is set for her third start in the U.S. since being imported from Ireland. The Kentucky-bred daughter of Bernardini broke her maiden in her U.S. debut at Kentucky Downs before finishing sixth in the Valley View (G3) over a yielding Keeneland turf course.

Tyler Gaffalione has the return mount aboard the Jimmy Toner-trained filly.

R. A. Hill Stable and Brereton Jones' Stunning Princess, who captured an optional claiming allowance Dec. 3 at Gulfstream; Dede McGehee's Gladys, a full sister to 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra; Fortune Racing LLC's Bipartisanship, a British-bred filly who broke her maiden at Laurel two starts back; and Burning Daylight Farms Inc.'s Dream About Me, coming off a maiden score at Monmouth and an optional claiming allowance at Delaware Park; round out the field.

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