Shifty She | Horse Racing Free Tips

Veteran Jockey Edwin Gonzalez Steps Into The Spotlight, Rides All Three Pegasus Races

Jockey Edwin Gonzalez left behind the night life for the beach life 10 months ago, venturing to Gulfstream Park at the tail end of the 2020-2021 Championship Meet after dominating under the radar at Penn National.

The 29-year-old jockey has walked out of the shadows of night racing in Pennsylvania to further his career at the Hallandale Beach, FL racetrack where he will step into the spotlight to ride in all three Pegasus World Cup Invitational races on Saturday's spectacular 12-race program.

“I've come from the bottom,” Gonzalez said. “I got lucky with my agent and all the people who have helped me. I love to win races. I keep working hard. When I got here, I got a lot of opportunities.”

Gonzalez and agent Kevin Meyocks have made the most of their opportunities while based year-round at Gulfstream, so much so that Gonzalez has been named to ride Tracy Farmer's Sir Winston in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) presented by 1 S/T BET, Live Oak Plantation's March to the Arch in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) presented by Baccarat, and Pedigree Partners LLC's Shifty She in the $500,000 TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational presented by PEPSI.

Sir Winston and March to the Arch are trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, while Shifty She is conditioned by Saffie Joseph Jr., who is currently atop the 2021-2022 Championship Meet trainer standings.

“I started winning races for everybody, Casse, Saffie, so many trainers gave me opportunities,” said Gonzalez, who is sitting sixth in the Championship Meet jockey standings with 19 winners. “I kept giving 100 percent to the horses to make everybody happy and keep working hard.”

Gonzalez got off to a fast start at Gulfstream, winning 59 races, including the 1500th of his career that started in his native Puerto Rico, during the Spring/Summer Meet before going to the sidelines for two months after sustaining a hairline fracture in his right leg July 3. He rode three winners on his first day back and has continued to entrench himself at Gulfstream.

Gonzalez will ride Sir Winston, the 2019 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner, for the first time in the Pegasus World Cup, in which he will face defending champion Knicks Go and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Life Is Good.

“I think he has a good chance because you have those two horses that will be in front. I'll be put my horse behind them and then make a run,” Gonzalez said. “My horse is working good. He worked the other day in 47 [seconds] and it was like he was galloping.”

After riding March to the Arch, a multiple graded-stakes winner with more than $980,000 in earnings in the Pegasus Turf, Gonzalez will seek his second graded-stakes victory aboard Shifty She in the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf. Gonzalez guided the daughter of Gone Astray to victory in the Noble Damsel (G3) at Belmont Park Oct. 23. Gonzalez has gone 3-for-3 aboard Shifty She before finishing second last time out at Gulfstream in the Suwannee River (G3), in which she held gamely to finish a half-length behind Sweet Melania.

“She's a nice filly. I think she has a good chance to win. In her last race, I don't think she was 100 percent. This race, she'll be 100 percent,” Gonzalez said. “She's here. She doesn't have to ship, which is in her favor.”

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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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Sweet Melania Regains Graded Stakes Winning Form In Suwannee River

The last time Sweet Melania had her picture taken was nearly 18 months ago at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. In the intervening months since then, the daughter of American Pharoah has had four in-the-money finishes, but no wins. In the Grade 3 Suwannee River Stakes, Sweet Melania stalked Shifty She throughout the first six furlongs and rallied in the stretch to get her first victory of 2021.

In a capacity field of 12, Sweet Melania broke well, with jockey John Velazquez putting her in second behind the favorite Shifty She, who took the lead from the break. Through early fractions of :25.91 for the first quarter and :48.4 for the half-mile, Shifty She had a comfortable three-length lead over Sweet Melania and In a Hurry down the backstretch. Velazquez moved his filly into contention as they entered the far turn, pulling within striking distance of Shifty She entering the stretch.

Down the Gulfstream straight, the two fillies dueled down the first half of the stretch, but Sweet Melania was able to get a head in front within the last furlong to hit the wire a half-length in front. Shifty She held off a rallying In a Hurry to finish second.

The final time for the one-mile G3 stakes was 1:36.40. Find this race's chart here.

Sweet Melania paid $15.60, $7.00, and $4.80. Shifty She paid $4.40 and $3.00. In a Hurry paid $4.20.

“She was super sharp coming into it. 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,” trainer Todd Pletcher said after the race.

“The first time I rode her she broke well and I was trying to get her back. She was kind of keen and the other horse next to me was pushing the whole way, and she never really got to relax. Last time she relaxed a little bit behind a couple horses in front, so I thought maybe she wants to do that and have a better finish. Although she just got beat last time out, she ran a really good race,” jockey John Velazquez said after the G3 Suwannee River.

“Today I was just trying to do the same thing, if I could get behind somebody. It was perfect. When I let her go, she responded right away. Obviously, the horse in front is a very tough horse to beat, but I didn't want to let it be too easy. I got to her at the three-eighths pole and I knew I probably had her but on the other hand, I don't want to let her go too easy and get caught by somebody else from behind. It feels good to win a race like this.”

Bred in Kentucky by St. Elias Stables, Sweet Melania is a 4-year-old filly out of the Discreet Cat mare Sweet N Discreet. She is owned by Robert and Lawana Low. Sweet Melania was consigned by Gainesway and purchased by West Bloodstock and her owners for $600,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. With her win in the G3 Suwannee River, the filly has one win in six starts in 2021 for a lifetime record of four wins in 15 starts and career earnings of $571,210.

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