Trainer Brian Lynch's highly successful Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park continued Friday when Grace Darling graduated in style while making her U.S. debut in Race 5, a 7 ½-furlong maiden special weight race for 3-year-old fillies on turf for an $84,000 purse.
William Werner's Grace Darling, an Irish-bred daughter of Kingman, was Lynch's 10th winner from just 31 starters thus far during the Championship Meet.
“We had no turf at Churchill through the fall, so I'm good at sitting on horses and getting them fresh,” said Lynch, who saddled four winners from just 15 starters at the fall meeting in Louisville. “I'm just playing a little catch-up.”
Lynch, of course, has been a force at Gulfstream every season, especially in races on turf.
Grace Darling ($8.80) raced well off the pace while saving ground. She kicked in through the stretch, darting through a tight opening between horses and pulled away to an impressive score.
“She's a very unassuming little girl. She's actually a brown paper bag. She's very plain, but always in the morning, she showed talent from the first time we started working her,” Lynch said. “She'd pin her ears and fight.”
While Lynch has yet to decide when Grace Darling will race next, his goal for the Irish import is the Edgewood (G2) at Churchill Downs during Derby Week. Lynch-trained Gift List, who captured the 2021 Edgewood, finished fourth in the TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Gulfstream Jan. 29.
Grace Darling raced twice in Ireland, finishing third in her second start in a strong maiden race at Naas last August.
“The horses she beat in Europe came back to win stakes. The form around her was very good. She was a great purchase. [Werner] is great owner and we're lucky to have her in our barn,” Lynch said.
Tyler Gaffalione guided Grace Darling to victory.
The post Trainer Brian Lynch ‘Playing A Little Catch-Up’ With Big Championship Meet At Gulfstream appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
