On paper, Hello Hello Hello looks like the horse to beat in the $95,000 Our Dear Peggy Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on the grass Saturday at Gulfstream Park. But some handicappers may find reason enough to side against the likely favorite in a race that serves as the final leg of a Rainbow 6 sequence featuring a mandatory payout of a pool that should exceed $1 million if not hit on Friday.
Hello Hello Hello has won her last two starts for trainer Ronald Spatz by a combined 12 lengths, including a high-priced first-level optional-claiming and allowance race by 7 1/2 lengths on Oct. 5 for which she received a career-best 70 Beyer Speed Figure. Both races were decided at a mile and 70 yards over Tapeta after being taken off the turf due to inclement weather and soggy course conditions.
But Hello Hello Hello will have some obstacles to overcome and questions to answer if she’s to continue her winning ways, at a short price, in the Our Dear Peggy. She will break from post 12, barring scratches, a starting spot that has yielded just 10 winners from 170 starters (6 percent) in one-mile races on the turf at Gulfstream the past five years.
Hello Hello Hello must also prove she can transfer her recent form back to the grass after posting a 43 Beyer Figure in her only previous try on the turf, when finishing fifth, also from an extreme outside post, in her career debut on July 19. Hello Hello Hello is a half-sister to Flattery, who was a stakes winner on turf a year ago at Del Mar.
:: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.
Those looking for alternatives to the favorite, especially in the Rainbow 6, will likely turn first to the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained pair of Bellavinino and Ramsey Pond.
Bellavinino was purchased privately by her present connections and turned over to Joseph shortly after her impressive career debut, a rallying 3 1/4-length victory for a $35,000 claiming tag going 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf here July 28. She made her two subsequent starts at Kentucky Downs, finishing fourth in a restricted allowance race and second in the Juvenile Fillies Stakes when beaten 1 3/4 lengths by the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies-bound May Day Ready despite having to work her way out of some traffic near midstretch.
Ramsey Pond exploded with the addition of blinkers in her third career start, drawing off to a 4 3/4-length maiden win going a mile on the grass at Kentucky Downs for which she received a 78 Beyer Figure, easily best of the dozen juvenile fillies in the Our Dear Peggy lineup.
Special Aviator, who captured her only previous start against maiden special weight opposition by 3 3/4 lengths over the Tapeta track, also figures to garner considerable support while making her turf and stakes debut, as should trainer Jorge Delgado’s pair of stakes-tested youngsters Lemonpeppasteppa and Obliging.
Miss Mary Nell finished third, nearly eight lengths behind Hello Hello Hello in their previous meeting, although unlike that rival is well drawn, on the rail, for the rematch. Miss Mary Nell was an easy winner of her lone try on grass, winning her maiden by 3 1/2 lengths going 7 1/2 furlongs during the summer session.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.