HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although his trainer Jose D’Angelo thinks Khozalite may be better on the turf, the versatile 2-year-old proved he’s not too shabby on dirt as well. With a rally from just off the pace, Khozalite landed a convincing, four-length victory over Squire in Saturday’s $200,000 Affirmed Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The seven-furlong Affirmed is the middle leg of the open division of the Florida Sire Series.
Khozalite finished in a dead heat for second after setting a contested pace making his career debut against restricted Florida-bred opposition going six furlongs here on Aug. 2. Four weeks later, Khozalite came back at a mile on the turf, rallying to a two-length victory to earn his diploma against open, not statebred, maiden special weight company in the process.
Well drawn on the extreme outside in a field of 11 Florida-breds in the Affirmed, Khozalite broke alertly under regular rider Leonel Reyes to stalk the early pace set by recent maiden winner Wootun. Khozalite readily gained command midway on the turn, shook off a mild bid from Strategic Risk entering the stretch then gradually edged well clear despite not switching off his left lead until a sixteenth of a mile from the wire.
Squire angled four wide leaving the turn, rallying mildly to be second best, 1 3/4 lengths in front of the tiring Strategic Risk.
Khozalite, a son of Khozan, is owned in partnership by Half Hollow Stables LLC and Pro Racing. He covered the distance in 1:23.30 over a fast surface and paid $9.20.
“I ran him the second time on grass because he looks way better [on turf], although he’s really a horse that needs distance,” D’Angelo said by phone from Kentucky immediately after the race. “He was ready good today. When I saw him sitting second and making his move turning for home, I knew he was going to be there. He had a nice gallop-out [after the race]. I’m proud of him.”
D’Angelo said Khozalite would definitely be pointed for the final leg of the Sire Series, the 1 1/16-mile In Reality, on Nov. 29.
Mythical much the best in Susan's Girl
Any question about whether Mythical could stay seven furlongs was answered in the 1:22.95 seconds it took her to complete the distance en route to a dominant, 12 3/4-length victory over runner-up Love Like Lucy and nine other over-matched rivals in the $200,000 Susan’s Girl division of the Florida Sire Series. The final time was the best in the 43-year history of the event.
Mythical, who went postward a prohibitive 2-5 favorite, entered the Susan’s Girl as the only multiple winner in the field with three victories that included one-sided wins in the Grade 3 Adirondack and Tremont stakes at Saratoga. She suffered her lone setback when attempting to stretch to seven furlongs in her most recent start, tiring badly to finish fifth after setting a hotly contested pace in Saratoga’s signature event for 2-year-old fillies, the Grade 1 Spinaway, on Aug. 30.
Breaking from post 10 in an 11-horse field, Mythical rated kindly just off the early leader while well held down the backstretch by her regular rider Emisael Jaramillo. Mythical moved readily to assume command when lightly roused midway on the turn, quickly opened a commanding advantage, increasing her lead readily without need of any encouragement through the final sixteenth.
Love Like Lucy stalked the early leader, joined for command between horses near the the five-sixteenth pole, but proved no match for the winner, digging in gamely to withstand Finding Strength by a neck to be second best.
Jorge Delgado trains Mythical, an Arindel homebred by St. Patrick’s Day, whose final clocking was not only .35 seconds faster than the open division but eclipsed the old stakes record of 1:23.02 set by Princess Secret in 2020. She paid $2.80.
“We knew last time [Spinaway] we were pushing a Grade 1 thinking we were going to win but she took a lot of pressure and it was a different class,” said Delgado. “The right move for her, after a long summer, was to come back here and find herself again. She found a new dimension today which we’d been working her for in the mornings. And she did it very nice. Jaramillo said he didn’t use 10 percent of her. She had plenty left.”
Delgado said there is a good chance Mythical could try to stretch out around two turns in the final leg of the Florida Stallion Series, the 1 1/16-mile My Dear Girl, on Nov. 29.
“I think we’ll probably go there. Against this competition you’ve got to try,” Delgado acknowledged. “The way she’s training and the way she’s settled here in Florida, I don’t think it will be any problem here.”
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