HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The middle legs of the Florida Sire Series five weeks ago proved to be a showcase for the talents of Khozalite and Mythical, who won their respective divisions in dominant fashion. All signs point to that being the case once again Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the two promising juveniles will go postward as overwhelming favorites in the series finales, the $300,000 In Reality and its filly counterpart, the My Dear Girl Stakes.
The 1 1/16-mile In Reality and My Dear Girl highlight an 11-race card that also features a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 pool that is expected to have a final jackpot of approximately $2 million if not hit on either Thursday or Friday.
Trainer Jose D’Angelo has plenty of reasons to feel confident that Khozalite will have little trouble duplicating his four-length victory in the seven-furlong Affirmed despite stretching out in distance for the In Reality. Not only is Khozalite well drawn on the rail with the short run to the first turn, he is also the only member of the field to have already won a race around two turns, having graduated against open maiden special weight opposition going a mile on the turf on Aug. 30. In addition, the 77 Beyer Speed Figure Khozalite earned for his performance in the Affirmed is easily the highest posted of any of the 11 Florida-bred 2-year-olds entered for the In Reality.
“It’s a good draw. He has already been around and won going two turns, and he just continues to improve every week. And I just loved the way he won last time,” said D’Angelo. “He was very professional, rating off the pace before making his move, getting the lead and drawing off so impressively. After his maiden win, I was sure he was a better horse on grass than dirt. But the way he won the stakes, I’m thinking he might be one of those horses who is equally good over both surfaces.”
Khozalite has had four works since the Affirmed, the most recent a five-furlong breeze in 1:03.20 at Palm Meadows on Nov. 22 in company with Prost, who will also compete in the In Reality.
“His works haven’t been fast, but the gallop-outs have been strong,” D’Angelo said of Khozalite. “That has been the key to all these works preparing him for this race.”
D’Angelo is also high on Prost, who won his only start by nine lengths going seven furlongs over a drying surface on Oct. 11.
“We pushed Prost a little bit the first time and ran him seven furlongs hoping if he ran well, we could bring him back in this race,” said D’Angelo. “He probably wasn’t 100 percent fit, but he showed big speed and surprised me with the way he won. We’ve been trying to teach him ever since that he doesn’t have to run that way – break and go. And hopefully [jockey] Miguel [Vasquez] will be able to rate his speed because the way he trains, he looks like he shouldn’t have any problem going two turns.”
Along with Khozalite, the field for the In Reality includes Squire, Strategic Risk, Hawk, and Trelawny, the second- through fifth-place finishers from the Affirmed. Each would obviously have to take a big step forward to upset the favorite in the rematch.
The new faces in the lineup include trainer Brad Cox’s The Town, who rallied from last to finish second as a tepid favorite in a high-priced maiden race at Keeneland in his only previous start, and Gold Miner, a first-time starter from the barn of trainer Riley Mott.
My Dear Girl
Mythical projects to be an even shorter price earlier in the card in the My Dear Girl, having won 4 of 5 career starts by margins ranging from 3 1/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Adirondack at Saratoga to 12 3/4 lengths in the Susan’s Girl. Her lone setback came in the seven-furlong, Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, where she finished a distant fifth behind Tommy Jo after setting a contentious pace into the stretch.
Mythical holds an enormous Beyer Speed Figure edge over her five rivals on Saturday, having already run three numbers that tower over any posted by her seemingly outclassed competition. The lone question is her ability to handle the stretch-out to 1 1/16 miles, an issue her trainer, Jorge Delgado, has little problem with.
“The way she’s been training, I’m confident the extra distance will only be a plus for her,” said Delgado. “Every time she breezes, when she gets to the wire, she wants to do more, to keep going. And I don’t think she necessarily needs the lead either. In fact, I’d prefer she doesn’t have it Saturday because when you are in front, you can be a target if someone wants to put pressure on you.”
Love Like Lucy and Bayou Brigid may have the best credentials among the others. Love Like Lucy figures to show early speed on the stretch-out after finishing a distant second behind the favorite in the Susan’s Girl. Bayou Brigid, a well-beaten third last month in the Our Dear Peg Stakes on grass, should benefit from having had three previous starts around two turns, although she will be making her main-track debut on Saturday.
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