Juveniles showcased in stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although summer started June 21, for accounting purposes the Gulfstream Park summer meeting officially begins Sunday with an 11-race program highlighted by a $57,000 optional-claiming event carded at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf for fillies and mares.

As always, the focus of the summer session, which runs through Sept. 29, will be 2-yearolds, with the Florida Sire Series front and center here over the next several months. The series begins Aug. 4 with the $100,000 Dr. Fager and Desert Vixen stakes at six furlongs.

It continues Sept. 1 with the seven-furlong Affirmed and Susan’s Girl stakes, valued at $200,000 apiece, and concludes on closing day with the $400,000 In Reality and My Dear Girl divisions, to be run at 1 1/16 miles.

All told, there are 11 stakes races for 2-year-olds worth a combined $1.83 million on the summer schedule.

There were 29 2-year-old maiden races decided here heading into the final weekend of the spring session, with the most impressive performances all turned in by Florida-breds. That list was topped by Catherinethegreat’s 10 1/4-length victory over a sloppy track on June 23 and the similarly onesided debut tally by Capture the Dream five weeks earlier. Both are daughters of Uncaptured.

Catherinethegreat, a halfsister to the stakes-winning turf filly Katinka, received an 80 Beyer Speed Figure. Capture the Dream’s win came at 4 1/2 furlongs, a distance for which no Beyers are posted locally.

The best of the boys to this point, and the early favorites for the Dr. Fager, are Fully Loaded and Social Paranoia, who received Beyers of 75 and 72 after finishing three-quarters of a length apart in a fivefurlong maiden dash completed in a swift 58.45 seconds on May 28.

Fashionably Wild in feature

Despite having finished second in her last three starts and having gone winless in 11 outings since winning her maiden here more than 13 months ago, Fashionably Wild is likely to be the slight favorite in Sunday’s main event if the race stays on the turf. The 7 1/2-furlong race has a $57,000 purse and an optional $25,000 claiming condition.

A 5-year-old daughter of Unbridled’s Song, Fashionably Wild has failed to hold clear leads at midstretch in her last two starts and could find herself pushed along on the front end by Sophie Germain, who will race in blinkers for the first time in her seventh start.

Should Fashionably Wild come up wanting once again at the end, either Game Girl or Prado Vision seem the most likely to pick up the pieces. Game Girl finished fourth, two lengths behind Fashionably Wild, when the pair met at a mile May 13, but Game Girl has the benefit of a rail draw in the rematch after breaking from the outside in the previous encounter.

Prado Vision, claimed by her current connections for $16,000 out of a win May 31, returns to more suitable company after finishing a late-running fourth against strong starter-allowance company.

◗ Trainer John Servis sent out a pair of winners on Thursday’s card, including the promising First Mondays, who drew off to an impressive 3 3/4-length victory in his career debut. A $450,000 yearling purchase, the 3-year-old son of Curlin is a half-brother to Awesome Flower, a six-time stakes winner who earned $556,000. First Mondays received a 78 Beyer.

◗ There will be three stakes here during the opening week of the summer meet, all scheduled for the turf, beginning with the 1 1/8-mile Mecke for older horses on Wednesday. Three-year-olds will be in the spotlight Saturday with the $100,000 Not Surprising and its filly counterpart, the $100,000 Martha Washington, both at one mile.