Vow to Recover in for hot barn

Vow to Recover can continue the strong Gulfstream Park meet trainer Elizabeth Dobles is having when she starts as the probable favorite over fellow stakes winners Itsmyluckycharm and Zarina in the $75,000 Miss Gracie on Saturday.

The Miss Gracie is for 3-yearold fillies at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf. The race drew 13 with Dizzy and Itsherluckyday – who is a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint runner-up Lady Shipman – entered for the main track only.

Dobles, who last month turned 29, ranks among the top 10 trainers at the meet at Gulfstream. She’s compiled a 9-for-52 record with her starters through Wednesday.

“It’s going really well,” Dobles said. “We’ve got some really nice horses, good quality horses.”

Vow to Recover is among them. She comes off a close fifthplace finish in the Grade 2 Lake Placid on Aug. 17 at Saratoga, and the Beyer Speed Figure of 85 that Vow to Recover earned ranks as the best last-race and career number in the Miss Gracie.

“It was a little bit of a slow pace and I think she likes running [into] a faster pace,” Dobles said.

“She was beaten just a length and a half against some of the best horses in the country.”

Vow to Recover is returning to the Gulfstream course over which she won the $75,000 Honey Ryder with a strong closing run May 4. She will break from post 11 under Edgard Zayas.

“She’s always been really good about settling in a position early, whether on the outside or inside,” said Dobles.

Dobles trains Vow to Recover, a daughter of Broken Vow, for Imaginary Stables and Paul Braverman.

It was Imaginary Stables that helped Dobles build up her barn. The New York native grew up near Finger Lakes and started out with just one horse, winning her first race Oct. 20, 2016, at Gulfstream Park West. Dobles, who grew up in a racing family and who is a former assistant to trainer Jeremiah Englehart, is in the midst of the best year of her young career. She’s won 24 races in 2019, with horses in her care earning $654,822.

Itsmyluckycharm boasts seven wins from 13 starts. She’s won the $75,000 Azalea and $75,000 Portofino Bay in her last two starts, both on the main track at Gulfstream. As for the return to turf, she captured the Mrs. Presidentress over the local course Feb. 18.

Albin Jiminez has the mount on Itsmyluckycharm, a daughter of Itsmyluckyday, for trainer Eddie Plesa Jr.

Zarina is back with straight 3-year-olds after running second in an optional $62,500 claiming race at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf Aug. 16 at Gulfstream, which followed a win July 6 in the Martha Washington Stakes on turf here. Leonel Reyes has the mount for trainer Chad Stewart.