Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Sally’s Curlin finally gets chance on turf
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Dale Romans has been wanting to try Sally’s Curlin on the grass for quite some time. That time will finally come Friday at Gulfstream Park when the Grade 1-placed mare goes a mile on the turf in the $53,000 allowance feature.
Sally’s Curlin won the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie here a year ago, but has gone winless in five subsequent starts, including a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff late last summer at Churchill Downs. A distant seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in November, Sally’s Curlin finished fifth in the Grade 3 Rampart and most recently seventh in the Grade 2 Inside Information in her two starts here this winter.
“She’s got a lot of turf in her pedigree and I’ve thought about running her on grass for a while,” said Romans. “When the dirt race didn’t go I decided to put her in here. She had no chance the way the track was playing in the Breeders’ Cup, and she didn’t fire as expected in her two starts, even though she’s trained well. So the timing is right to try the turf. Fillies are just not as consistent as colts. So maybe this will wake her up. She worked once over the course here a month or so back and I thought she worked well.”
Sally’s Curlin, a daughter of Curlin out of a More Than Ready mare, breezed four furlongs on the grass here in 48.83 on Jan. 10, going easily throughout and completing her final quarter in 23.68 while jumping several of the tire tracks on the course approaching the wire.
Sally’s Curlin will face several stakes-proven turf specialists Friday, including Witez and Our Bay B Ruth, along with the up-and-coming Kissing Frogs, who is perfect in two starts on grass.
Witez, trained by Ian Wilkes, returns to allowance company for the first time since beating straight 3-year-old fillies going a mile last summer at Saratoga. Five weeks later, she rallied to finish third, beaten a halflength by winner Selflessly, in the Grade 3 Lake George there. She has been away since a fifthplace finish in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere at Churchill Downs on Nov. 14.
Our Bay B Ruth is winless in five tries since capturing the Tropical Oaks here last winter, and is looking to rebound from a ninth-place finish in the Grade 3 Marshua’s River, when she tired badly after setting a contested pace.
Kissing Frogs’s grass victories came a full year apart, the latest an impressive 2 3/4-length allowance win going a mile and one-sixteenth here on Dec. 27.
Toffen has won three of her four starts on grass, with her lone setback coming by just a half-length here last May. She came back from a seven-month vacation to register a game nose decision against softer allowance competition on Jan. 23.
Last-out turf allowance winners Lashara and Simplicity are among the other key contenders in a very wide-open event.
◗ Gatsby, who holds the distinction of having beaten 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal when the pair launched their careers here last April, is one of six entered in Friday’s eighth race, restricted to 3-yearold Florida-breds going 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track.
Gatsby, who will race without blinkers for the first time, has twice finished second in stakes, but is winless in eight starts since his debut. The field also includes likely favorite Sir Ollie, Ampersand, and Shoo Shine.
Mr Freeze going to Dubai
Romans reported Wednesday that he plans to send Mr Freeze to Dubai for the $750,000 Godolphin Mile on March 27. Romans had originally been pointing Mr Freeze for the Razorback at Oaklawn Park, but altered his schedule after that race was postponed two weeks due to poor weather.
Mr Freeze has not started since finishing 11th going 1 1/8 miles in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational here on Jan. 23. His two graded stakes wins in 2020 included the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile.
“He’s doing good now, it’s $750,000, and it will be going back to a mile,” said Romans. “So maybe we’ll just make a nice trip of it.”
Romans chose Dubai over giving Mr Freeze the opportunity to defend his title here last Saturday in the Gulfstream Park Mile, won by Fearless, who was returning from an eight-month hiatus. Fearless defeated the much-improved Avant Garde by three-quarters of a length, with odds-on favorite Performer another two lengths farther back in third. Fearless, a 5-year-old son of Ghostzapper trained by Todd Pletcher, earned a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He ran great off the layoff, earned a big number,” said Pletcher. “He’s a talented horse – good to have him back. He tailed off in his form a little bit, wasn’t getting involved in his races early on, so we just decided to give him a little freshening last season.”
Pletcher, citing the horse’s 3-for-3 record at Gulfstream, said the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope on March 27 “would be a primary option” for Fearless’s next start.