Peachy Weachy improving

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Peachy Weachy has come a long way since winning her maiden at first asking under a $16,000 claiming tag with a meager 37 Beyer Speed Figure last fall at Delaware Park.

On Thursday at Gulfstream Park, Peachy Weachy will likely share favoritism with the lightly raced but promising I Believe in Magic against eight other 3-year-old fillies in the feature event on an eight-race program that also includes a $48,000 allowance sprint for Florida-bred fillies and mares and a competitive 2-year-old maiden special weight dash that opens the card.

Peachy Weachy overcame a slow beginning and wide trip to win her only start at 2 by 3 1/4 lengths in late October at Delaware. She was trained by Ian Hemingway at the time but found herself in a new barn and under new ownership, the Blu Boy Racing Stables LLC, when she finally returned to action with trainer Jose D’Angelo on Jan. 26 at Gulfstream Park. Peachy Weachy has registered a win and two seconds in four starts to open her 3-year-old campaign. She defeated $16,000 starter-allowance company going seven furlongs here March 17 before finishing second behind trainer Todd Pletcher’s odds-on Green Up in her most recent appearance while earning a career-best 71 Beyer Speed Figure in defeat.

D’Angelo’s father, Francisco D’Angelo, will be the trainer of record in Thursday’s headliner with jockey Miguel Vasquez taking the call.

I Believe in Magic has started but twice, also winning her debut in rather easy fashion. She set a contested pace before edging away to a 2 3/4-length decision going seven furlongs under optional-claiming conditions Feb. 25. Trained by Ron Spatz, I Believe in Magic returned six weeks later going two turns over the Tapeta course, finishing a game second behind My Sunny Valentine after again disputing all the early fractions. She held a slim lead through midstretch before succumbing grudgingly to the more experienced winner. She, too, received a 71 Beyer for her latest effort.

Ha’ Penny, fourth in both the Gasparilla and Suncoast stakes this past winter at Tampa Bay Downs, comes up for a claiming price for the first time and figures to draw plenty of support on the class drop, as should the lightly raced Robbing Robin, who will likely force the early issue along with Mi Negrita.

◗ She’s All Woman, reclaimed by trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. for $16,000 out of her previous start, will be favored to defeat six other fillies and mares going 6 1/2 furlongs in the sixth event. She’s All Woman is coming off a distant second-place finish behind heavily favored Dema Wonder in a rapidly run seven-furlong optional-claiming and starter-allowance dash on March 31. Thursday’s outing will be her first start against statebreds this season.

◗ Jockey Jason Huayas registered his first victory Sunday when guiding Lusitano ($9.60) to a front-running 4 1/4-length triumph in the fifth race here. Lusitano, trained by Rohan Crichton, was Huayas’s fifth mount and also the horse the 10-pound apprentice rode when launching his career finishing fourth on April 23. Huayas had worked as a hotwalker and groom for trainer Ralph Nicks at Gulfstream Park before setting his sights on a riding career.