Race 3

Maiden Special Weight (3yo+) - Seven Furlongs


Top Contenders (post position order):
3-Sally Ride much like in Race 2, this one debuts for Chad Brown and would be no surprise if she scores at a fair price.  4-Alpine Sky dazzled in a morning work recently in a sensational :59.2 time for five furlongs AND gets top jock Javier Castellano.  5-Curalina is yet another top runner from the Todd Pletcher stable.  The fact that she has experience, was a good second behind a proven runner and ahead of a next out winner with a big speed figure nearly guarantees she will be the post time favorite.

Sweet Arl  She debuts for a barn that has little success with those kind; and she has the rail for her first start which often is intimidating to new runners.  No clues about how much talent she does or does not have. 

Lots of Chocolate Is a good hunch play for those of you who are choco-holics!  From a racing perspective she has run well in her last four outings - finishin second three times in a row after a third place finish.  Not encouraged by the fact that she goes from a barn winning at a 21% clip to one that was WINLESS in 2014, and has started off 2015 with an 0-for-3 slate.

Sally Ride She debuts for Chad Brown with top NY rider Irad Ortiz on board, and like Tracking Stock in race 2, all of those factors make her worth considering.  But what I really like is that top thoroughbred owner Robert LaPenta was willing to pay $475K for her at the March Keeneland sales.  She's been working well for her debut and would be no surprise if she wins today.

Alpine Sky If you like the fact that Sally Ride was purchased for $475K then you're going to love the fact that this filly was a $600K purchase at the August Fasig-Tipton sales.  Even better, top rider Javier Castellano lands here, so you know she must have shown something in her morning drills.  And if you look carefully, she sizzled in a dazzling best-of-36 workout on March 15 when she stopped the clock at :59.2 for a five furlong work.  To put that in perspective, ANY work in a minute for five furlongs, by an experienced thoroughbred is considered outstanding.  She just needs to translate that morning talent into results this afternoon in live competition.

Curalina She debuted at Saratoga for Todd Pletcher over a muddy track and was a best-of-the-rest second behind a filly that's come back to show some ability.  It's very significant that Curalina was nearly SEVEN lengths clear of the show horse, often an indication of a strong race, AND that the show horse chasing her came right back to score.  All of this with a troubled break and a very wide trip!  Todd Pletcher has won the training title here at Gulfstream ELEVEN straight years and one of his patented moves is to bring back a three-year-old off of a long layoff after that one showed signs of ability in a lightly-raced two-year-old season.  This one is text book Pletcher.  May have tipped her hand with a near bullet work on March 2nd.  Must be considered a strong win candidate.

Princess Moon Debuted in February 2014 at Calder in a slow race when a well beaten fourth.  Would be a surprise.

Flowing She began her career in Europe with two turf starts, both of which saw her split the field in "ok" efforts.  I'd be more interested if this were a turf route instead of a dirt sprint.

Diamond Eye Broke slowly, made a mild run to make up some ground and finish fifth of twelve in her debut.  Could improve to hit the board at a nice price.

Bird Sense Was an even third in her debut at the beginning of the month.  That's a good debut finish, but the pace of the race was slow, and in spite of that she lost ground on the winner through the stretch.

Wonder Brew Debuts for an outfit that has a 1-for-25 record with first time starters over the last two years and with a rider that's struggling with an 8-for-153 mark so far.

Eastern Rose Begins her career for Hall of Fame conditioner Shug McGaughey and second-leading rider Luis Saez.  She was a $270K sales purchase and I wouldn't be surprised if she has some talent.  But, McGaughey rarely has his runners fully cranked for their initial start.