The Sugar Swirl Stakes sweetens the Gulfstream Park card on Saturday and a competitive six-pack of talented fillies and mares will put their skills. The Grade 3 six-furlong event is a $100,000-guarateed race and 62% of that cash will go to the winner.
The Sugar Swirl Stakes has been won by some fast horses over the years. Last year Best Behavior was coming off a third in the mile Grade 3 Rampart Stakes but she was sent along on the surface switch and earned a winning 91 Beyer Speed Figure. In 2014 Merry Meadow shipped in from Gulfstream Park West and got an ideal trip in the Sugar Swirl Stakes closing from third to earn a clever 97 Beyer.
Dearest breaks from the rail Saturday. This filly exits the best race and must be respected off that fact alone. She showed she can handle stakes foes when she won the Royal Palm Stakes last spring but not sure she was beating anybody in the July win. The place horse that day has lost four times since. This is Dearest’s venue and she has shown that she is solid fresh. She is looking at a stalk and kick run and looms a legit player today.
Danessa Again needs a rebound run but maybe her connections had this race in mind all the time. They may have just given her a stamina builder in the miler leading to this race. This performer is giving up a ton of winning experience as she is facing a few that have been around the block and back.
Sky Gold has not raced since beating optional claimers at Monmouth Park for Jorge Navarro. Sure, there is nothing wrong with winning a third of the outings but the racer was crushed in her last couple of return efforts. On a positive her rider Emisael Jaramillo is 39% in the last year when getting a leg up from Navarro. Versatility could be this runner’s best asset and you can toss anything from this barn at your own risk. Sky Gold tipped her fitness for the Sugar Swirl Stakes by posting a best of the morning workout of 1:00 since her last outing.
Winning for Sarah has done just that in nine of her thirty-nine starts. She has had a modest 2015 campaign for trainer Jena Antonucci. The mare sizzled for about a month in the winter but she was pushed into a muddy stakes at Aqueduct and has not been able to close the deal since. One of the lone positives is that six of her nine wins have been at Gulfstream.
Stonetastic, who is trained by Kelly Breen, was forced to check when second in the Sugar Swirl Stakes last year. This equine win machine is repeatedly proven off the layoff and this could be her last hurrah before heading to the breeding shed. Her only off effort this year came at the demanding 7 furlongs and that could be pushing the envelope for this miss. Her style is no secret as she is best gunning and playing come catch me but she has rated off the pace in the past and won. That was a nice horse that beat her in the TCA Stakes on October 8 as Irish Jasper has won half her stakes and multiple Grade 3s.
Trainer David Hinsley conditioned You Brought Her’s dam and others from this family. The mare was inching toward the winner in this race last year and she has a best of ten Tampa bullet workout in the pocket. The mare was the runner-up in the 2015 Inside Information and enters the Sugar Swirl Stakes following a second-place finish in the Millions Distaff Preview at Gulfstream Park. She got trapped on the rail that day and that impeded her progress. She has a decent style. If the pace is a little slower, she may lay a little closer. If the pace is fast she will have to hustle to maintain contact.
Expect the race to unfold with Dearest trying to make the lead but not quite getting there. Sky Gold has more speed and figures to have her mind set on the lead. That should leave Stonetastic to sit right off her flank, push her every step of the way, and then take over when the real racing begins. Like a true Hollywood story, Stonetastic can ride into the sunset and end her career as a winner.
