Forward Gal Stakes Goes Down South

A pair of simulcast wagering options are on tap Saturday with the running of two graded-stakes races at Florida’s Gulfstream Park. First up is the $200,000 Grade II Forward Gal Stakes for three-year-old fillies running seven furlongs on the dirt. The race has drawn a field of six, with the Todd Pletcher-trained Onlyforyou listed as the decisive 7-5 favorite in the morning line. After coming to the races late in her juvenile season, Onlyforyou broke her maiden first asking by more than two lengths at Aqueduct, then shipped to Gulfstream to win again by 3 1/2 at the allowance level.

Second choice in the ML has strong pedigree

Second ML choice at 3-1 is Aurelia’s Belle, a Kentucky-bred from Belmont Stakes and Eclipse award-winning Lemon Drop Kid. She also was a first-time-out winner on the all-weather track at Keeneland in October. After a break of almost three months, she came to Gulfstream in early January and finished well back in third, behind a winner that had been knocking on the door in two previous graded-stakes tries. She had been ridden by Julien Leparoux, who here moves over to Resistivity, the 4-1 third choice.

Longer shot has shown she knows how to win 

Of the others, My Dear Regina (8-1) showed good determination to overcome being steadied early and then make her way through the field to get the win by a head going one mile on the dirt at Churchill her last time out back in early November. She had finished second in her career bow, going four-wide to grab the place at 29-1. Of the two Florida-breds in the race, Flash Encounter (8-1) comes into this off an allowance win at Calder and is 2 for 4 lifetime, while Stately Defense (6-1) has failed to find the winner’s circle again in three tries since breaking her maiden, with a fourth place finish in the Filly Turf Stakes at Gulfstream.