Forward Gal

Ashbrook Farm and Upland Flats Racing's Red Carpet Ready picked up right where she left off Saturday, dominating Gulfstream's GIII Forward Gal S. to stay unbeaten and earn eight GI Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. Belying almost 37-1 odds when she aired in the Churchill slop first out Oct. 30, the dark bay handled the next step with aplomb, taking the Nov. 26 Fern Creek S. by daylight over a next-out allowance winner back under the Twin Spires. Off as the narrow second choice behind multiple local stakes winner Atomically--last seen...

Saturday's graded stakes races stretch out from coast to coast and feature significant GI Kentucky Derby implications, but not entirely for the reasons we've come to expect. In South Florida, it is business as usual for the Derby preps while on the West Coast all things Kentucky Derby took an unprecedented turn. On the heels of a very successful GI Pegasus World Cup weekend, Gulfstream Park offers a tremendous card with five graded races, including the 34th running of the GIII Holy Bull S. named for the Hall of Famer...

Girl With a Dream (Practical Joke) made it three straight victories with a front-running decision in Saturday's GIII Forward Gal S. at Gulfstream. She was sent to the lead and showed the way through an opening quarter in :22.85. The chestnut let it out a notch rounding the far turn as unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Radio Days (Gun Runner) launched her bid from the back to set her sights on the leader. Girl With a Dream still had plenty left for the stretch, however, and held the heavily favored Radio...

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Radio Days (Gun Runner) launches her sophomore campaign in Saturday's GIII Forward Gal S. at Gulfstream Park. Owned by Allen Stable Inc. and trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the $750,000 KEESEP graduate made it two-for-two in a blowout optional claiming victory at this same seven-furlong distance at Aqueduct last time Dec. 2. Her worktab includes a four-furlong bullet in :48 3/5 (1/19) at Payson Jan. 12. "She's a filly we're really excited about. Her first two races have been really good," McGaughey said. "She's...

Shadwell's Zaajel leap-frogged over her allowance condition into graded stakes company for Saturday's GIII Forward Gal S., but the move proved no problem for the daughter of Street Sense. A runaway 7 1/4-length winner in her career debut going seven furlongs at Gulfstream Dec. 20, she had been posting a steady string of works since, including a sharp five-furlong move in a bullet :59.93 at Palm Beach Downs Jan. 23. The well-backed 3-5 choice to make it two straight here, she didn't make the greatest of exits, relegating herself to...

Slam Dunk Racing, Legacy Ranch and Doug Branham's undefeated Tonalist's Shape (Tonalist), a dominant winner of the local Hut Hut S. on opening day of Gulfstream's Championship Meet, returns Saturday as a likely prohibitive favorite in her graded stakes debut, the seven-furlong GIII Forward Gal S. Rallying from well off the pace to score a 19-1 upset on debut here Sept. 28 for Sabana Racing Stable and trainer Juan Avila, the chestnut was privately purchased and transferred to the red-hot Saffie Joseph, Jr. barn, for which she notched another impressive...