Onlyforyou stands out in short Forward Gal
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Photo:
Eclipse Spotswire
Earlier in the week when I initially glanced at the field
assembled for this year’s renewal of the G2 Forward Gal, I was incredibly underwhelmed by the 6 fillies entered. After
delving deeper and really handicapping the race, I am still not overly
impressed with this field. Based on the nominations, it had the potential to
draw a good field, but the headliner names opted to skip this spot in favor of
other placements, leaving favoritism to fall on a filly that will be making her
stakes debut.
By hot sire Malibu Moon and out of the Tactical Cat mare
Erhu, Onlyforyou is undefeated in
two career starts. She broke her maiden in her debut at Aqueduct in November
going 6 furlongs. She won by 2 ¼ lengths that day in 1.11:15. Trainer Todd
Pletcher then shipped her to South Florida where she won a NW1X by 3 ½ lengths
in 1.10:60 for 6 furlongs. Her works at nearby Palm Meadows have been solid,
and she gets some class from her distaff side, as well on the top half of her
pedigree. Her dam Erhu is a half to stakes winners Glaring and Great Escape.
So far in her career, Onlyforyou has shown that she likes to
be on the front end of things though she doesn’t necessarily need to be on the
lead. She is the obvious favorite in the field, and with speedy Resistivity
drawn to her inside, I believe she will be out of the gate quick but not
necessarily on the lead. Onlyforyou will break from post 3 with Javier
Castellano in the irons.
Resistivity is
one of only two others in the field that I like. It took her three tries to
break her maiden, but she finally got the job done going a mile here at
Gulfstream. I really like that she is shortening up to 7 furlongs off that mile
race because her final quarter was pokey. After setting pressured early
fractions of 23:28 and 46:08, she came home in a hard ridden 27:96 for her
final quarter. She has had a month since that race to sharpen up and get on her
toes, and she most recently fired a 5 furlong bullet work in 59:70 on January
18 at Palm Meadows. The Mark Casse trainee drew the rail and will have Julien
Leparoux aboard.
One of the things that really caught my eye about
Resistivity, though, was not necessarily what she has shown so far but the
potential she has based on pedigree. Her dam Lake Travis is a full sister to multiple
Grade 1 winner Lakeway. In her
heyday, Lakeway captured four Grade 1 events, all during her 3-year old season.
She finished 2nd in both the Kentucky Oaks and the Alabama that year
and went on to finish 3rd behind super mare Inside Information and arch nemesis Heavenly Prize, winner of the Alabama and 2nd in the
1994 Distaff, in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in 1995.
The other filly that caught my eye also did so based upon
pedigree. By Lemon Drop Kid and out of the Danzig mare Aurelia, Aurelia’s Belle’s distaff line contains
a good bit of black type. The filly’s dam is a half to Grade 1 winner Aldiza,
stakes winner Arabis, and Grade 2 winner Atelier. All three were at the best at
distances between 7 and 8.5 furlongs, but they also managed to stretch out to 9
furlongs. In fact, Aldiza actually captured her lone Grade 1 win going 9
furlongs. Aurelia’s Belle recently signaled her readiness for this spot by
working 5 furlongs in 59:45 on January 18. In her prior start, she finished 3rd
in the G3 Old Hat at Gulfstream. Aurelia’s Belle drew in between Resistivity
and Onlyforyou in post 2 and has the services of John Velazquez.
The second half of the field is comprised of Stately
Defence, My Dear Regina, and Flash Encounter. Between the three of
them, these fillies have only accounted for 4 wins from 11 starts. Of the three,
Stately Defence has the edge due to
having run exclusively at Gulfstream Park. Her worst two efforts in 5 races
both came on the turf, and she most recently finished 3rd when going
a mile. She will likely try to go with Resistivity and Onlyforyou on the front
end, and shortening up a furlong may help in her endeavor to stay with them. I
don’t see her winning, but she’s a solid pick to help fill out the exotics. My
Dear Regina and Flash Encounter are both tosses.
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