Ballet Diva Asserts Herself in Any Limit

Jacks or Better Farm homebred Ballet Diva asserted her speed and her class to turn away Put Da Blame On Me and win the $75,000 Any Limit Stakes by a length Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The third running of the six-furlong Any Limit for 3-year-old fillies was the first of three stakes on the 13-race program, followed by the $75,000 Spectacular Bid and the $200,000 Inside Information (G2).

Racing for the fourth time at the Championship Meet and first since facing the likes of graded stakes winners Off the Tracks, Cathryn Sophia and Lucy N Ethel in successive starts, Ballet Diva improved to five-for-10 lifetime with her fourth career stakes victory.

“She’s been running good, but this wasn’t a graded stake and the company was a little softer,” winning trainer Stanley Gold said. “She probably ran about the same kind of race but it was a good race nonetheless.”

A narrow 6-5 second choice in the field of six, Ballet Diva ($4.60) went straight to the front from post three under regular rider Jose Caraballo and stayed there through a quarter-mile in 22.50 seconds and a half in 45.53, flanked by Put Da Blame On Me to her outside.

“It kind of went how as we hoped; it doesn’t always go that way,” Gold said. “We knew she was going to show some speed and she made the lead. I wasn’t going to send her but I wasn’t going to take her back. She made it, she got challenged and she was best today, so that’s good. I like it.”

The top two began to separate from the rest of the group after going five furlongs in 58.03 seconds, rounding the turn a length apart and stayed that way through a stretch-long battle with Ballet Diva refusing to give in.

“[Put Da Blame On Me] has good form and I was worried, naturally,” Gold said, “but I saw Diva pin her ears and say, ‘Uh-uh.’”

Put Da Blame On Me was six lengths ahead of Colombian Queen in third. It was another 11 ¼ lengths back to Playa Zaragoza followed by Ballet Diva’s stablemate Silent Prayer and multiple Canadian stakes winner Caren, the betting favorite making her first career start on dirt.

Mercedes Stables’ Morning Fire jumped to the lead and never looked back for a front-running three-length victory in the 38th running of the $75,000 Spectacular Bid for 3-year-olds.

Ridden by Daniel Centeno for trainer Keith Nations, the chestnut son of Friesen Fire picked up his second career stakes victory in the 6 ½-furlong Spectacular Bid after opening his sophomore season winning the Pasco Stakes Jan. 23 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Breaking from post four in a field of eight, Morning Fire ($7.20) blazed through a quarter mile in 22.16 seconds and a half in 44.75 chased by 25-1 long shot Extravagant Kid. The pacesetting pair opened up on their rivals leaving the backstretch before Morning Fire sprinted clear to hit the wire in 1:17.16.