Gulfstream: Walden looks ahead with Hollen Drive, Speed Shopper
OXO Equine homebred Hollen Drive, an impressive winner over the track last month to open her 3-year-old season, takes the step back up into stakes company when she returns in Saturday's Grade 3, $175,000 Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park.
The 46th running of the Forward Gal for 3-year-old fillies is the third of five stakes, two graded, worth $950,000 in purses on Saturday's 12-race program.
Sprinting seven furlongs, the Forward Gal is another step toward the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) March 28 on the Florida Derby undercard and offers 42 qualifying points for the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (G1) to the top five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis.
Hollen Drive was a popular 4 3/4-length winner of her Oct. 1 unveiling at Horseshoe Indianapolis sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs, then caught a sealed muddy track the next month at Laurel Park and wound up last of five in the six-furlong Smart Halo. Both the second- and third-place finishers in that race came back to win, including Just Philtored in the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship.
"Her first start was at Indiana. We do that, not necessarily because we think they're lesser, talent-wise, but maybe just how they are mentally or maturity level-wise we'll place them there. I thought she ran great," trainer Will Walden said. "The trip to Laurel, I'm not sure she was crazy about the sealed track that day. We drew a line through that and brought her down here, and I thought she performed admirably."
Stretched out to 6 1/2 furlongs, Hollen Drive found herself trailing all but one horse early in the optional claiming allowance before making a four-wide move into the stretch and rallying for a two-length victory Jan. 3 under jockey Jorge Ruiz, who returns to ride from post 7 in a field of eight. They are listed at 15-1 on the morning line.
Hollen Drive is by millionaire Practical Joke, a two-time Grade 1 winner at seven furlongs who went winless in five tries around two turns, including a runner-up finish in Gulfstream's Fountain of Youth (G2) and a fifth in the Kentucky Derby in 2017.
"I'm not sure how much farther she'll go past seven-eighths. I think that's probably where she caps, but I can say that and be completely wrong," Walden said. "These are young horses and we're still learning about them each and every time we breeze them in the morning and certainly in the afternoon. So, we'll just let her tell us, but I think the seven-eighths should fit her well."
Speed Shopper, a 5-year-old mare, gives Walden another reason for optimism after her 1 3/4-length upset victory in the $175,000 Christophe Clement (G3) on Pegasus World Cup Day. The race, formerly run as the La Prevoyante, was renamed in honor of the late trainer who died last spring at age 59 from a rare form of eye cancer.
Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners own Speed Shopper.
"It was great. The filly performed how we were hoping she would. Winning the inaugural running of the Christophe Clement meant a lot to me just because of what he meant to me," Walden said. "She came out of it great. We'll just move forward. Hopefully this filly can take us to November.
"We don't know yet, but we want to give her the opportunity. Going from January all the way to November is a lot to ask. She's not going to go home or anything. She'll stay with us, but we'll probably give her a little bit of a break," he added. "She's won her last two starts, and we'll probably just let her catch her breath and go from there."