Gulfstream: Olivia Darling goes for repeat in Inside Information

Olivia Darling, less than two lengths away from being a multiple graded-stakes winner, is set launch her 6-year-old season by making a title defense in Saturday’s Grade 2, $215,000 Inside Information at Gulfstream Park.

The 46th running of the seven-furlong Inside Information for fillies and mares age 4 and up is the fifth of seven graded-stakes on a 13-race Pegasus World Cup Day program that offers a total of 10 stakes worth $5.625 million in purses. First race post time is 11 a.m. EST.

Olivia Darling sprung a 2 1/4-length upset of last year’s Inside Information at odds of 7-1, getting an ideal stalk-and-pounce trip from jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. for her first stakes victory, coming four weeks after running third by three-quarters of a length in the Sugar Swirl (G3).

Following the Inside Information, Olivia Darling ran second as the favorite in the Hurricane Bertie (G3), beaten a half length, before going to the sidelines after off-the-board finishes in the Derby City Distaff (G1) and Dashing Beauty, the latter in July at Delaware Park.

Olivia Darling made a successful comeback in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance Nov. 24 at Gulfstream, winning by a length. Trainer Jorge Delgado, who conditions her for owner AMO Racing USA, opted to give her more time and chose not to cut her back for the six-furlong Sugar Swirl on Dec. 21 or stretch her out in the one-mile Rampart Dec. 28.

“She’s always been very straightforward and she’s always been game when she finds the right setup,” Delgado said of Olivia Darling. “We were thinking of running in the (Rampart) but we said it was better to give her an extra few weeks. She came back fresh and really appreciated the time off.”

Olivia Darling, third or better in five of six career starts at Gulfstream with three wins, will have jockey David Egan up from post 8, outside all but one rival, Stonestreet Stables’ Emery, last-out winner of the seven-furlong Raven Run (G2) in mid-October at Keeneland for trainer Brad Cox.

“It was a nice effort last time, coming from four or five months without running. She performed like the old Olivia Darling,” Delgado said. “Hopefully she can revalidate herself in the Inside Information. She won it last year, and we’re looking forward to running.”

Emery shares top weight of 123 pounds with Mystic Lake, one of two Inside Information horses for meet-leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. C2 Racing Stable and Stefania Farms’ Mystic Lake is a five-time stakes winner including the Miss Preakness (G3) and Charles Town Oaks (G2) last spring and summer, and exits a popular victory in the Sugar Swirl.

Joseph also sends out C2 Racing Stable, Miller Racing, Paul Braverman and Timothy Pinch’s Haulin Ice, seventh to Mystic Lake in the Charles Town Oaks and Emery in the Raven Run. The 4-year-old filly captured a six-furlong optional claimer as the favorite Dec. 22 at Oaklawn Park in her most recent start.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has a pair of contenders in Nic’s Style and Sterling Silver. 5-year-old Nic’s Style has won five of her six career starts including back-to-back seven-furlong stakes, the Pumpkin Pie at Aqueduct and FSS City of Ocala Dec. 14 at Tampa Bay Downs last time out. Her only loss came when second in the Gallant Bloom (G2) to Grade 1 winner and Eclipse Award finalist Ways and Means.

Sterling Silver is the richest and most experienced horse in the Inside Information, with a record of 38: 8-5-5 and $937,301 in purse earnings. She owns four stakes wins, each against fellow New York-breds, and was disqualified to second after finishing first by four lengths in the 2023 Gallant Bloom, a race where she ran third to her stablemate last fall.

Completing the field are multiple stakes winner Jody’s Pride, beaten a neck by champion Just F Y I when second in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Miuccia, winner of last summer’s six-furlong Game Face at Gulfstream that ran third in the Prioress (G3) and closed her 2024 season beating elders in an optional claimer Dec. 29 at Tampa and Dazzling Move, a last-out fourth behind Grade 1 winners Power Squeeze and Soul of an Angel in the Rampart.