Ivy Bell wins Gulfstream's Inside Information for new connections

Making her first start for the Mathis Stable and Madaket Stable and trainer Todd Pletcher, Ivy Bell overcame an early stumble and heavy traffic to register a late-closing victory in Saturday’s $200,000 Inside Information (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

The 5-year-old daughter of Archarcharch earned her first graded-stakes victory while running seven furlongs in 1:23.29 in the sprint named for the 2008 Hall of Fame inductee and 1995 champion older mare who won 14 of 17 starts, including all three of her races at Gulfstream Park.

“We felt confident coming in. She had been training well,” Pletcher said. “She’s had a little history of some quirks around the gate and the paddock. I’m glad she behaved well today.  She still broke a little bit on her nose but she recovered quickly and found a good spot and delivered from there.”

Ivy Bell, who had finished first or second in seven of her last eight races for her former connections, stumbled out of the gate from her rail post position but was well within range of a pace contested by Rich Mommy, Moonlit Promise and Mines and Magic, who raced three deep along the backstretch and into the far turn past fractions of 23.63 (seconds) and 47:03. Jordan’s Henny, who captured the Hurricane Bertie (G3) last time out, joined the fray four wide leaving the turn into the stretch as Javier Castellano waited for room aboard the Pletcher trainee. When a hole failed to open in the wall of horses, Castellano swung Ivy Bell five wide at the eighth-pole and the veteran mare  kicked in powerfully past Jordan’s Henny to win by a length as the even-money favorite.

“I had a perfect trip. That’s what I was looking for.  I saved all the ground, I tipped outside. I was kind of concerned a little because everyone hooked up in the same spot, but I had so much confidence,” said Castellano after scoring his fourth of five winning rides on Saturday’s card. “I really liked the way she worked and the way she finished. I felt comfortable the way she did it. Todd did a phenomenal job - first time for Todd Pletcher - and I know she’s going to move forward. I rode with a lot of patience and had good results today.”

Jordan’s Henny finished second under Robby Albarado, a neck ahead of a game Mines and Magic and jockey Jose Lezcano.

Ivy Bell notched her fifth win and 12th in-the-money finish in 16 lifetime starts while overcoming adversity in her 2018 debut.

“I was just worried that she found the seam too late. That was a pretty impressive turn of foot she turned in the last eighth of a mile,” Pletcher said. “That’s not always easy to do at Gulfstream to make up that much ground the last part of the race.”

Ivy Bell has sprinted exclusively during her career, but Pletcher said a stretch-out in distance is a possibility.

“We have a couple options. We’ll see how things go. There’s a seven-furlong Grade 1 at Churchill and there’s also a mile and a sixteenth race there as well. She’s always run well at Churchill in the past. That’s an option,” Pletcher said. “She’s impressed us in her training that she can run further than seven furlongs.”