Ky. Oaks prep: Mythical seeks 5th stakes win in Forward Gal
Eight weeks after ending a stellar juvenile campaign with a fifth victory in six starts, including all three over her home track, Arindel’s Grade 3-winning homebred Mythical is set to launch her 3-year-old season with a return to graded company in Saturday’s $175,000 Forward Gal (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
The 46th running of the Forward Gal for sophomore fillies sprinting seven furlongs on the main track is the third of five stakes, two graded, on a 12-race program anchored by the Holy Bull (G3) for 3-year-olds on the road to the Florida Derby (G1). First race post time is 12:15 p.m. EST.
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Named for the Florida-bred 2-year-old filly champion of 1970 who won a dozen races, including the Grade 1 Alabama, Mother Goose, Spinaway and Gazelle, the Forward Gal offers 42 qualifying points for the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (G1) to the top five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis.
“We’re very happy with her preparation. She’s always been a forward filly, and all the training she had since her last race has been really good,” trainer Jorge Delgado said. “Every day she seems to be even better, and every week she seems to be breezing better.”
Four of Mythical’s five wins at 2 came in stakes, the first two of them against open company in the 5 1/2-furlong Tremont and 6 1/2-furlong Adirondack (G3) at Saratoga, where she then ran fifth in the Spinaway (G1) in her first try at seven furlongs. The daughter of St. Patrick’s Day rebounded in a big way in the Florida Sire Stakes series to take the Susan’s Girl Oct. 18 and My Dear Girl Nov. 29, her lone two-turn attempt, by 15 1/4 combined lengths.
“It was an unexpected blessing, for the barn and for myself, and it’s been very fun ride with her,” Delgado said. “Every day is always something to look forward to with her. You always enjoy having these kinds of horses that make you look better. I have to thank (Arindel’s) Brian (Cohen) for that. We’re looking forward to it. I know we’re coming in 100%. I’m very excited for Saturday.”
Edgard Zayas will ride Mythical for the first time after Emisael Jaramillo, who had been aboard for all six of her starts, moved his tack to Southern California. Rated as second choice on the morning line at 5-2, they drew post 4 in the field of eight and will carry topweight of 123 pounds, yielding three to five pounds to her rivals.
“Of course, the races will start getting tougher, with more fillies and new fillies with every race. But she seems to handle everything pretty much so far, every distance and every challenge the same,” Delgado said. “She’s undefeated here at Gulfstream. She’s been very solid every race she runs here, and I think she likes to be home. She loves to breeze here and she loves to run here. It’s a speed-favoring track and she has natural speed, and all those things together I think give her a better shot every time she runs here.”
Three-time defending championship meet leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., recent 1-2 finisher in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) with Skippylongstocking and White Abarrio, entered stablemates Tessellate and Secane. Secane (Post 3, 12-1) has run third in back-to-back one-mile stakes attempts, including Gulfstream’s Jan. 1 Cash Run, where she was beaten by two necks in a three-way photo.
Tessellate (Post 2, 6-1) won the 6 1/2-furlong Juvenile Fillies Sprint by 13 lengths Nov. 15 at Gulfstream in her 2-year-old finale and kicked off this year with a 2 3/4-length triumph in the seven-furlong Gasparilla on Jan. 10 at Tampa Bay Downs. She has never been worse than third in five starts.
Joseph is a two-time winner of the Forward Gal, with Tonalist’s Shape in 2020 and R Harper Rose in 2024.
Trainer Brad Cox will send out the pair of Sneaky Good and On Time Girl. On Time Girl (Post 6) is the 9-5 program favorite exiting a 3 1/2-length victory in the Nov. 29 Fern Creek sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs, where she also captured a six-furlong open allowance by four lengths in her second start.
Sneaky Good (post 5, 8-1) is undefeated in two starts, both favored going six furlongs, including a 2 3/4-length score in the Dec. 6 Sandpiper at Tampa last time out. Cox has won two of the last four runnings of the Forward Gal, with Girl With a Dream in 2022 and Eclatant last year.