Lady Shipman Kicks Off 2016 Campaign in Ladies’ Turf Sprint

Ranlo Investments’ homebred Lady Shipman will kick off her 2016 campaign at Gulfstream Park on Saturday as the heavy favorite against seven rivals in the $75,000 Ladies’ Turf Sprint.

 

The daughter of Midshipman won seven of her 10 starts last season and concluded the year with a neck defeat against the boys in the $1-million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Keeneland on Halloween. Lady Shipman began her career for trainer Kathleen O’Connell and was an Eclipse Award finalist as the nation’s leading female sprinter, but was transferred to the barn of Kiaran McLaughlin with an eye toward traveling to Dubai for the $1-million Al Quoz Sprint at the end of March.

 

“Kathleen O’Connell did a fabulous job with Lady Shipman,” owner Randall Lowe said. “The Dubai race had been on my mind since even before the Breeders’ Cup. After the Breeders’ Cup we gave her a break and Ryan Barbazon, who handles all of my horses (in Ocala), said ‘If you’re going to make a change, you should make it now when you’re giving the horse a break instead of just taking the horse away from Kathleen.’ So back in December I had a tough decision to make, but decided to send her to Kiaran. She’s doing phenomenal. Her last workout was the fastest of 122 horses and she wasn’t even breathing hard. ”

 

An allowance winner over this course and distance last January 1, Lady Shipman went on to notch six stakes victories, culminating with a new course record established at Saratoga in the $100,000 Smart N Fancy Stakes on August 30. Edged by Ageless in the $100,000 Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland on October 9, the chestnut filly acquitted herself nobly in the Breeders’ Cup. Lowe, a retired insurance executive who is currently based in Las Vegas, also raced Lady Shipman’s dam Sumthingtotalkabt, and will be on hand to watch his stable star on Saturday.

 

“To have a homebred do what she has done has absolutely been a phenomenal ride for me,” Lowe added. “When she goes out there she lays it all out on the line. It’s like watching your kid grow up, you’re in a baseball stadium and your kid goes up to bat and hits a grand slam home run. That’s the kind of excitement I get from watching her win. And when you watch her run, she can go as fast as they can and she can home come as fast as the closers can. In the Breeders’ Cup she couldn’t get her footing, but once she did she really came. One more step we would have won the Breeders Cup and the Eclipse Award, but woulda coulda shoulda.”

 

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode Lady Shipman at Saratoga and in the Breeders’ Cup, will have the call when they break from post two.

 

Lady Shipman will have to contend with the in-form Jewel of a Cat, who has won two of her three appearances on the Gulfstream Park sod. Owned by J and J Stables and trained by Carlo Vaccarezza, the 6-year-old mare prevailed in the $75,000 Windley Key Stakes on December 27, and most recently was third by a length when pitted against males in the $150,000 Sunshine Millions Turf Sprint on January 16. Jewel of a Cat drew post five and will be ridden by Jose Lezcano.

 

Dogwood Trail, a graded stakes winner on dirt for trainer Stanley Gold, will test the turf for the first time on Saturday. The Jacks or Better homebred is coming off a fourth-place finish in the $200,000 Sunshine Millions Distaff going seven furlongs on the dirt on January 16. The daughter of Awesome of Course will break from the three hole and will have Edgard Zayas aboard.

 

Stonestreet Stables’ Katie’s Kiss had the lead at the stretch call when facing males in the Sunshine Million Turf Sprint only to wind up sixth, beaten just 1 3/4 lengths. Trained by David Fawkes, the 4-year-old daughter of Kantharos has the outside post and will be ridden by Eclipse Award winner Tyler Gaffalione.

 

The Ladies’ Turf Sprint field is rounded out by Late Spring, Sunrise Kitty, Aquinnah and Catching Fireflies. Stonetastic is a main-track only entrant.

 

 

Power Alert will put his unblemished local record on the line when he faces a full field of 13 foes in the $75,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint. Brought over from Australia by owner and trainer Brian Lynch, the gray gelding paired up victories during last year’s Championship Meet, including a popular win over Amelia’s Wild Ride and Mongolian Saturday—the eventual Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint hero—in the Silks Run Stakes in March. Power Alert went on to capture the $150,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G3) at Churchill Downs in May, but finished fourth in each of his next two appearances, including the $200,000 Parx Dash Handicap (G3) on July 11, and Lynch opted to give his charge a vacation. 

 

“We just decided to give him the summer off,” Lynch explained. “I think he’s more of a winter/spring horse, so it made sense to give him time off.”

 

Lynch, an Australian native himself, acquired Power Alert on the advice of his brother two years ago from a track in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The gelding has earned nearly $170,000 since joining Lynch’s string on these shores. He tuned up for the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint with a solid runner-up effort to Fast Flying Rumor in the $100,000 Turf Dash Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on January 9.  

 

“He got a race under his belt, it was a really good effort,” Lynch said. “He ran into a horse that’s on the top of his game right now, but he should improve off of that run. It’ll be a competitive race and he’s ready.”

 

Power Alert will be ridden by jockey Julien Leparoux when he breaks from post 10 in the five-furlong Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint.

 

Amelia’s Wild Ride went on to post a 14-1 upset in the off-the-turf $150,000 Woodford Stakes (G3) at Keeneland on October 3 for owner Silver Trail Stables. Fourth in the $200,000 Fabulous Strike Handicap at Penn National on November 25, the son of D’wildcat was a determined winner of the Sunshine Millions Turf Sprint over this course and distance on January 16 for trainer Chloe Bradley. Drawn in stall 13, the 5-year-old will have regular rider Jose Lezcano in the irons.

 

Pure Sensation, who nosed out Mongolian Saturday in the $300,000 Turf Minstrel Handicap (G3) at Parx on Labor Day, wound up eighth behind that rival in the Breeders’ Cup as a 5-1 shot. Trainer Christophe Clement gave Patricia Generazio’s homebred a break thereafter, and the son of Sensational has recorded three straight bullet workouts at Payson Park in preparation for his return. Jockey John Velazquez will be aboard when they break from post four on Saturday.