Parranda Back in Florida for Marshua's River

Last winter, Parranda burst onto the scene at Gulfstream Park, going on to win four stakes en route to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1). A year, three owners, and two coasts later, the 6-year-old mare returns to her favorite surface in Saturday’s $150,000 Marshua’s River Stakes (G3). Parranda, now in the care of trainer Christophe Clement, was trained by Rodolfo Garcia the last time she was seen at Gulfstream. The daughter of English Channel won the Our Dear Peggy and Millions Filly and Mare Turf Preview stakes at Gulfstream to close out her 4-year-old season, which would set her up for a tremendous 5-year-old campaign. A win in her 2014 debut, the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf, would precede an additional stake victory in Hallandale Beach, the Suwannee River (G3), her first graded stakes victory. But following that start, the rising turf star was purchased by a group that included Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and sent to that trainer’s stable in California. On the west coast, Parranda won the Wilshire (G3) and Royal Heroine (G2) stakes at Santa Anita and became Grade 1 stakes-placed in the Clement L. Hirsch and Rodeo Drive. After running in mostly allowance and claiming races as a 4-year-old, Parranda’s impressive body of work at age 5 earned her a chance to compete in the Breeders’ Cup. She finished sixth on Championship Weekend before once again finding herself under new ownership. At the 2014 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, The China Horse Club put up a bid of $800,000 to acquire Parranda, who was one of three mares purchased by the group on Nov. 3 for a total of $1.4 million. The new owners decided to keep Parranda in training and sent the mare to Clement with a goal to race her in February’s China Equine Cultural Festival in Singapore. But the mare is ready to run now, so Clement penciled the Marshua’s River into Parranda’s schedule. “Since she’s been with me, I think she’s been doing very well,” Clement said. “She had a bit of a break in November – we just gave her a break when she first came in – and she’s been working very well since I brought her back, and I’m actually pretty excited to run her. The China Horse Club wanted her to compete in February in the race at Singapore, but the filly’s training so well that I think she’ll run at Gulfstream first and can go on from there.” Parranda was two-for-three at Gulfstream in 2014 and has posted six total wins at the track, including her career debut in 2012, a race in which she started for a claiming price of just $65,000 – $735,000 less than her sale price two years later. “She’s a very classy mare,” Clement said. “I wish I had her a year ago. When she trains, when she works, she just looks like a classy horse.” Starlight Racing’s Candy Kitty has also found success at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old daughter of Lemon Drop Kid finished second in the Herecomesthebride (G3) last March after winning both the Ginger Brew and Wait a While stakes. Candy Kitty then finished eighth in both the Ashland (G1) at Keeneland and Edgewood Stakes at Churchill Downs in May before going on the shelf for the rest of 2014. She prepared for her 2015 debut in the Marshua’s River with a four-furlong breeze at Palm Beach Downs on Jan. 4. The time for the work was 49.21 seconds. “She had some success (at Gulfstream) last year,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “She coming in off a bit of a layoff but she has been training well. She just needed some time off. She worked good and has continued to train very well.” The French bred Summer Moon is set to make her North American debut in the Marshua’s River. The daughter of Elusive City won three starts and was stakes-placed in France before being transferred to trainer Chad Brown in the U.S. last fall. “She looks good so far,” Brown said. “She’s been breezing steady every week. She looks to have settled in okay, and looks to be a filly with some quality. I think she’s ready to make her North American debut.” Other entrants in the 1 1/16-mile Marshua’s River include: Strike Charmer and Pappascat, the top two finishers in the Cardinal Handicap (G3) on Nov. 22 at Churchill Downs; Ready Signal, who won both the Ten Palms and Powder Break stakes at Gulfstream during last year’s Championship Meet and was most recently fifth, beaten just a length, in the South Beach following a five-month layoff; and Alette, winner of November’s Illini Princess Handicap at Hawthorne.

Scampering, Skylander Girl, and Why Katherine round out the field.

Source: Gulfstream Park