Rising Star Dearest faces five fillies in Azalea Stakes

Rising star Dearest will be among the most highly anticipated starters on Saturday’s $1.125 million Summit of Speed program when she faces five 3-year-old fillies in the $100,000 Azalea Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Gelfenstein Farm’s daughter of Midshipman will seek her fourth victory in five lifetime starts in the seven-furlong sprint that will be among nine stakes on a 13-race program slated to get under way at 12:15 p.m.

Dearest returned from a three-month freshening to score a six-length romp in the 6 ½-furlong Royal Palm Stakes at Gulfstream Park June 4 under a motionless Emisael Jaramillo.

“The filly won the race easily and the jockey didn’t have to ask her to run,” said trainer Gilberto Zerpa, who awarded the return mount to Jaramillo.

A $150,000 purchase at the 2015 OBS March sale for 2-year-olds in training, Dearest has trained forwardly at Gulfstream Park West, where she breezed a half-mile in 59.40 seconds last weekend.

“The filly has remained in very good condition. She has shown an excellent recovery process after her workouts,” Zerpa said. “Her last workout was excellent.”

Dearest launched her career at Gulfstream Park West in November with a two-length score, before winning an optional claiming allowance by 1 ¼ lengths at Gulfstream Jan. 17. She sustained her first loss while stepping up to graded-stakes company and finishing third behind Cathryn Sophia and Lewis Bay in the Davona Dale (G2) Feb. 27.

Cathryn Sophia and Lewis Bay went on to finish first and third, respectively, in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs.

Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch’s Twirl Girl has shipped from Churchill Downs to take on Dearest in the Azalea.

“She really, really likes that one-turn, seven-eighths distance,” trainer Joe Sharp said. “That her best distance, and opportunities are limited for stakes races at that distance. This race is a no-brainer for us. We’re looking forward to a huge performance from her.”

Twirl Girl has finished in the money in seven of her eight lifetime stars, her only off-the-board finish coming in one of two starts on turf at Fair Grounds last winter.

“With her pedigree, I knew she was good on the dirt, but I thought maybe she would be that much better on the grass. She always has a game finish on dirt, but on the grass she didn’t seem to have the efficiency and turn of foot down the lane,” Sharp said. “We went back to dirt. She won at Keeneland in a very deep allowance race.”

Twirl Girl finished second in her most recent start at Churchill while facing older fillies and mares for the first time.

“The timing is good; the distance is good. Barring any bad luck, we’re expecting her to be pretty tough to beat,” said Sharp, who named Luis Saez to ride the daughter of Twirling Candy.

Jacks or Better Farm’s multiple-stakes winner Ballet Diva, who finished second behind Dearest in the Royal Palm last time out, is set to challenge the likely heavy favorite Saturday.

“She’s been training very well. I thought she ran very well in her first race for us,” said trainer Mark Casse, who took over the training of the Jacks or Better Farm horses in April. “The filly that beat her is a very good horse and there’s no shame in running second to a horse like that. She’s doing well and we are hoping that she can move up a bit this time.”

Alter’s Racing Stable’s Curlin’s Approval is scheduled to make her second lifetime start and stakes debut in the Azalea. The Marty Wolfson-trained daughter of Curlin debuted at Gulfstream June 5 with a handy four-length victory. Cornelio Velasquez is slated to replace Jaramillo aboard the Kentucky-bred filly.

Little Dreams Racing’s Little Priscilla, and Global Thoroughbreds’ Smartly Agree round out the field.

Source: Gulfstream Park