Taylor S Cuts Back in Any Limit Stakes

Albaugh Family Stables’ Taylor S cuts back in distance and competition for her next start in the $75,000 Any Limit Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

The six-furlong Any Limit for 3-year-old fillies is one of two stakes on the 12-race program, along with the $75,000 Silks Run for older sprinters going five furlongs on the grass.

Trained by Dale Romans, Taylor S opened her sophomore season running third by 3 ½ lengths to stablemate Birdatthewire in the seven-furlong Forward Gal (G2) on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream. The daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner Medaglia d’Oro was only beaten a neck for second by Lassofthemohicans and finished a neck ahead of Ekati’s Phaeton, winner of the Old Hat (G3) who came back and upset Birdatthewire in the Davona Dale (G2) at odds of 26-1 Feb. 21 at Gulfstream.

Also finishing behind Taylor S were Grade 1 winner By the Moon, Grade 2 winner Seduire and multiple graded stakes-placed Skipalute. Taylor S's effort came two months after she capped her juvenile campaign with a front-running 6 ¼-length score in an optional claiming allowance on Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs, hitting the wire in 1:09.35 for six furlongs.

“Her last race was a big race,” Romans said. “She was coming off a big race at the end of the year where she ran such a big number and she came back and held strong for third. The filly that she held off came back and ran big. This will be a little bit of class relief for her. We’ll try to get her a win and move on to Kentucky.”

Taylor S broke her maiden at first asking last fall at Churchill Downs before finishing off the board in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland. She came back to run third in the Rags to Riches Stakes at Churchill a month before her allowance victory.

“She’s really, really talented,” Romans said. “She’s such a big, strong filly and she’s just now getting it all together. I don’t know how far she’ll go, but she’s fast. We’re going to sprint her now and then we’ll worry about it later. I’m hoping we can get her to stretch out to at least a mile. This will be a good spot for her. She should win this one.”

Standing in her way is a pair of undefeated but untested fillies in Dogwood Trail and Perchance. Trained by Stanley Gold, Jacks or Better Farm homebred Dogwood Trail owns two wins at Gulfstream, most recently taking a six-furlong optional claiming allowance by 2 ¾ lengths on Feb. 8 in her second start.

A chestnut daughter of multiple stakes winner Awesome of Course, Dogwood Trail debuted last May with a 5 ¾-length victory in a 4 ½-furlong maiden sprint under a hand ride from jockey Abdiel Jaen.

“I hope she’s as good as I think she is. I think she’ll be tough to beat, so we’ll see,” Gold said. “She’s trained good. She worked good the other day so we’re all set. We just want to stay the way we are, hope we have a dry, fast track and clean trip and we’ll see if she’s that good. She’s been pretty impressive.”

Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables, Perchance has won both her career starts at the Any Limit’s six furlongs. The Distorted Humor filly didn’t get started until December, a 1 ½-length debut victory at Aqueduct.

She followed up by pressing a fast early pace and pulling clear by a length in an optional claiming allowance Jan. 22 at Gulfstream, hitting the wire in 1:09.49 under Championship Meet-leading jockey Javier Castellano.

“We talked, Stonestreet and myself, and thought it would be good to run her back over this track that she won on. The distance shouldn’t be a problem,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously, this will be a little tougher race, stepping up to stakes races now, but we think it’s the next move for her.”

Coco’s Wildcat, winner of the Cassidy Stakes last July at Gulfstream; My Dear Stakes winner Unhindered, unraced since her runner-up finish in the Selima Sept. 27 at Laurel Park; and Gulfstream maiden winners Spark and Miss Wilby complete the field.        

Source: Gulfstream Park