By Christie DeBernardis
Wildcat Kate (Kantharos) flew under the radar at 12-1 when springing a narrow upset over favored Todd Pletcher runner Bode's Dream (Bodemeister) in Gulfstream's six-panel Old Hat S. Jan. 7 and she maintains that low profile with a 6-1 morning-line quote for Saturday's seven-furlong GII Forward Gal S. at the Hallandale oval.
“She's training very well,” trainer Kathleen O'Connell told the TDN Thursday afternoon. “The distance will be a question until after the race [is run], but I think she deserves a shot.”
Unveiled in a $50,000 maiden claimer at her trainer's Gulfstream Park West fall/winter base Oct. 20, Wildcat Kate made good on the promise she had shown in her workouts with a 15 3/4-length tour de force in the slop.
“She trained very forwardly and we got lucky that the field came up on the weak side,” commented O'Connell, who was not at all surprised by the filly's dominant debut performance. “She has also shown a penchant for the slop, so it kind of all fell together.”
Outkicked late and forced to settle for second in the state-bred Juvenile Filly Sprint at Gulfstream West Nov. 12, the San Basilio LLC colorbearer split the reopposing Bode's Dream and Brahms Cat (Wildcat Heir) when second in a sloppy renewal of Gulfstream's House Party S. Dec. 10. The bay got the better of Bode's Dream next out when capturing the Old Hat by a neck and it was 3 1/4 lengths back to third-place finisher Summer Luck (Lookin at Lucky), who also returns in this spot.
While Wildcat Kate has beaten several runner's in Saturday's test, she faces an imposing new shooter in Summer Luck's Grade I-winning stablemate Pretty City Dancer (Tapit), but that does not intimidate her conditioner.
“She is running against some of the same horses she has beat or run with and a couple new shooters,” remarked O'Connell. “As I said, the distance is the only question. She is training very well coming into the race.”
When asked if a strong performance Saturday would cause O'Connell to consider the one-mile GII Davona Dale S. Mar. 4, the Detroit native said, “I'm sure seven eighths might be it. You don't know until you try, so we will try this and see where it goes from there. We try to do one race at a time because these horses are very fragile animals and anything can happen.”
O'Connell has been successful with female sprinters in the past, having trained fleet-footed “TDN Rising Star” Lady Shipman (Midshipman) during her first two seasons on the track which included six stakes wins and a runner-up finish in the 2015 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. While Lady Shipman's success came on the turf and Wildcat Kate has only run on dirt, the trainer sees an important similarity between the two fillies.
“They both have a very good mind,” O'Connell explained. “All these fillies are different, but you always hope they have a good mind because it really helps them progress forward through their career.”
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