Backed all the way down to commanding 1-5 favoritism, Glencrest Farm LLC's Onlyforyou (Malibu Moon) streaked her way to her third win from as many starts in Gulfstream's GII Forward Gal S. yesterday. Sent straight to the front in the field of six by Eclipse Award-winning pilot Javier Castellano, the bay was hard-held through splits of :22.65 and :45.33 with Aurelia's Belle (Lemon Drop Kid) in closest pursuit. That foe came to even terms with the favorite entering the straight, but Onlyforyou quickly shut the door on her and kicked clear to score by a decisive 2 1/2-length margin. Aurelia's Belle held for second, while Resistivity (Student Council) settled for third as the 4-1 second choice. “It kind of speaks for itself,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who annexed the 2012 renewal of this race with Broadway's Alibi (Vindication) and last year's running with another daughter of Malibu Moon in Kauai Katie, of the performance. “Any time you have one win three in a row to start their career, it's not very many of them that do that. She's a filly that has always impressed us in her training. She's a beautiful filly, big scopey, good-looking filly that has tactical speed. It's been a pretty straightforward introduction so far.”
Saturday, Gulfstream Park
FORWARD GAL S.-GII, $200,000, GPX, 1-25, 3yo, f, 7f, 1:22 2/5, ft.
1–#@ONLYFORYOU, 116, f, 3, by Malibu Moon
1st Dam: Erhu (GSP, $164,385), by Tactical Cat
2nd Dam: Sunday Morning, by Sunny's Halo
3rd Dam: Great Finesse, by Bold Bidder
($115,000 yrl '12 KEESEP). O-Glencrest Farm LLC;
B-Elm Tree Farm, LLC & Popatop, LLC (KY); T-Todd
Pletcher; J-Javier Castellano. $120,000. Lifetime
Record: 3-3-0-0, $188,100. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating:
A+++ *Triple Plus*.
2–Aurelia's Belle, 116, f, 3, Lemon Drop Kid–Aurelia,
by Danzig. ($170,000 yrl '12 KEESEP). O-James
Miller; B-Alexander,Groves, & Matz (KY); T-Wayne
Catalano. $40,000.
3–Resistivity, 116, f, 3, Student Council–Lake Travis,
by Seattle Slew. O/B-Mike Rutherford (KY); T-Mark
Casse. $20,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, 3, 4 3/4. Odds: 0.30, 6.60, 4.40.
Also Ran: My Dear Regina, Flash Encounter, Stately Defence. Click for the brisnet.com chart, the brisnet.com PPs or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
Onlyforyou justified 22-10 favoritism first out with a 2 1/4-length victory at Aqueduct Nov. 10, and earned a best last-out Beyer Speed Figure of 83 when annexing a local six-panel optional claimer Dec. 15. “We thought we'd probably be stalking [Resistivity], but when she didn't get away as cleanly as we did I wasn't afraid for her to be where she was,” Pletcher said of the winner's trip. “She's trained like she'll run farther, and she was able to relax a little bit in her first two starts, so she's not one-dimensional even though she won on the lead today. That's pretty much it on the calendar here for sprints, so if we're going to run back at Gulfstream we're going to have to stretch out.” Pletcher said Onlyforyou is likely to return in the GII Davona Dale S. over 1 1/16 miles here Feb. 8. For an interview with Glencrest's John Greathouse after Onlyforyou's Dec. 16 optional claiming win, click here.
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