HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Graham Motion thought enough of Affirmative Lady to run her twice as a maiden in stakes races. After nearly pulling off an upset in the Grade 2 Demoiselle then regressing some in the Busanda – both at Aqueduct – Affirmative Lady finally got her maiden victory on Feb. 26. With that win under her belt, Affirmative Lady returns to stakes company in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks, where she could potentially earn her way into the Kentucky Oaks on May 5 at Churchill Downs. The Gulfstream Oaks offers 200 points among its top five finishers (100-40-30-20-10) for the Kentucky Oaks. The Gulfstream Oaks seems a wide-open affair, with Miracle, the runner-up in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra at Fair Grounds in February, and Dorth Vader, the 45-1 upset winner of the Grade 2 Davona Dale here in March, among the top choices. Affirmative Lady lost her first two starts, both sprints at Keeneland. That only confirmed what Motion had already thought, that Affirmative Lady would be better routing. In the Demoiselle, at 1 1/8 miles over a sloppy track, Affirmative Lady was five wide in the lane and battled the well-regarded Julia Shining to the wire, succumbing by a neck. :: Get ready for Gulfstream Park racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports. “The [Demoiselle] was a good race, and the second time at Aqueduct she bounced a little bit,” Motion said. “The first one took a little more out of her than I thought.” Following a third in the Busanda, Motion added blinkers to Affirmative Lady’s equipment for her second start as a 3-year-old, where, after sitting an up-close third, she split horses and drew clear to win by 2 1/4 lengths. “I thought she won impressive enough even though it didn’t come back a big number [a 70 Beyer],” Motion said. “I thought the timing was good that we could do this, but she needed to break her maiden.” Affirmative Lady will break from post 4 under Luis Saez. Miracle, second or third in a trio of New York-bred stakes last year when trained by Rodolphe Brisset, was moved to Todd Pletcher’s barn during the winter. In her 3-year-old debut, Miracle set the pace and was game while battling Pretty Mischievous to the wire, yielding late to lose the Rachel Alexandra by three-quarters of a length. Pretty Mischievous came back to run second in last weekend’s Fair Grounds Oaks. “I thought Miracle ran great at the Fair Grounds. She showed she fits well in open company and has come back and trained nicely for this,” said Pletcher, a four-time winner of the Gulfstream Oaks. “We kicked around the idea of going back to the Fair Grounds, just felt like there was an opportunity here and not having to make a ship twice made more sense.” Pletcher doesn’t feel Miracle has to be on the lead. “It’s kind of the way it worked out last time,” he said. “Certainly, we’re not going to take away anything that comes easily.” Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Miracle from post 5. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator. Pletcher also sends out Atomically, who impressed when she won the My Dear Girl Stakes here last Oct. 1. She was purchased by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, transferred to Pletcher, and taken to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, where she finished seventh. In her lone start this year, Atomically finished third behind Red Carpet Ready in the Grade 3 Forward Gal going seven furlongs. “She should appreciate more distance,” Pletcher said. “Getting back to Gulfstream and a mile and a sixteenth should be in her favor.” Dorth Vader finished sixth as the 7-5 favorite in the Gasparilla Stakes on Jan. 14 at Tampa Bay Downs, a result for which trainer Michael Yates didn’t have a real excuse. He drew a line through it and went on to the Davona Dale, where she stalked the pacesetting favorite, Red Carpet Ready, took over in midstretch, and drew clear to win by 4 3/4 lengths at 46-1. The last time Dorth Vader ran 1 1/16 miles, she finished 11 lengths behind Atomically in the My Dear Girl Stakes here last year. “I don’t feel like [distance] is going to be a problem for her,” Yates said. “When she was a 2-year-old in the My Dear Girl she wasn’t quite up to the mile-and-a-sixteenth task. She wasn’t very mature as she is at this stage.” Miguel Vasquez rides Dorth Vader from post 8. Sacred Wish makes her first start around two turns and first for George Weaver following a private purchase. She finished third behind the promising Punchbowl on Feb. 11 and was one of four next-out winners when on March 5 at Oaklawn she won a six-furlong maiden race restricted to horses who sold for $75,000 or less at auction. Infinite Diamond, who won the Cash Run Stakes; Flakes, a Florida-bred allowance winner; and Just Katherine, a last-out maiden winner, complete the field. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.