Elusive Harmony can give a needed boost to Mitchelhill barn
It’s been a fairly unproductive start for Sally Mitchelhill since she assumed the training of horses after Kirk Ziadie was denied his trainer’s license in early July for medication violations.
Into this week, Mitchelhill had won just two of her first 29 starts at the Gulfstream Park summer meet, a rate far below the 34 percent at which Ziadie won from 2011-15 (252 for 744). But if she is to get relief from that slump – temporary or no – it might well come Friday when Mitchelhill sends out Elusive Harmony in the $44,000 feature at a mile on the main track.
Elusive Harmony, with Harry Hernandez to ride, looks like an odds-on favorite in the ninth of 10 Friday races, an entry-level allowance with a $16,000 claiming option. Owned by Averill Racing and Matties Racing, Elusive Harmony will be dropping substantially in class while owning a huge edge in Beyer Speed Figures when facing six other fillies and mares.
First post Friday is 1:15 p.m. Eastern, with the ninth, the lone allowance of the day, set for 5:41.
The feature is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence (races 5-10), which figured to offer a jackpot of about $450,000 assuming a solo winner was not sold Thursday. Into this week, the jackpot had not been swept since July 16.
KEY CONTENDERS
Elusive Harmony (Last 3 Beyers: 83-83-79)
◗ One of two starters in here (with Simplistic) entered for the $16,000 claiming option, this 5-year-old mare put in some powerful performances while under Ziadie’s care, winning four times from seven starts in an eight-month period starting in late September 2014.
◗ While struggling in the victory department, Mitchelhill has had seven seconds and six thirds from those initial 29 starts.
Miss Away (Last 3 Beyers: 66-66-59)
◗ This 4-year-old filly stretches out from a six-furlong maiden special weight victory in which she was returning from a lengthy layoff and making her first start for Ruben Monjes; she shows a couple of Palm Meadows works since that visually impressive triumph.
Simplistic (Last 3 Beyers: 60-65-74)
◗ This New York-bred mare sure knows how to win, having done so in 6 of 18 starts, and now goes turf to dirt when returning from a layoff of nearly seven weeks for Rasharn Creque.