Fawkes finally finds a race for Grand Ave Girl

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After being frustrated for the past several months trying to find a spot to run his stakes-winning turf and Tapeta specialist Grand Ave Girl, trainer David Fawkes finally got what he was looking for in a conditioned allowance race on Sunday’s 11-race program at Gulfstream Park. The race will be decided at a mile and 70 yards over the synthetic strip for a $52,000 purse and is the first of three allowance races on the card.

Grand Ave Girl has not started since finishing third as the even-money favorite in the Powder Break Stakes here June 25. Grand Ave Girl has continued to be a regular on the work tab, with six breezes dating back to July 23, including four furlongs in 48.11 seconds over the Tapeta last Saturday.

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“She wasn’t eligible for the last allowance race they put up on the Tapeta, but fortunately they tweaked the conditions a little, which made her eligible for this one and they got the race to go,” Fawkes said.

The condition Fawkes is referring to is the one that opens the race to horses who have not won on the Tapeta since March 10. Grand Ave Girl’s most recent victory over the Tapeta surface came against allowance company here Jan. 2.

Fawkes also is praying for a little precipitation before post time Sunday.

“I’d love to get a little rain to tighten the course up and help the speed,” Fawkes said. “That‘s her biggest asset. She’s not great when having to sit off it.”

One horse in the lineup who might have enough speed to force the early running is Tik Tok Famous, who like Grand Ave Girl is owned by e Five Racing Thoroughbreds. Unlike Grand Ave Girl, however, Tik Tok Famous is trained by Saffie Joseph Jr.

Tik Tok Famous has been idle 10 weeks and will stretch back around two turns after trailing throughout in a 5 1/2-furlong overnight handicap. Tik Tok Famous finished second on turf and third on the synthetic track in stakes during the second half of her 2021 campaign

Starship Nala, beaten a neck in the seven-furlong Sheer Drama just 15 days ago, will try the Tapeta for the first time in her 32nd start. Completing the field are Onyx, Kahiko, Starship Nterprise, and Empress Ellie.

Sir Bear dies at 29

South Florida racing lost a longtime fan favorite when Sir Bear died at the age of 29 from complications from a fractured pelvis suffered in his paddock earlier this week.

Sir Bear, a homebred son of Sir Leon, was owned by the late Barbara Smollin and bred by her husband, Al, and trained throughout his brilliant career by Ralph Ziadie. Sir Bear rose from the claiming ranks as a 2-year-old to become one of the top handicap horses in the country during his heyday in the late 1990s and into the next decade, with a résumé that included Grade 1 victories in the 1998 Cigar Mile, 1999 Metropolitan Handicap, and 2001 Gulfstream Park Handicap. Sir Bear made his final start at the age of 10 in the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic during the winter of 2003. He retired with a record of 19 victories in 71 starts and earnings in excess of $2.5 million, an immense achievement during that era.

Sir Bear spent his entire retirement in a specially built, state-of-the-art barn in the backyard of the Smollin residence in Davie, Fla.

“He meant everything to Barbara and was like a son to me,” an emotional Al Smollin said Friday. “Barbara and I took care of him every day right here on our property and I’ve continued to do so since her passing. It’s difficult to pick out his most special race, there were so many, although I’d say winning the Met Handicap and especially the Gulfstream Park Handicap, because it was here in Florida, are the two most memorable ones.”