Fawkes in a win-win situation with Grand Ave Girl
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The biggest problem trainer David Fawkes has at the moment with Grand Ave Girl is one every trainer would love to have – trying to decide if the vastly improved filly is better on turf or Tapeta.
Grand Ave Girl will return to the synthetic surface Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where she figures to be a solid favorite to defeat seven rivals going a mile and 70 yards in the $75,000 Powder Break Stakes, the highlight of a 12-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m.
Grand Ave Girl struggled to win her maiden until Fawkes tried her on Tapeta for the first time here last fall. The 4-year-old daughter of Runhappy responded with a one-sided 7 1/4-length victory. She registered a win, a second, and a third in three subsequent starts over the synthetic strip, including a game runner-up effort in an overnight handicap Jan. 28.
At that point, Fawkes opted to give Grand Ave Girl a try on turf, and she has seemed to get even better with the surface change, sandwiching a pair of victories around a fourth-place finish in the Sand Springs in her three outings on grass.
In her most recent start, Grand Ave Girl sped right to the front, then got away with pedestrian fractions before drawing away to a very popular 4 1/2-length decision in the Monroe Stakes.
“It’s really hard to say if she’s better on turf or the synthetic track, although her style is to be on the front end which is probably more conducive to racing on the grass,” Fawkes said. “I think she’s a little better now than she was during the winter, whether that’s because her last few races have been on the turf, I’m not sure. All I know is that she’s training great and if she gets loose on a soft pace she should be tough to beat again on Saturday.”
Grand Ave Girl will carry high weight of 124 pounds under the allowance conditions of the Powder Break, including her regular rider Emisael Jaramillo, while conceding two to four pounds to her rivals.
Sugar Fix, who came out second best to her stablemate Lovely Luvy in a couple of statebred stakes over the Tapeta here earlier this year, looms the horse to beat despite the fact she definitely seems better suited to turf than the Tapeta, having registered all 10 of her career wins on grass. She will be reunited with jockey Edgard Zayas, who has won 3 of 4 starts aboard Sugar Fix, including the Claiming Crown Tiara during the second half of her 2021 campaign.
The remainder of the field includes the Armando De La Cerda-trained pair of Kate’s Kingdom and Karakatsie, Starship Nterprise, Money Factor, Andie One, and Conundrum Queen.
◗ The Powder Break will be followed by a $52,000 allowance race carded at a mile on the main track that features the 2022 debuts of the multiple stakes winner Sailing Solo and graded stakes-placed Superfecto.
They are part of a very strong lineup that also features I’m a G Six and Tune In, first and second, respectively, on April 29 under starter-allowance conditions, the relatively lightly raced but talented American Prince, hard-knocking veteran Brasstown, and Sir Ollie.