Fierce Scarlett brings stakes potential to allowance
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – They’re racing Monday at Gulfstream Park, which is unusual. What’s not unusual is Chad Brown having the favorite in the feature race.
Brown will be sending a filly named Fierce Scarlett on the short commute to Gulfstream from his winter base at the Palm Meadows training center for the ninth of 11 races on a special Martin Luther King Jr. holiday card. Fourth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Jessamine at Keeneland in her most recent start, Fierce Scarlett surely will be a decisive public choice in full field of 3-year-old fillies in the $51,000 first-level allowance, which also has a $75,000 claiming option.
Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call on Fierce Scarlett, who drew post 11 in the one-mile turf race. The Florida-bred filly shows an uninterrupted series of recent works for Brown, who on Thursday night will be in attendance at Gulfstream and is widely expected to accept his third straight Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer.
Fierce Scarlett returns to action in the second of two allowances on a Monday card that starts at noon Eastern. An earlier allowance (race 5) matches older fillies and mares going a mile on turf, also for a $51,000 purse and under a first-level condition. Ortiz – who also is the apparent front-runner for a 2018 Eclipse – has a live one in that spot, too, in Coffee Crush, a Jimmy Toner-trained 4-year-old making her first start in nearly eight months.
After Monday, Gulfstream goes dark for one day before a five-day race week starts Wednesday. A blockbuster Saturday card featuring the two Pegasus World Cup races will highlight a huge week.
KEY CONTENDERS
Fierce Scarlett, by Scat Daddy
(Beyers: 70-72-66)
◗ Although she was beaten four lengths in the Jessamine following her eye-catching September maiden win over the Belmont Park turf, this filly sure looks like she could become one of Brown’s many turf-stakes winners in 2019.
Aunt Hattie, by Camelot
(Beyers: 68-70)
◗ This Bill Mott-trained filly was sixth in the Wait a While here last month after a sharp debut victory over a yielding Aqueduct turf.
Speedy Solution, by Real Solution
(Last 3 Beyers: 63-69-59)
◗ From the ever-dangerous Wesley Ward barn, this filly stands to benefit substantially from a December start at Turfway Park after finishing sixth in the Jessamine.
Solar Kitten, by Kitten’s Joy
(Beyers: 65-57)
◗ Her last-to-first maiden score for trainer Ian Wilkes on opening day points out a potential fondness for the local course and a promising future as a closer.
