Florida invaders take aim at Heavenly Prize

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A trio of south Florida shippers adds some spice to Saturday’s $150,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational for fillies and mares at Aqueduct. The graded stakes winners Cali Star, Include Betty, and House Rules are likely to be among the top choices in the Heavenly Prize, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles over the inner track.

Cali Star has two wins and a second in three starts since being transferred to trainer Marty Wolfson. She won the Grade 3 Rampart on Dec. 12 before finishing second to Forever Unbridled in the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston on Jan. 30.

Wolfson said he and jockey Julien Leparoux may have made a tactical error in that race, taking Cali Star back off a slow pace and ultimately letting Forever Unbridled get the jump on her.

“She’s got a lot of speed if you need it, and I think we just didn’t use it like we should have that night,” Wolfson said.

Cali Star will break from post 6 under Irad Ortiz Jr. She figures to be on or just off the pace, depending on what Jose Ortiz does on Mei Ling, the Todd Pletcher-trained mare who gets blinkers added. Mei Ling had worn blinkers in nine of her first 10 starts, but not in her last seven.

The connections of Include Betty, the winner of the Grade 1 Mother Goose last summer, certainly would like to see a contested pace between Mei Ling and Cali Star as their 4-year-old filly comes from well off the pace.

House Rules, a three-time stakes winner, returns from a five-month layoff for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.

Saythreehailmary’s and Storied Lady, both of whom are multiple stakes winners over the inner track, and Pangburn, coming off a listed stakes win at Laurel, also are in the field.

Key Contenders

Cali Star, by Street Cry

Last 3 Beyers: 90-90-91

◗ Has more speed than she showed when having to settle for second in the Houston Ladies Classic.

◗ Her morning workouts in Florida, including a bullet half-mile in 47.20 seconds Monday, indicate that she has held her good form.

House Rules, by Distorted Humor

Last 3 Beyers: 84-76-93

◗ After winning three stakes and running second in a fourth from her first four starts in 2015, she went off form and eventually to the sidelines last September.

◗ Five-year-old mare has a history of firing fresh and shows a work tab littered with fast moves leading up to her return.

◗ Trainer Jerkens is 5 for 26 in the last three years when bringing horses back in a route race off a 60- to 180-day layoff. He is 0 for 3 in stakes races during that time.

Mei Ling, by Empire Maker

Last 3 Beyers: 79-88-89

◗ Was a disappointing third as the 2-5 favorite behind Pangburn in the Maryland Racing Media Stakes on Feb. 13.

◗ After working a fast-half-mile a week before that race, trainer Pletcher opted not to breeze Mei Ling in the three weeks since then.

“The filly trains very impressively; maybe she worked a little too good,” Pletcher said. “We decided to take a different approach and go without breezing in the three weeks in between.”

◗ Pletcher is 16 for 88 over the last three years with a $1.50 ROI when adding blinkers to a horse in a route race.