Four Graces poised to fire best shot in Hurricane Bertie Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – If the third start of a horse’s form cycle off a layoff is indeed her best, as many trainers and handicappers would attest, then Four Graces should prove tough to beat when she takes on just five rivals in Saturday’s $100,000 Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream Park. The 6 1/2-furlong Grade 3 dash is one of two stakes for fillies and mares on the 12-race program along with the $100,000 Captiva Island, carded at five furlongs on turf.

Four Graces has started just three times since the fall of 2020 and only twice since a fourth-place finish in the Roxelana Stakes last June at Churchill Downs. Her two most recent outings came within a 23-day span here in January, resulting in second-place finishes in a six-furlong allowance dash and the Grade 2 Inside Information. She fell three-quarters of a length short of catching wire-to-wire winner Just One Time in the seven-furlong Inside Information.

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Four Graces, a 5-year-old homebred daughter of Majesticperfection, is trained by Ian Wilkes for owner-breeder Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC. She won four of her first five starts, including a maiden tally in her career debut here in March 2000 and back-to-back Grade 3 victories in the Dogwood and Beaumont later that season in Kentucky.

“I’ve been playing a little bit of a catchup game because she went 14 months with just one race,” Wilkes said. “Now this will be her third race back in succession and she’s in a nice rhythm.”

Four Grades registered her two stakes victories in wire-to-wire fashion but has run from off the pace in her last two starts.

“She’s the one who has dropped off the pace a bit more,” Wilkes said. “It’s nothing I’ve trained her to do. That’s her own doing, and I think it comes with maturity.”

Regular rider Julien Leparoux will have the call again in the Hurricane Bertie.

Despite the fact she’s likely to go postward a tepid favorite, Four Graces will be in receipt of four pounds from 124-pound highweight Obligatory under the allowance conditions of the Hurricane Bertie. In her last start, Obligatory won the Grade 3 Chilukki Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths going a mile on Nov. 20 at Churchill Downs. Obligatory, trained by Bill Mott for owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms, also was a Grade 2 winner last season, rallying from last to a one-length triumph in the seven-furlong Eight Belles on last year’s Kentucky Oaks undercard.

Obligatory has been training steadily for her return at Payson Park, with six works since late January. She also proved she can run well fresh, having returned from a similar 3 1/2-month layoff to win her maiden here going a mile 13 months ago.

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There should be plenty of pace for both favorites to run at on Saturday, with Bramble Berry and My Destiny in the lineup. My Destiny comes off a career-best effort when beaten a neck after a near race-long duel with stablemate Drop a Hint in the six-furlong Minaret last month at Tampa Bay Downs. She returned with a scorching 46.40-second half-mile work here March 4.

Starship Nala also demands respect, having edged out Four Graces by a nose under allowance conditions Jan. 6 and returning to finish a tiring fourth after a bit of an eventful trip in the Inside Information.

Captiva Island Stakes

Multiple stakes winners Miss Auramet, Miss J McKay, and Tobys Heart headline a competitive field of eight set to contest the Captiva Island.

Miss Auramet has sandwiched a pair of sharp victories around a troubled sixth-place effort in the Abundantia Stakes during the current session. She is one of several speed types in the lineup, along with Naughty Shirley, A G Indy, and the vastly improved Headline Hunter.

A contentious pace would prove a plus for late-runners Tobys Heart and Miss J McKay. Tobys Heart is a three time stakes winner at distances ranging from 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 furlongs, with each of those victories fashioned in come-from-behind style. Miss J McKay rallied from midpack to capture the Abundantia in her local debut Dec. 31 before losing all chance after being pinched and checked back early in the Ladies Turf Sprint six weeks later. Miss J McKay finished fourth, nearly three lengths behind Miss Auramet, in that race.

◗ Paco Lopez, who rides at Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday, will begin serving his 14-day suspension handed down for careless riding in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on Sunday. He will be permitted to honor all calls for the Florida Derby Day card here on April 2 before completing his suspension the following day, which is the final card of the 2021-22 Gulfstream Park Championship meet. A spokesperson for Gulfstream owner 1/ST Racing issued a statement that said: “Careless riding will not be accepted and if any jockey exhibits a pattern of recklessness on the track, he/she will be ruled off all 1/ST tracks.”