Gibberish drops from Grade 3 to allowance ranks

After Gibberish romped in the slop in a key one-mile maiden special weight race May 25 at Gulfstream Park, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was encouraged enough to give her a shot in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks on July 8 at Indiana Downs. It turned out to be a tougher spot than he probably envisioned, as the 1 1/16-mile race was won by Shedaresthedevil, who won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks for trainer Brad Cox last Friday.

Gibberish will appreciate the substantially easier company she is facing in the feature race Thursday at Gulfstream Park. The first-level allowance race drew eight fillies and mares and goes as race 8 on a nine-race card that begins at noon Eastern. The one-mile race has a $25,000 claiming option, with Lil Miss Hotshot the only horse in for the price.

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A Kentucky-bred daughter of Lea, Gibberish has worked well since returning to her home base at Gulfstream. The 88 Beyer Speed Figure she received for her seven-length win on May 25 stands out in this field, and considering the strong stats Joseph has with fresh horses, there is an excellent chance Gibberish will fire a big shot coming off the bench. In the past five years, Joseph has a 23 percent strike rate and $1.43 return on investment in races at a mile or longer with horses coming back from 61- to 180-day layoffs.

The one concern is that Gibberish improved dramatically in her race on May 25, and the impressive performance may have had something to do with the wet track.

She is lightly raced with just five starts, however, so she could be just starting to figure things out. Another positive is Gibberish is reunited with Emisael Jaramillo, who was aboard for her facile win. She will break from post 4 on Thursday.

Heiressindy is coming off a strong effort running over a sloppy track in a first-level allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option on Aug. 2 at Gulfstream. She finished third in the one-mile race, won by Dance d’Oro. The runner-up, Estilo Talentoso, came back to win the $60,000 Escena Stakes on Aug. 30.

Heiressindy, trained by Terri Pompay, is a two-time winner running over fast tracks, with her latest victory coming in a Florida-bred first-level allowance race with a $16,000 claiming option on July 12. With Miguel Vasquez aboard, she stalked an honest pace before asserting herself at the six-furlong mark in the one-mile race.

Heiressindy drew the inside post Thursday with Vasquez riding.

The Antonio-Sano trained Addilyn won’t mind being back home after not being able to keep up in a first-level allowance race won by Secondary Market on Aug. 9 at Saratoga. Secondary Market ran a big race in her next start, finishing fourth in the Grade 2 Prioress on Sept. 5 at Saratoga. Addilyn finished third in a first-level allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option going six furlongs July 23 at Gulfstream.