Great Island shakes off stumble, wins Suwannee River Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The complexion of Saturday’s $100,000 Suwannee River Stakes at Gulfstream Park changed twice before the field had even completed the first 100 yards of the race. The first time came when the race moved from the grass to a sloppy main track due to heavy rain that fell less than an hour before post time. The second time was when the prohibitive 1-5 favorite, Great Island, stumbled badly leaving the starting gate.

But to her credit Great Island was able to overcome both obstacles, ultimately wearing down the pacesetting Drop a Hint to register a head decision in the local stakes fixture that will, at least temporarily, lose its Grade 3 status due to the surface change. La Signare, who figured to be the post time favorite, scratched once the race was taken off the turf.

Great Island, a 5-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy trained by Chad Brown, came into the 1 1/8-mile Suwannee River with only four starts on her resume’, all coming on the turf, the most recent resulting in a second-place finish in the Via Borghese here Decemer 19.

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With Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time, Great Island dropped nearly 10 lengths off the early pace after her unlucky beginning. She advanced to closer contention while racing wide in the run down the backstretch, appeared to level out near the quarter pole, only to continue gamely through the final furlong to wear down the tiring leader at the end.

Drop a Hint set a moderate pace over the sloppy going, remained well clear nearing midstretch, but could not withstand the winner. She finished a half-length in front of Mylastfirstkiss, the only main-track-only entrant in the lineup, who was third.

Great Island completed the distance in 1:52.51 and paid $2.60.

“She stumbled twice leaving the gate, so I just took her back and waited to see what she could do,” said Ortiz, who won six races on Saturday’s card.

“Down the backstretch she started moving really good and I didn’t want to take too much hold after what happened at the beginning. I just let her be herself, find her stride. By the quarter pole I started working on her and thank God she kept coming. The trainer (Chad Brown) did a great job. She had a lot of stamina.”

Lady’s Island won the Ladies Turf Sprint after the race was switched from the grass to a sloppy track for the second time in less than two years by overcoming a slow start to register a popular three-quarter-length victory over Miss Auramet on Saturday. Lady’s Island won the 2019 race in a similar manner, after the event was moved from the turf to a wet main track.

The victory came in what is likely Lady’s Island’s final start for her owners, the partnership of Averill Racing LLC and Matties Racing. She is scheduled to be sold in the Fasig-Tipton Mixed Winter sale early next week.

The Lady’s Turf was the 18th victory in 35 career starts for Lady’s Island, a 7-year-old daughter of Greatness, and her first while racing without Lasix. She is trained by Georgina Baxter and was ridden to victory by Emisael Jaramillo. She completed five furlongs over the wet going in 58.87 and paid $4.40.

“She’s been so beautifully campaigned by the owners, we’re going to miss her, not only as a race horse but as a horse because she’s such a pleasure to be around,” Baxter said. “It’s bittersweet. I’m just glad and so very pleased she went out on top. She deserves it after what she’s done.”