Gulfstream Park: Calistoga makes long-awaited return in Friday allowance
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Calistoga was one of the more exciting 3-year-old fillies in North America early in 2013, but after suffering her first defeat on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, she has not raced since.
Trainer Bill Mott said Calistoga “just needed time to grow up a little bit, so we turned her out” following her fourth-place finish last May as the favorite in the Grade 3 Eight Belles, a race that followed spectacular victories in back-to-back races to open her career at Gulfstream Park.
Now comes a long-awaited return for Calistoga, a 4-year-old chestnut filly by Speightstown. She will be ridden by Joel Rosario as a heavy favorite when breaking from post 2 in a field of seven fillies and mares in the eighth of 10 Friday races at Gulfstream, a $51,750, second-level allowance at seven furlongs.
After setting her down for a series of strong breezes at Payson Park – including four consecutive bullets – Mott is eager to get Calistoga back in action.
“Obviously, she’s always shown a lot of ability,” he said.
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Calistoga, a Kentucky-bred owned by Don Dizney, debuted with a 5 1/2-length romp in a maiden sprint here in January 2013, earning an eye-popping 97 Beyer Speed Figure. She followed that with a 4 3/4-length allowance score and an 86 Beyer as a 3-10 favorite last March before getting away poorly in the Eight Belles and still finishing a creditable fourth.
The top threat to Calistoga probably is Sky Skier (post 5, Paco Lopez), who reported home promptly as a 2-5 favorite here Dec. 22 after being turned over to trainer Kelly Breen.
“I’m still getting used to her, but she sure seems like a game filly,” Breen said.
In the early 1990s, Breen was an assistant to Ben Perkins Sr. when Perkins’s top client, Ebby Novak of New Farm, was relatively new to racing. Breen went out on his own in 1992 and has become a perennial leading trainer on his home circuit in New Jersey. Breen had not trained any horses for Novak until very recently, and, in fact, the win by Sky Skier was their first together.
One other allowance (race 9) also is on tap for Friday. It’s a first-level, $48,750 turf race at the rarely run distance of 1 7/16 miles. Iffraaj Pink, an Irish-bred from the Graham Motion stable, looks like a major contender in a field of 13 fillies and mares.
First post Friday is the usual 12:40 p.m. Eastern.