Gulfstream Park: Grace Hall ready for Apple Blossom at Oaklawn

Grace Hall, the four-time graded stakes winner, tuned up for a start in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park by working four furlongs in 47.02 seconds Friday morning at Palm Meadows.

It was the fastest of 20 works at the distance and a sign to trainer Tony Dutrow that Grace Hall has moved forward since her well-beaten third-place finish behind Royal Delta in the Sabin.

“I don’t have any excuses for her, but the fact of the matter is that Grace Hall was not the way she was for that race the way she is for the Apple Blossom,” Dutrow said “She has physically improved in her weight and maturity and she has had a much more serious preparation for the Apple Blossom than she did for the Sabin.”

Grace Hall has had three consecutive bullet workouts since the Sabin. Dutrow said that Grace Hall would leave for Oaklawn on April 7 or 8.