Gulfstream Park: Onlyforyou gives Pletcher third straight win in Forward Gal Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Onlyforyou kept her record unblemished and gave trainer Todd Pletcher his third straight Forward Gal Stakes win after pulling away through the final furlong to a 2 3/4-length victory over Aurelia’s Belle in the Grade 2 dash for 3-year-old fillies.

Onlyforyou, a daughter of Malibu Moon, led virtually every step of the way under jockey Javier Castellano. Aurelia’s Belle moved into close contention around the second turn, tried the winner into the stretch, but proved no match while finishing on her left lead and lugging in through midstretch.

Restistivity outlasted the others to finish third. She was followed byh My Dear Regina, Flash Encounter, and Stately Defence.

Onlyforyou, who is perfect in three career starts, completed seven furlongs in 1:22.50 over a fast track and paid $2.60.

“It kind of speaks for itself any time you have one win three in a row to begin its career,” Pletcher said. “Not very many of them do that. She’s a filly who has always impressed us in her training. She’s a beautiful filly, a big, scopey, good-looking filly that has tactical speed. It’s been a pretty straightforward introduction so far.”

Pletcher said he thought Onlyforyou likely would sit off the pace of Resistivity but wasn’t too concerned when she was able to make the early lead.

[Clocker Reports: Get Mike Welsch’s clocker reports from Gulfstream Park and Palm Meadows]

“We thought we’d be stalking the 1 [Resisitivity], but when the 1 didn’t get away as cleanly as she did, I wasn’t afraid for her to be where she was,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher said Onlyforyou has trained like she’ll run farther and that she had shown the ability to relax in her first two starts and wasn’t one-dimensional, even though she won the Forward Gal on the lead.

“That’s pretty much it here on the calendar for sprints,” Pletcher said. “If we’re going to run back at Gulfstream, we’re going to have to stretch out. The Davona Dale is Feb. 22. We’ll just have to wait and see how we feel about that.”