Hello Beautiful, Dontletsweetfoolya head to Barbara Fritchie on win streaks

Hello Beautiful appears bound for the Grade 3, $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park on Feb. 13.

“That’s the goal as long as she continues to do well,” said trainer Brittany Russell.

A perfect 7 for 7 over the Laurel Park main track, Hello Beautiful earned her third consecutive victory with a gate-to-wire score in last Saturday’s $100,000 What a Summer Stakes at six furlongs. The daughter of Golden Lad came out of the race in good order.

“Oh, she’s wonderful,” Russell said. “You know, she’s funny. She’s the same every day so she’s great.”

Hello Beautiful was pushed early, opened a clear lead and held off Club Car’s late rally to prevail by a length. She received an 87 Beyer.

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Russell said that Hello Beautiful “was pressed early and she was running hard the whole way.”

“We had gotten some rain and you don’t know how laboring the track is for a speed horse like that to keep going,” he said.

One potential rival for Hello Beautiful is Dontletsweetfoolya, a winner of her last five, including the Primonetta and Willa On the Move Stakes.

“She came out of the last stake really well,” said trainer Lacey Gaudet. “She had a nice, easy breeze on Sunday, which is nice for her because she’s usually a little tough in the morning. She’s just developing into a pretty solid, easygoing filly, which we never thought we’d have.”

One of the reasons for Dontletsweetfoolya’s more relaxed attitude is the addition of a baby goat as a stable mascot and a companion for the sometimes-flighty filly.

“My owners say ‘special speed, special needs’ so we give her what she wants,” Gaudet said. “But she seems to enjoy the goat right now.”