Joseph confident maiden Slow Kara is improving ahead of Gazelle

Two years ago, the maiden Where’s My Ring won the Grade 3 Gazelle Stakes, earning a start in the Kentucky Oaks where she finished 10th.

Next Saturday, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will attempt to win the Grade 3 Gazelle with the maiden Slow Kara, a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro out of the multiple graded stakes winner Terra Promessa, who has a fourth and a second in two starts going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park.

“I think she fits that race to a T,” Joseph said Friday. “If the surface is slow, I think that would suit her big. I think she’s got a lot of stamina. First time out, she missed the break completely and she ran on. Second time out, I thought she made the correct improvement you should make. If she makes that improvement going two turns then she’s going to be right there.”

On Friday, at Palm Meadows, Slow Kara worked a half-mile in 49.06 seconds in company with the maiden 3-year-old filly Empress New Groove.

Others expected for the Gazelle include Busher one-two finishers Paradise and Nycon, Ruthless winner Two Bits, Sunland Park Oaks third-place finisher Pashmina, and maiden winner Always a Runner.

The top five finishers in the Gazelle earn qualifying points (100-50-25-15-10) to the Kentucky Oaks.

◗ Joseph said he also plans to run Grammy Girl in the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Stakes for older females at seven furlongs.

Grammy Girl has not run since winning the Willa on The Move Stakes at Laurel on Nov. 22. Prior to that, she had a win and two seconds in three starts at Aqueduct.

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