Less might be more for Divine Miss Grey

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Danny Gargan plans to take a less-is-more approach when it comes to Divine Miss Grey this year.

Gargan said he doesn’t envision Divine Miss Grey racing 10 times this year like she did in 2018, but he’s hoping to target some big races with the 5-year-old daughter of Divine Park.

“I’m not going to run her as much,” Gargan said Wednesday by phone from Ocala, Fla., where he was hoping to land the barn’s future big horse at the OBS March auction of 2-year-olds in training. “If I slow down, don’t run her as much, I’m hoping to get those big performances.”

Divine Miss Grey certainly gave a big performance last Sunday, winning the Heavenly Prize Invitational by three lengths in her first start in more than three months. She went gate to wire, turning back a stern challenge from Split Time before drawing away late. Divine Miss Grey earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure for her performance, her sixth career stakes victory.

“I was really, really impressed,” Gargan said. “She’s a warrior, I’m just lucky that I have her.”

Gargan said Divine Miss Grey came out of the race in great shape and that he hasn’t definitively decided where she would run next. He does not plan on running her back in the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Handicap – a race she won last year – at Aqueduct on April 5 and may look to the Grade 1, $500,000 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day.

With her victory in the Heavenly Prize, Divine Miss Grey improved her record to 12 for 25 and increased her career earnings to $929,372.