HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After having had a limited but successful 3-year-old campaign that ended with a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan, trainer Anthony Margotta Jr. is looking for bigger and better things in 2021 from Hopeful Growth, beginning Wednesday at Gulfstream Park in a $48,000 allowance test for fillies and mares to be decided at seven furlongs. The race is the last and richest of three allowance events on a card that begins at the new weekday post time of 1:10 p.m. Hopeful Growth captured two of just six starts in 2020 after having won her lone outing at 2. Her most noteworthy performance came in the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks when the daughter of Tapiture rallied to a four-length victory going 1 1/16 miles in her first start with blinkers. That effort earned her a spot in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, which had been postponed until September due to the coronavirus pandemic, although she was never a factor finishing sixth, 11 1/2 lengths behind Shedaresthedevil. Hopeful Growth concluded her abbreviated 3-year-old season one month later, finishing third in the Black-Eyed Susan while earning a lifetime-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure in the process. “There wasn’t much else for 3-year-olds after the Black-Eyed Susan, so we made the decision to freshen her up for her 4-year-old campaign,” said Margotta, who trains Hopeful Growth for St. Elias Stable. “We have high expectations for her this season, and this looked like a good spot to get her started. She’s training well and while I’m not going to say she’s 100 percent cranked going in, I think she’s fit enough and good enough to win, which would hopefully give her confidence moving forward.” :: Click to learn about our DRF's Free Past Performance program. Margotta, who gave the call to leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr., said he’s looking for an honest pace scenario in the main event. “She’s got tactical speed, but I don’t want to see her on the lead,” Margotta said. “I just hope she can get a comfortable position, finish solid, and gallop out strong. We have some big plans for later in the year, races like the Delaware Oaks, which is one of my favorites, and she’s also got a great turf pedigree, so I’m not ruling out the chance she could run on the grass, perhaps even here later in the meet.” Hopeful Growth isn’t the only graded stakes winner in the field, which also includes Lake Avenue, who registered a wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 2 Demoiselle in her 2-year-old finale. She has been winless in four starts since, but did finish third in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks here last spring. Lake Avenue figures to be prominent from the outset along with Dance d’Oro, a two-time winner in just five lifetime starts but idle since finishing far back in a similarly conditioned allowance race at Gulfstream Park West on Oct. 11. Finding Fame, who launched her career with a pair of victories here a year ago, has not started since suffering her lone defeat in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance dash on June 14 at Belmont Park. She is among the other key contenders in a field that also includes the stakes-placed Crumb Bun; Velvet Crush, making her first start since transferred to trainer Chad Brown’s barn late last season; Nomizar and Sonar. The earlier two allowance races on the card feature 3-year-olds going five furlongs on turf for a $47,000 purse in the fourth race and statebred 3-year-old fillies vying at 5 1/2 furlongs over the main track for a purse of $40,000 in the eighth race. Three-time winner Richiesgotgame and his undefeated stablemate Etched in Stone, from the barn of trainer Larry Rivelli, are two of the key players in the fourth race along with Nitro Time, who has won his last two starts by a combined 10 1/4 lengths. R Adios Jersey, a popular and very easy 12 3/4-length winner racing under a $35,000 claiming tag in her only previous start, looks like the best of the Florida-breds who’ll square off in the eighth race with To a T and Foolish Heart also likely to garner plenty of support.