My Sweet Girl looks to shake off rust in Sunday feature

While racing twice last fall in second-level allowances at Belmont Park, My Sweet Girl couldn’t quite challenge for the top prizes, running fourth on both occasions. On Sunday, when she returns from a layoff of nearly five months in a similar race, the 11th race at Gulfstream Park, she seems poised for a better finish, provided she isn’t rusty.

The reasons are twofold: First, the race, carrying a $46,000 purse and also open to horses running for a $62,500 claiming price, appears to be below average, seemingly easier than the competition she faced at Belmont Park, and second, three of her seven rivals are returning from longer breaks than hers.

Cali Thirty Seven, whose turf form rivals that of My Sweet Girl, hasn’t raced since September, just like War Alert, and Kandara comes off the longest layoff of all, not having run since November 2014. In contrast, My Sweet Girl last started Oct. 22.

Those who have been active this winter have other drawbacks. Some have poor or inconsistent form, and one who has been running well, Itwontgobad, is untested at the one-mile grass distance of Sunday’s feature.

My Sweet Girl might actually prefer more ground than a mile, having won a 1 1/8-mile turf allowance at Saratoga last summer, though she did win a 6 1/2-furlong dirt maiden race at Gulfstream last winter before being switched to grass in March.

Edgar Prado rides My Sweet Girl, a 4-year-old daughter of Bernardini, for trainer Barclay Tagg and owner Joyce Young.

Key Contenders

Cali Thirty Seven, by Eskendereya

Last 3 Beyers: 85-86-86

◗ She has hit the board in three of four starts on turf, with the exception coming when she was sixth in the Grade 3 Boiling Springs last summer at Monmouth Park.

Thinking of Mom, by Artie Schiller

Last 3 Beyers: 86-79-75

◗ A former claimer, she was disregarded by the betting public at 48-1 odds in a comparable race Jan. 30 but led for much of the race before tiring to be a close third.

My Sweet Girl, by Bernardini

Last 3 Beyers: 87-87-86

◗ She has been working weekly at Palm Meadows since Jan. 26, with her last six breezes coming on grass, including a bullet five-furlong move in 1:01.25 on Feb. 22.

Itwontgobad, by Munnings

Last 3 Beyers: 72-52-85

◗ She returns to her best surface after a third on dirt in a seven-furlong starter stakes race at Gulfstream on Feb. 15. She is 2 for 3 on turf, though she is unraced going a mile and was all out to last by a nose in a seven-furlong grass race in September at Woodbine.