Nicks sends double trouble in My Dear Girl Stakes

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While the wagering for Saturday’s $400,000 In Reality Stakes for 2-year-olds will be dominated by the undefeated Breeze On By, its filly counterpart the $400,000 My Dear Girl offers bettors a wide range of options to consider. What the two finales of the Florida Sire Stakes do have in common is that trainer Ralph Nicks could hold the upper hand.

An hour before Nicks sends out Breeze On By in quest of a sweep of the open division, he’ll saddle key contenders Oh Deborah and Big Rings in the mile and one-sixteenth My Dear Girl. The Nicks pair are set to face a wide-open group led by the winners of the first two divisions of the Florida Sire Stakes series, Go Jo Jo Go and Princess Secret.

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The Nicks pair are both short on experience but large on talent. Oh Deborah has started just twice, graduating at first asking in rather handy fashion under a $50,000 claiming tag before returning to finish second, a half-length behind Princess Secret, in the seven-furlong Susan’s Girl. Big Rings has started just once, making an awesome first impression when pulling away to an eight-length victory over statebred maidens here earlier this month.

“I can’t fault Oh Deborah,” Nicks said. “She won first time out from off the pace. Then I had to scratch her out of the opening leg of the series when she missed some time after injuring herself in the stall, which I think made the difference between winning and losing the next leg.

“And Big Rings is very talented. Obviously, it’s a bit of a stretch running her back at this time in this kind of race. But she won so easily, and they don’t give away $400,000 against this kind of statebred company very often.”

Nicks acknowledges the distance will be the key on Saturday, especially for Big Rings, whose only start came at 6 1/2 furlongs.

“Her pedigree doesn’t indicate a mile and one-sixteenth, but she’s got big, galloping strides and both her body type and actions do,” Nicks said.

Go Jo Jo Go splashed through the slop to a 1 1/4-length decision over Princess Secret in the six-furlong Desert Vixen. Princess Secret bounced back on a dry track to avenge that setback with her three-quarter-length triumph going seven furlongs in the Susan’s Girl, with Go Jo Jo Go finishing four lengths back in third.

Princess Secret overcame some bumping at the start and a near race-long pace battle to capture the Susan’s Girl, and her trainer, Daniel Pita, thinks she’ll handle two turns with little problem on Saturday. Pita said her workout on Sept. 16 eased any doubt he might have had about her getting the distance.

“She went six furlongs in 1:14 and change very easily with a long, long, strong gallop-out,” Pita said. “I think she will have no issue with the mile and a sixteenth. If she gets beat, it won’t be the distance that will be the factor.”

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Familiar group in Wildcat Heir

While the Florida Sire Stakes series is primarily for 2-year-olds, Saturday’s card will also feature the $150,000 Florida Sire Stakes Wildcat Heir for 3-year-olds and up that are registered Florida-bred and Sire Stakes eligible. To be decided at one mile, the race brings together a number of familiar rivals, topped by Noble Drama, Garter and Tie, and Squeezadios, the first, third, and fourth finishers in the seven-furlong Benny the Bull three weeks earlier.

Noble Drama has won stakes from seven furlongs to a mile and an eighth, and will likely be favored on the strength of his victory in the Benny the Bull and in the nine-furlong Sunshine Millions Classic in January.

◗ Big Daddy Dave ran second behind Breeze On By in the Affirmed and would likely have been second choice had he run back in the In Reality. Instead, Nicks will turn the speedy youngster back to five furlongs and put him on the grass for Saturday’s $75,000 Hollywood Beach.

“I won races on grass with his brother, and he’s a quick, pretty versatile horse,” said Nicks. “And since we already had two in the big race, I thought I’d separate them a little bit and give him an opportunity to win one, too, on Saturday.”

Despite making his turf debut, Big Daddy Dave will likely be favored, with Designing Kittten, a daughter of Kitten’s Joy trained by Wesley Ward, likely to provide the sternest challenge while facing males in her stakes bow.

◗ The $75,000 Armed Forces and its filly counterpart the $75,000 My Dear Peggy complete the stakes action Saturday. Both races are for 2-year-olds and scheduled to be run at a mile on the turf.

The Armed Forces lured a field of nine, with Fulmini and Castle King the only two-turn grass winners in the lineup.

A wide-open group of 11 fillies have signed on for the My Dear Peggy, led by Marvelous Marlene, I Get It, and Viburnum, each of whom have won at the distance on turf.