No winter vacation for Shop Girl
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Christophe Clement pulled out all the stops in topping the fall meet standings at Aqueduct, which may partly explain why the 55-year-old Frenchman has started his championship meet at Gulfstream Park with a 1-for-22 mark.
Clement exhausted quite a few conditions in winning his first-ever training title on his home New York circuit, and it’s not uncommon to see a stable go into something of a slump in the aftermath of such a torrid streak.
In any case, it’s an annual tradition for Clement to ease back on the reins, so to speak, once he settles in for the winter at Payson Park in December. With opportunities for grass racing – Clement’s specialty – less plentiful at this time of year, his stable goes into something of regroup mode, at least in regard to his better stock. Anything with which he wins in the meantime is gravy.
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The topic arises in light of Shop Girl, a Clement trainee, being the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the Thursday feature at Gulfstream, a $47,000, first-level allowance at six furlongs. Shop Girl, a Constitution filly owned by the Kinsman Stable of the Steinbrenner family, won at first asking to become one of Clement’s 16 winners during an Aqueduct meet that ran Nov. 6-Dec. 6. She further validated that sharp effort by finishing second in the Jan. 2 Glitter Woman at Gulfstream in her only subsequent effort.
Luis Saez has a return call on Shop Girl, who will break from post 3 when facing six other 3-year-old fillies in the sixth of 10 Thursday races. Probably her chief threats are Pens Street (post 1, Irad Ortiz Jr.) and Flight to Shanghai (post 2, Jose Ortiz), both returning from layoffs of note after summer victories in maiden-special company.
A couple of other contenders, both exiting ungraded stakes contested over the Woodbine synthetic, are Reinforced (post 6, John Velazquez) and Silent Sparkle (post 7, Tyler Gaffalione).
The nominal feature is part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6, which spans races 5-10 and is expected to offer a guaranteed pool of about $750,000, assuming the jackpot was not emptied Wednesday by a solo winning ticket. The Rainbow 6 has built steadily since last being forced out Jan. 24.
Also part of the Rainbow 6 sequence is a $44,000, first-level allowance (race 9) for older Florida-bred fillies and mares. The six-furlong race with a $12,500 claiming option appears to be top heavy with early speed, a scenario that perhaps could benefit a stalking type such as Let’s Be Honest or Foxy Mischief.
New weekday first post at Gulfstream – given a little more daylight now that the 2021 calendar has turned to February – is 1:10 p.m. Eastern. The local forecast calls for sunshine and a high of 72.