Overnight handicap becomes a four-way rematch

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The field will have a familiar look to it when seven fillies and mares square off for a $55,000 purse in Sunday’s main event at Gulfstream Park, an open overnight handicap at seven furlongs on the main track.

Maryquitecontrary, Starship Nala, Don’t Get Khozy, and Restofthestory ran 1-2-3-4 in the Sheer Drama Stakes for Florida-breds one month earlier, and they meet again on Sunday. The quartet will take on three new shooters Sunday – stablemates Quinoa Tifah and Sonar along with Streaking Grey, the only non-Florida-bred in the lineup.

Maryquitecontrary, the lone 3-year-old in the field, has come a long way in a short time for owner-breeder Rodney Lundock and trainer Joe Catanese. In just her second start, Maryquitecontrary finished second behind the multiple stakes winner Last Leaf in the seven-furlong Azalea on July 16, and in her fourth start rallied to a neck decision over Starship Nala as the 9-5 favorite in the Sheer Drama.

Maryquitecontrary won the Sheer Drama despite racing widest and cornering a bit awkwardly while challenging for the lead turning into the stretch, yet was still good enough to run down the vastly more experienced Starship Nala in the final sixteenth of a mile. She was also much the best on the gallop-out, indicating the best may be yet to come for the promising filly, who has turned in two sharp half-mile works subsequent to her victory in the Sheer Drama.

Starship Nala tripped out perfectly in the Sheer Drama, moving three wide to command outside the embattled leaders into the stretch. She finished well clear of the others while earning a season-best 81 Beyer Speed Figure.

Don’t Get Khozy, who ran down Restofthestory to win an overnight handicap on Aug. 14, was never a serious factor in the Sheer Drama. She fell back to last during the early running before passing tired rivals to finish third, nearly four lengths behind the winner. The 123-pound highweight that day, she will drop a pound to 122 on Sunday, while Maryquitecontrary picks up two pounds to 120.

Restofthestory got into what proved to be a suicidal early speed duel in the Sheer Drama. She contested the pace from the rail for nearly six furlongs before shortening stride to finish fourth. In her previous start, she rallied from next to last when narrowly defeated by Don’t Get Khozy while earning a lifetime best 80 Beyer Figure.

Arindel homebred Quinoa Tifah and Sonar both have a turn of early foot if they choose to use it. Quinoa Tifah, a stakes winner two years ago at 2, returns to the main track off a much needed outing in a five-furlong overnight handicap over the Tapeta course five weeks ago. That was her first race in six months. Sonar has been idle since finishing fifth in the 2021 renewal of the Sheer Drama.

Streaking Grey shortens up in distance and switches back to dirt off a neck victory going a mile and one-sixteenth against mid-level starter allowance company on the Tapeta on Sept. 17.

Octane stretches out

Arindel’s talented 3-year-old Octane will stretch out around two turns for the first time since capturing the In Reality division of the Florida Sire Series one year earlier in Sunday’s seventh race, carded at a mile and one-sixteenth over the main course under allowance and optional-claiming conditions.

Octane, idle nearly nine months after winning the In Reality, indicated he has cycled back to top form by winning a six-furlong allowance dash last month in his first race against older horses. Octane will take on six rivals, including O’Connor and Vivir Con Alegria, a pair of Group 2 winners in Chile each making his U.S. debut. Saffie Joseph Jr. is the trainer of O’Connor, and Amador Sanchez trains Vivir Con Alegria.