Princess La Quinta proving big bargain for Gulick
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Jim Gulick left Arlington in 2012 and didn’t train a string here again until 2017. He had some early-season success last year, but nothing like this May.
Gulick has run five horses at the meet, and all have won. His lone loss came with a maiden named Speared, who promptly returned to capture the first race Saturday at odds of 46-1. Later on that card, things got even better when Princess La Quinta won the Grade 3, $100,000 Arlington Matron, the first graded stakes score in Gulick’s long career.
“You know, these things can turn around in a hurry,” Gulick said. “I’m just going to ride it as long as I can.”
Princess La Quinta has won four of five starts on Arlington’s Polytrack and got a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure in the Matron, where she beat the favored Daddy’s Boo by one length. Gulick bargain hunts auctions for young horses, and Princess La Quinta was one of a half-dozen he bought at Keeneland, paying just $6,500 for her. Princess La Quinta is by the hot stallion Quality Road and actually has quality back in her female family, and she’s worth much more now than what Gulick, who owns the filly with Al Moorehouse, paid for her.
“She’s come out of her race very good,” Gulick said Tuesday. “She ran two times pretty close together, so we won’t rush her back. All the usual suspects calling and interested in buying her. We don’t really have a plan yet.”
Chlobee rewards backers again
The 5-year-old Illinois-bred mare Chlobee has a knack for knocking out wins at long prices. She was 104-1 when she won a maiden race last June at Arlington, almost 12-1 when she captured a first-level Illinois-bred allowance race last September, and 36-1 in an open first-level allowance win last Saturday at Arlington.
“On paper, I thought that race looked really tough,” said trainer Ida Spagnola. “I was a little surprised she was able to win.”
Spagnola has a pair of unraced 2-year-olds in her barn. Otherwise, her entire stable consists of Chlobee. But Chlobee is more than a mere odds curiosity. She’s run well in all of her starts on firm turf and could get a shot in the $75,000 Mike Spellman Memorial Stakes for Illinois-bred females next month.
