R Free Roll wants uncontested lead in Sugar Swirl

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – R Free Roll’s ability to establish an uncontested pace could be key to the outcome of the $100,000 Sugar Swirl, the only graded race among the four stakes Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

R Free Roll carries the high weight of 123 pounds and will face just five rivals in the six-furlong, Grade 3 Sugar Swirl. The speedy daughter of Rockport Harbor has always been at her best when loose on the lead, as she was when finishing second, beaten a neck by Heart Stealer, in the 2013 Sugar Swirl. She also made all the pace en route to the most important victory of her career, a 1 1/4-length triumph in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Handicap this summer at Saratoga.

“She’s fresh, and I’m thinking she’s going to come out of there and just go, since obviously she’s run her best races on the lead,” said trainer Kirk Ziadie. “But there is some speed to her inside, so I don’t have a problem with her laying off the lead if she has to.”

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R Free Roll may face her sternest test from Merry Meadow, the winner of the Grade 3 Vagrancy Handicap at Belmont in May and graded stakes-placed in two subsequent starts. Merry Meadow needed 11 tries to win her maiden but has turned into a model of consistency ever since for trainer Mark Hennig.

“She changed a lot after winning that race,” said Hennig. “Every time she won a race, she just kept moving forward.”

Trainer Marty Wolfson entered a pair of his stakes fillies for the Sugar Swirl, Ol Donyo and Centrique. The two-time Grade 1-placed Wildcat Lily and the multiple New York-bred stakes winner Risky Rachel complete the well-matched field.

KEY CONTENDERS

R Free Roll (Last 3 Beyers: 81-102-101)

◗ She comes off a relatively poor performance in the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland when finishing fifth after contesting the early pace. “The track on the rail wasn’t the greatest that day, and Mike Smith did the right thing and never abused her once she lost the lead,” said Ziadie.

Merry Meadow (Last 3 Beyers: 86-87-96)

◗ She has been worse than third just once in 11 starts at six furlongs but finished third after chasing R Free Roll over a sloppy track in the Honorable Miss.

◗ She has never raced at Gulfstream Park but did adapt readily to the Gulfstream Park West strip, registering a 1 3/4-length victory in the Sky Beauty while making her south Florida debut six weeks ago.

Centrique (Last 3 Beyers: 71-64-71)

◗ She has not run well since a second-place finish behind R Free Roll in the U Can Do It in May at Calder but has a home-court advantage, having won 3 of 5 starts at Gulfstream.

Ol Donyo (Last 3 Beyers: 80-85-78)

◗ This is another one who loves home cooking, having won both local starts since joining Wolfson’s stable this year.

◗ She’ll have Joel Rosario aboard for the first time.