Rose to Gold prepping against the boys

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The old saying about necessity being the mother of invention certainly applies to trainer Sal Santoro’s decision to run his 4-year-old filly Rose to Gold against the boys in Saturday’s Harlan’s Holiday Stakes.

A multiple stakes winner, Rose to Gold has not started since she checked home fifth in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom last April at Oaklawn Park. A third-place finish or better in the Harlan’s Holiday would make Rose to Gold a millionaire. Rose to Gold, a homebred daughter of Friends Lake, enters the race with career earnings of $981,509.

“I don’t have any pipe dreams about winning this race,” Santoro said. “Our goal at the moment is to go back to Sam Houston to defend her title in the Ladies Classic on Jan. 24, and I need to get a race into this filly. We tried to get an allowance race to fill for her a couple of times, but without any luck. That’s the only reason I’d do something as unorthodox as this.”

Santoro said Rose to Gold was turned out on her owner’s farm in Ocala, Fla., for five months following the Apple Blossom.

“She returned to me this fall a very happy horse, about 100 pounds heavier and fully matured,” said Santoro. “Hopefully, we’ll have a good season with her in 2015, after which she’ll be retired to the breeding shed.”

Rose to Gold will be a decided longshot in a Harlan’s Holiday field that will include Liam’s Map, Pants On Fire, Csaba, Valid, Hampstead Heath, Hy Kodiak Warrior, Sr. Quisqueyano, and Schivarelli.

The Harlan’s Holiday is one of four stakes, each worth $100,000, to be run at Gulfstream on Saturday, including the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl, the El Prado, and the South Beach.

The first graded stakes of the meet, the Sugar Swirl is headed by Grade 2 winner R Free Roll, who was narrowly defeated by Heart Stealer in the 2013 Sugar Swirl. She’ll face a group that includes Grade 3 winners Sweet Whiskey and Merry Meadow; the multiple stakes-winning New York-bred Risky Rachel; and the Marty Wolfson-trained pair of Ol Donyo and Centrique.

Asset Inflation drills for El Prado

Asset Inflation tuned up for the El Prado by breezing four furlongs in 47.32 seconds over the main track at Gulfstream on Wednesday, completing his final quarter under mild urging with the aid of a strong tailwind in 23.90.

Asset Inflation, a New York-bred, had his three-race winning streak snapped in his last start. He finished second and was placed fourth for causing interference in the stretch against entry-level allowance competition over a yielding course three weeks ago at Aqueduct.

Asset Inflation, trained by Mike Maker, will be an outsider in a field that also includes Grade 2 winner Excaper, the graded stakes-placed Howe Great, Bad Debt, Mshawish, Tryer, Grand Tito, Fredericksburg, Strong Impact, Midnight Cello, Vinnie Goodtimes, and Breitling Flyer.