She Be Smooth will be tough to topple in Gulfstream Park Oaks
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A one-mile maiden special weight race in late January doesn’t figure to be a harbinger of what to expect in the marquee event for 3-year-old fillies here each winter, the $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks. But, sure enough, the first two finishers that afternoon, She Be Smooth and Prom Queen, will meet again nine weeks later as the favorites going 1 1/16 miles in a quest for crucial Kentucky Oaks qualifying points Saturday in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks.
The Gulfstream Park Oaks offers 200 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks, to be distributed on a 100-50-25-15-10 basis to the first five finishers. The race lured only seven starters. Along with the two top choices, the field includes the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained duo of My Miss Mo and Nasti Z, Betty’s Pearl, Just Singing, and Haute Diva.
She Be Smooth rallied from a perfect striking position to run down the pacesetting Prom Queen, the 9-5 favorite, before edging away in the final furlong to a 2 1/4-length victory in the pair’s first meeting on Jan. 23. She Be Smooth earned a 78 Beyer Speed Figure in what was the career debut for both fillies.
A Calumet homebred trained by Todd Pletcher, She Be Smooth was even better when returning five weeks later, also at a mile, to make her stakes bow in the Grade 2 Davona Dale. Surprisingly, she dropped well behind the others in the run down the backstretch before angling out to the middle of the track. From there, she readily ran down the leaders and drew off to a decisive six-length victory over My Miss Mo.
For that effort, She Be Smooth received a 91 Beyer, easily the top figure of any member of the Gulfstream Oaks lineup.
“To go from a first-start maiden victory to a graded stakes win like that was very impressive,” Pletcher said. “She got a little further back than we anticipated in the race, but we know she likes to settle and make one run, so we aren’t going to alter her style. And the way she handled the mile gives me confidence she’ll handle the added distance on Saturday. She’s fit and happy and obviously seems to really like the Gulfstream track.”
In her first start, Prom Queen raced against the bias near the rail the entire trip. She bounced out of that race with a very impressive victory of her own at second asking. Stretching out to 1 1/16 miles, she earned her diploma by eight lengths Feb. 12 despite getting shuffled back to last from some tight quarters into the far turn.
“We thought she might need a race the first time, and she may have hit the lead a little too early, although she got beat by a very good filly,” said Brad Cox, who trains Prom Queen for her breeders, Gary and Mary West. “She came back a bit quick, but it’s hard to get those kinds of races to go around here. It wasn’t a big field, but she got a good schooling. Obviously, the water will get deeper, but she’s trained really, really well since her last start, her gallop-outs have been strong, and I expect her to move forward off her first race around two turns.”
My Miss Mo raced in the deeper going near the rail and did well to get up for second while proving no match for She Be Smooth in the stretch run of the Davona Dale.
“She never ran to expectations off her early works, but I thought when we stretched her out last time, she showed some promise and what she is really capable of,” Joseph said of My Miss Mo. “She was on the inside last time and against the track bias. It looks like she wants to go two turns, and hopefully this will be her coming-out party.”
Nasti Z is the least experienced member of the field, with her only previous start resulting in a two-length victory against $35,000 maiden-claiming foes going 5 1/2 furlongs here Feb. 21.
Haute Diva is the only stakes winner in the lineup aside from She Be Smooth, having won the Cash Run on New Year’s Day. She proved no match for the leaders when finishing a distant fifth in the Davona Dale.
Just Singing will make her local debut and adds blinkers for the occasion after being graded stakes-placed in each of her last two starts. She finished third in both the Grade 2 Golden Rod at Churchill Downs in her 2-year-old finale and Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra to launch her 3-year-old campaign last month at Fair Grounds.
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