Stonetastic back on her game

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Kelly Breen’s quest to get his speedy mare Stonetastic back to the Breeders’ Cup for a third consecutive year got a big boost Sunday when the 5-year-old daughter of Mizzen Mast cruised to a five-length triumph in the 6 1/2-furlong Miami Shores Stakes. Stonetastic finished sixth in the 2015 BC Filly and Mare Sprint and fourth in 2014.

Sunday’s race was her first since she ran second in the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl here on Dec. 26.

“That’s what I was expecting last time,” said Breen, referring to the Sugar Swirl. “She’s a more relaxed filly down here in Florida.

“From here, she will go into the seven-furlong Inside Information in four weeks. And unless I’m wrong, we’re just going to the front and play ‘catch us if you can’ going seven-eighths. It’s not her first quarter that’s fast, it’s her second quarter. It’s the second quarter when she’s got nice acceleration, when she can really put horses away. We need to let her do what she does best. Ben Perkins Sr. used to say, ‘You want to see speed, I’ll show you speed.’ And he would have had a ball with a horse like this.”

◗ Barbados, idle since finishing 12th of 14 in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, breezed an easy half-mile in 50.19 here Monday as he nears his 2016 debut. Barbados won the Spectacular Bid and Grade 3 Hutcheson while also finishing second in the Grade 3 Carry Back here last year at 3. Barbados is trained by Michael Tomlinson.