Stormy Embrace in familiar position for Sheer Drama Stakes

The $100,000 Sheer Drama at Gulfstream Park is a nice little summertime stakes for Florida-bred filly and mare sprinters. The seven-furlong dash for fillies and mares was never intended to be used as a Breeders’ Cup prep, but that’s exactly what the Sheer Drama has become the last two seasons for Stormy Embrace, who will use the race again on Saturday as a final stepping-stone to the Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita.

For the second year in a row, Stormy Embrace earned a berth into the Filly and Mare Sprint by virtue of her victory in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney. Last year, things did not work out as expected for Stormy Embrace in the Sheer Drama when she finished third as the odds-on favorite following a tardy beginning and eventful trip. She encountered similar issues in the 2018 Filly and Mare Sprint, finishing 11th after breaking a step slowly and finding herself in traffic during the early going.

Stormy Embrace, a 5-year-old homebred daughter of Circular Quay trained by Kathleen O’Connell, finished second and third in a pair of Grade 3 stakes after returning home to Gulfstream from the Breeders’ Cup. She finally got back on the winning track on May 18 with a 10 1/2-length triumph in the restricted Musical Romance Stakes before repeating by two lengths at 1-5 in the Princess Rooney on June 29.

“The plan all along was to run her back in this race like last year,” O’Connell said. “It’s just easier on her than taking her out of town and doing too much travelling prepping for the Breeders’ Cup. I just want to give her an easier race before going into the tougher one at Santa Anita.”

O’Connell called watching the Sheer Drama last year “a nightmare” right from the start.

“She got creamed out of the gate and was in all sorts of trouble after that,” O’Connell said.

Wilmer Garcia, who has won five straight races aboard Stormy Embrace, has the mount Saturday from post 1.

“To be honest, I hate have the one hole on Saturday,” O’Connell said. “But nobody knows her better than Wilmer, and I’ve got all the confidence that he’ll get her out of there okay.”

O’Connell trains Stormy Embrace for Matalona Thoroughbreds.

“She’s held her weight and has got good color in her coat,” O’Connell said. “She’s had a good summer. I don’t think we got to see the best of her in the Breeders’ Cup last year because the trip was a disaster. And in a race like that, the whole thing is about the trip.”

Stormy Embrace will face eight rivals in the Sheer Drama, including Ms Meshak, who finished second in the race a year ago, and two-time Florida-bred stakes winner Shanghai Starlet.

Ms Meshak finished a length in front of Stormy Embrace despite some trouble of her own in the 2018 Sheer Drama and is coming off her first stakes victory, having won the restricted Added Elegance six weeks ago.

Shanghai Starlet will be the first starter of the meet for trainer Todd Pletcher, with the Sheer Drama to be her first start on dirt since capturing the Sunshine Millions Distaff Preview last fall at Gulfstream Park West.