Surging Special Event beginning to run to her breeding

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Special Event has won two races in impressive fashion at Tampa Bay Downs, and she will return Thursday for the first time since her career debut to Gulfstream Park, where she should be heavily favored to keep the streak rolling in the $57,000 main event.

The 1 1/16-mile turf race shares top billing with a similarly conditioned five-furlong turf dash that goes as the finale on a 10-race card.

Special Event, a homebred daughter of Arch owned by Emory Hamilton, finished fifth launching her career here last winter, then got nearly 10 months off before returning at Laurel during the fall.

But it was at Tampa where she really began to blossom, winning a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight dash on Dec. 23 before launching her 3-year-old campaign with a wire-to-wire three-length triumph at a mile and 70 yards on Jan. 31.

“We always liked her,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “When I ran her down here the first time last winter I was surprised she didn’t run any better. We gave her some time off, she ran pretty well despite being wide the whole way at Laurel, then I decided to take her to Tampa and give her a little easier time of it. Her first race up there was good, her second even better, and I’m anxious to run her back down here again. She’s trained well since her last start, so we’ll see.”

Special Event is bred to be a good one. Her dam was a Grade 3 winner and a half-sister to Chief Havoc, who won five times in 19 starts, including the Grade 2 Swaps.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will be aboard Special Event for the first time Thursday.

Special Event will face only five rivals in the feature: Magalie, Linda Mimi, Giulia, Follow No One, and Valedictorian.

Giulia is certainly the most intriguing member of the lineup. A Group 3 winner in Uruguay in 2016, she made her U.S. debut with trainer Michael Matz here Feb. 19, showing brief speed before finishing eighth and last in the Grade 3 Royal Delta. Giulia figures to be part of an honest early pace, with Magalie and Lina Mimi also expected to show speed.

Valedictorian is coming off a second-place finish as the 2-1 favorite against similar company Feb. 9 and is a six-time career winner. She’ll pick up the services of jockey Jose Ortiz, with her regular rider Nik Juarez opting to take the call on Follow No One for trainer Horacio DePaz.

The nightcap, also to be run under second-level allowance and optional-claiming conditions, lured a field of 10 topped by Grade 3 winner Sonic Boom in his 2018 debut, along with the undefeated Pocket Change and recently stakes-placed Focus On Me. Big Rock and Siding Spring are among the other leading contenders in the contentious turf sprint.