Wildwood's Beauty sitting on ready

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s already been a frustrating winter for trainer Scott Becker and his speedy Florida-bred filly Wildwood’s Beauty. The 4-year-old daughter of Kantharos has been run down in deep stretch in her last two starts, having to settle for second in both the Grade 2 Inside Information and Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie Stakes during the Gulfstream Park Championship meet.

And things will get even more frustrating for Becker this spring, with Wildwood’s Beauty in the best form of her career but with no place to run. On Wednesday, Wildwood’s Beauty indicated she’s still as sharp as ever, breezing four furlong in 46.73 seconds before continuing out five furlongs under light pressure into the turn in 1:00.02 and easing up six furlongs in 1:14.44.

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“That was her first work since her last start,” Becker said. “I just kind of played around with her the last few weeks, and I didn’t want her to go that fast. But she did it in hand, all on her own. Originally our plans were to run her in the Madison at Keeneland. She was right on target for that. Now, she’s all dressed up with nowhere to go.”

Becker, who has a dozen horses on the grounds and 51 more at Fairmount Park in Illinois, said Wildwood’s Beauty is eligible for a couple of allowance races here, although he’s planning on holding out for more important races when things get back to normal down the road.

“Sometimes beggars can’t be choosers, but I’m in no real hurry with her for now,” Becker said. “I was also hoping to be able to ship some more horses down to Florida. I’ve got 25 2-year-olds, all Florida-breds, out here. But we are restricted on shipping due to the new protocols put in place at Gulfstream. So for now, I just have to sit and wait.”