Wolfson duo will try to find a weak spot in classy Got Lucky’s armor
Todd Pletcher couldn’t ask for much better circumstances for Got Lucky when the stakes-seasoned filly makes her 4-year-old debut on Thursday in the feature race at Gulfstream Park.
Got Lucky, unraced since finishing fifth in the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland in October, is favorably drawn in the outside post as the obvious class in the fifth of 10 Thursday races, a $50,000, second-level allowance for fillies and mares with a $62,500 claiming option at a one-turn mile.
Got Lucky, first or second in 6 of 9 career starts when competing primarily in graded stakes, will clash with an uncoupled pair of Marty Wolfson-trained runners, Quiet Hour and Georgia, and four others.
A homebred filly owned by Philip Steinberg and Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings, Got Lucky shows five recorded workouts since early December at Pletcher’s winter base, Palm Beach Downs in Delray Beach, Fla. She will have Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez aboard when breaking from post 7 for the long run down the Gulfstream backstretch.
First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern, with the feature going at 2:36. Racing continues daily at Gulfstream through Monday, when racing will be held because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The following Wednesday, Jan. 21, is a dark day.
KEY CONTENDERS
Quiet Hour (Last 3 Beyers: 81-46-76)
◗ This rail-drawn Wolfson filly rebounded from a failed turf experiment in the Claiming Crown Tiara with a solid runner-up effort in this same second-level condition on Dec. 18. She retains Joel Rosario when stretching out from seven furlongs for Wolfson, whose sprint-to-route numbers (38 percent wins, $6.23 ROI in 2014-15) are off the charts.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Quiet Hour. Trainer Marty Wolfson is 13-3-3-2 with a $3.33 ROI over the past five years going sprint to route on dirt in the third start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Georgia (Last 3 Beyers: 69-52-77)
◗ This Peachtree Stable filly is still trying to duplicate her first try under Wolfson’s care, an easy first-level optional-claiming romp in August. She does drop slightly in class since she’s an exiting a stakes race, but she’ll simply have to do better than her last two when getting a call from leading jockey Javier Castellano.
Rebecca’s Surprise (Last 3 Beyers: 60-77-79)
◗ This perennial fan favorite – she has been favored in nine of her last 12 starts – makes her first start since running sixth as a lukewarm choice in the Claiming Crown Glass Slipper. She shows a bullet work at Palm Meadows in the interim for trainer Kelly Breen, who has pulled back somewhat on much of his stock when in semi-regroup mode.
Got Lucky (Last 3 Beyers: 81-78-84)
◗ There is no denying the class of this daughter of the great A.P. Indy, as six of her nine career starts have come in graded-stakes company. Clearly the relatively short one-mile distance is the major question as to whether she will prevail in her comeback from a 3 1/2-month layoff, as her last start at a mile or shorter came nearly a year ago when she won her maiden.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Quiet Hour. Trainer Marty Wolfson is 13-3-3-2 with a $3.33 ROI over the past five years going sprint to route on dirt in the third start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Souper Scoop. Trainer Edward Plesa is 24-7-2-2 with a $2.44 ROI over the past five years going sprint to route on dirt in the second start following a layoff. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan