Wonder Gal using sprint feature as glorified workout
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Torn between training Wonder Gal up to next month’s Grade 2 Gazelle or squeezing a race in before then, trainer Leah Gyarmati opted for the latter. Thus, Wonder Gal, placed in three graded stakes last year, will commence her 3-year-old season Friday in a first-level allowance for New York-bred fillies at Aqueduct.
The hope is that this six-furlong race, which also carries a $75,000 claiming option, will be the equivalent of two workouts and have her ready for the Gazelle at 1 1/8 miles on April 4 and then the Kentucky Oaks on May 1.
“If I weren’t going to run, I’d probably [work] a good three-quarters and gallop out, so instead of doing that, I thought this race would be as good as two works,” Gyarmati said.
Wonder Gal, a daughter of Tiz Wonderful, will be facing New York-breds for the first time since last July, when she won the Lynbrook Stakes by 14 1/2 lengths in her career debut.
Wonder Gal encountered traffic trouble when third in the Grade 2 Adirondack at Saratoga and slop when second to By the Moon in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont.
In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Wonder Gal rallied from eighth to be third, beaten one length by Take Charge Brandi, who came back to win two more stakes and be crowned champion 2-year-old filly.
Wonder Gal wintered in New Jersey before rejoining Gyarmati in early February. She has breezed five times, including once at Aqueduct on a morning when she was vanned over from her base at Belmont.
Though spring is scheduled to arrive at 6:45 p.m. Eastern on Friday, there is a chance of mixed precipitation – including snow – earlier in the day.
KEY CONTENDERS
Wonder Gal (Last 3 Beyers: 81-74-80)
◗ Though Wonder Gal is coming off a 139-day layoff, Gyarmati is confident in the filly’s fitness level.
“I know the works look slow,” Gyarmati said. “It’s just because she went off a little easy, but she finished up well, gallops out well.”
◗ Gyarmati noted that Wonder Gal gets a lot out of her daily gallops.
“She’s a lot fitter than you would think just looking at those works,” she said.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Wonder Gal. Trainer Leah Gyarmati is 55-4-5-11 with a $0.82 ROI over the past five years going route to sprint on dirt. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Bar of Gold (Beyer: 65)
◗ She has not been seen since weaving her way through traffic Aug. 14 to win her debut by three-quarters of a length at Saratoga. Finishing behind Bar of Gold that day were subsequent stakes winners The Lewis Dinner and Dunn Listening.
◗ Trainer John Kimmel said Bar of Gold came out of her debut with a stress fracture in a hind tibia that needed time to heal.
◗ She shows a steady work tab at the Palm Meadows training center in south Florida.
“I’ve been very aggressive; I think I have her fit,” Kimmel said. “My only concern is the shipping. We were trying to get her out over the weekend, but we didn’t get a van until Monday, and she got there [Tuesday]. As long as she can shake off the van ride, I think the filly is well prepared.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Non Finisce Mai. Trainer Gary Gullo is 12-3-1-2 with a $3.37 ROI over the past five years in dirt sprints at Aqueduct with last-out maiden winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan