Just a Care victorious in the Abundantia. (Lauren King)
Connections Seeking Grass Series Sweep for Second Straight Year with Ladies’ Turf Sprint
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Having swept Gulfstream Park’s series for older female turf sprinters last winter, Bradford Kinsell’s Victoriam Farm and trainer Brian Lynch will take another step toward repeating the feat with Just a Care in Saturday’s $140,000 Ladies’ Turf Sprint.
The 16th running of the Ladies’ Turf Sprint for fillies and mares 4 and up scheduled for five furlongs on the grass headlines a 12-race program that begins at 12:20 p.m.
Lynch campaigned Victoriam’s Stone Silent to wins in the Abundantia, Ladies’ Turf Sprint and Captiva Island during the 2023-2024 Championship Meet. She raced twice more, including a third in the Franklin (G3) last fall, before being retired.
Shortly after the Franklin, Victoriam went to $200,000 during Keeneland’s November breeding stock sale to purchase the Irish-bred Just a Care, who had returned from nearly 10 months between starts with a determined front-running allowance triumph just weeks earlier for previous trainer Rusty Arnold.
“When we got her out of the sale last year … she was in great form and looked amazing when she came to us. We’ve been lucky enough to just continue on with that,” Lynch said. “She’s in very, very good order. She had a nice work [Sunday] so it’s all systems go for Saturday.”
Just a Care joined Lynch’s string at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, in mid-November and the 5-year-old mare paid immediate dividends for her new connections with a come-from-behind 1 ½-length triumph in the five-furlong Abundantia Dec. 28.
“We bought her in mind to try and run her in this little grass series down here, because it’s the same owners that had the filly that won them last year,” Lynch said. “The intention was to try and do that again. She got us the first leg, now let’s see if she can get the second one.”
Jockey Luis Saez, who has two wins and a second in three prior tries on Just a Care, gets the riding assignment from Post 7 in a field of nine at co-topweight of 120 pounds.
“Luis Saez is back on her, and he’s had success with her so that’s good,” Lynch said. “We couldn’t be happier with her after her first run back. She’s trained great in between, she draws a perfect post and is back in against the same sort of group. She’s doing very, very well.”
Also exiting the Abundantia are runner-up Karaya, winner of the 5 ½-furlong Nicole’s Dream overnight handicap on Gulfstream’s all-weather Tapeta course, and multiple stakes-placed Shoshanah, who finished sixth. New to the group is Ironhorse Racing Stable’s Beauty of the Sea, a multiple stakes winner whose six overall victories from 13 starts tops the field.
Beauty of the Sea won the Goldwood at Monmouth Park and Colonial Downs’ Andy Guest sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the grass in back-to-back starts last summer for trainer Joe Orseno. Her last two races have been going six furlongs on Tapeta, including a third – beaten a length – in the mid-October Ontario Fashion (G3) at Woodbine.
Following that race, Beauty of the Sea ran seventh in the Holiday Inaugural at Turfway Park before getting some time off. She breezed three times in January over the Gulfstream Tapeta for her 5-year-old debut.
“We took her to Turfway and then I just freshened her up a little bit. This is a good spot,” Orseno said. “She loves the course and instead of shipping her and all that, we might as well keep her home. That’s the thought. We’ll see how it goes. Plus, if it rains and comes off we’ll be OK.”
Beauty of the Sea has two wins and a second in three tries over the Gulfstream turf course, each at the five-furlong distance. She also has won over the synthetic, and her $346,311 in purse earnings is second-most in the field.
Jockey Reylu Gutierrez will be aboard from outermost Post 9.
“From the outside I think we’re going to be in good shape. She drew a post that, if I had to pick, it’s really where I wanted to be,” Orseno said. “Reylu doesn’t really know her, but she’s not difficult to ride. And she’s doing well. The freshening was by design.
“She really ran a winning race in Canada. It looks like she can’t go six furlongs, but I believe in my heart that she can,” he added. “The last race at Turfway, she just had no chance. She was trapped down on the inside. The jock didn’t really know her, no fault of his but by the time he got her out and running it was too late.”
The richest horse in the Ladies’ Turf Sprint with a bankroll of $418,078 is Reitman Stables’ Freedom Speaks, racing first time for trainer Heather Smullen. It will be her first start since finishing seventh by 2 ¼ lengths in the 5 ½-furlong Caress last July on the Saratoga turf. The 6-year-old mare won the 6 ½-furlong Music City in 2022 at Kentucky Downs.
Stakes winner Blind Spot, last-out maiden winner Sinead, stakes-placed stablemate Weekend Rags, and twice stakes-placed Epona’s Hope complete the field.
