Mythical wins the Any Limit easily, Coglianese Photo
Gulfstream Park Press
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Arindel’s Grade 3-winning homebred Mythical bounced back from just her second career loss in a big way Saturday at Gulfstream Park, reeling in pacesetter Sweet Ember on the far turn and soaring past in the stretch for a record-setting victory in the $125,000 Any Limit.
The 12th running of the Any Limit for 3-year-old fillies was the first of three $125,000 stakes on a 12-race program followed by the six-furlong Hutcheson for 3-year-olds on the main track and five-furlong Captiva Island for older fillies and mares on the all-weather Tapeta course.
Ridden by Edgard Zayas for trainer Jorge Delgado, Mythical ($4.40) covered six furlongs over a fast main track in 1:09.40, breaking the previous stakes record time of 1:09.51 set by multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Frank’s Rockette in 2020.
“That was very nice. Brilliant final time. Brilliant race, I think. Thankfully it went our way this time,” Delgado said. “I’m so proud of my filly. I’m happy that she won.”
Mythical broke alertly from outside three of her four rivals but was outrun for the lead by speedster Sweet Ember, a winner of back-to-back starts heading into her stakes debut having inherited the rail spot following the early scratch of Dee’s On Dow. Mythical settled in the clear in second as Sweet Ember ran the opening quarter-mile in 22.31 seconds.
he half went in 44.90 seconds when Mythical snatched the lead away from Sweet Ember and straightened for home in front as she and Sweet Ember pulled clear of the competition. Sweet Ember stubbornly dug in racing on the inside path but was no match for Mythical, who won by two lengths and galloped out strongly past the wire.
Sweet Ember was a decisive second, 2 ¼ lengths ahead of stakes winner A Fine Chardonnay. Hollen Drive and Tizasweetlady completed the order of finish.
“When she posts outside she’s a different horse. She gets to relax and to feel free. Post position I think was key today,” Delgado said. “She galloped out very well. It was very impressive the way she traveled and the way she closed because they were going pretty fast and she kept going. She didn’t show any signs of being tired and she closed very strong.”
Zayas was riding Mythical for the second time following the Forward Gal Jan. 31, when she broke a step slow and rushed up to set the pace before tiring to be fifth behind favored On Time Girl.
“She really has big heart. She’s not very big but she’s fast and has a lot of class,” Zayas said. “I think last time she didn’t get a fair shot. The track was a little heavy and she didn’t break good. She wasn’t on her game. Today, she was a different filly.”
Delgado previously won the 2024 Any Limit with Amo Racing USA’s Launch. Mythical, by St Patrick’s Day, won five of six starts as a 2-year-old, four of them in stakes – the Tremont against boys and Adirondack (G3) at Saratoga and the Susan’s Girl and My Dear Girl divisions of the Florida Sire Stakes series at Gulfstream, the latter around two turns.
“She won the last leg of the Sire Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth and then we had another race at seven furlongs so we’ve been trying to shorten her up and it doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why we had a couple of three-eighths works. We try to sharpen her up a little bit in the mornings,” Delgado said. “I’m going to speak to [racing manager] Brian [Cohen], but I think her game is going to be six to seven furlongs, we’re going to stay in that range.”
Among the upcoming options for Mythical are the seven-furlong Eight Belles (G2) May 2 on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard and six-furlong Miss Preakness (G3) May 15 at Laurel Park on the eve of the Preakness Stakes (G1).
“I’ll speak to Brian but we have different options,” Delgado said. “The day before the Preakness they have a sprint race there, and there’s also a race at Churchill on [Oaks] day, so probably one of those big days.”
Trained by late Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens, Any Limit was a five-time graded-stakes winner during her career for owner-breeder Joseph Shields Jr. including the 2007 and 2009 Hurricane Bertie (G3) and 2007 First Lady Handicap (G3) at Gulfstream.
