R Calli Kim after making the grade in the Long Island (G3) Nov. 12 at Aqueduct (Susie Raisher)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.— Averill Racing and Two Eight Racing’s R Calli Kim, unbeaten in four starts last year for trainer Brendan Walsh, chases a fifth consecutive victory and second straight graded stakes in Saturday’s $150,000 La Prevoyante (G3) presented by Ketel One Espresso Martini on the grass at Gulfstream Park.
R Calli Kim, 7, is the younger half-sister of Temple City Terror, a four-time stakes winner including the 2022 Dowager (G3) and Long Island (G3) who was also trained by Walsh. R Calli Kim, by Revolutionary, continued the family tradition with a popular 2 ½-length triumph in the 1 3/8-mile Long Island in mid-November at Aqueduct.
It was an unlikely end to a season that began last July when R Calli Kim, entered for a $32,000 tag, returned from more than a year between starts to win a 1 1/16-mile claiming event on the Saratoga turf. From there she won a second-level optional claiming allowance going 1 5/16 miles at Kentucky Downs and an open Keeneland allowance in October at 1 ½-miles, the same distance as the La Prevoyante.
“She got injured and we gave her time off. We brought her back, and I thought she was doing really well, working very well and all, and we took a shot at Saratoga and jammed her in pretty good,” Walsh said. “I didn’t for a second think she was going to turn around and win a graded stake at the end of the year. But she’s progressed, like her sister, and gotten better and gotten a lot of confidence, and she’s been working great coming into Saturday. Hopefully she can follow on from last year.”
Jose Ortiz has the mount on R Calli Kim from Post 3 in a field of nine older fillies and mares. She will carry 123 pounds, co-topweight with Grade 3 winner Romagna Mia, who won the 1 ½-mile Via Borghese Dec. 26 on the Gulfstream turf.
“She came back [from her last race] super. I backed off her a little bit because there was nothing for her,” Walsh said. “We gave her a little down time for a few weeks, and we brought her down here and she’s been working along pretty well since. She should run very well on Saturday.”
Walsh said Temple City Terror, who earned $931,218 in 31 starts from 2019-23, was more high-strung than her little sister, a winner of eight of 13 races and $517,890 who owns two wins, one second and one third in six previous tries at Gulfstream, the most recent being a troubled second by a neck in a one-mile April 2022 allowance.
“She’s not as wired as Temple City Terror was. She’d get wound up, and this one is a little more laid back,” Walsh said. “But they’re sweethearts of fillies to have. She’s just a pleasure to train. She’s very straightforward.”
Walsh also entered Gilmore in the $150,000 Fred Hooper (G3) presented by Whispering Angel for 4-year-olds and up going one mile on the man track, and Verstappen in the $200,000 William L. McKnight (G3) presented by Florida Thoroughbred Breeders & Owners Association for 4-year-olds and up at 1 ½ miles on the grass.
Gilmore, owned by a partnership headed by SF Racing, comes into the Hooper after running second to Group 1 winner and defending champion Sibelius in the seven-furlong Mr. Prospector (G3) Dec. 23 at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old colt has two wins from 11 starts and is seeking his first stakes victory, having run second or third in the Woody Stephens (G1), Pat Day Mile (G2), Bay Shore (G3) and El Camino Real Derby as a 3-year-old in 2023.
“Last year I thought he made good progression and I always thought he was going to be a nice horse as time would go along. He ran some very nice races last year,” Walsh said. “I thought he ran a really good race in the Mr. Prospector because I kind of knew that it was going to be a little on the short side for him, which it proved to be, but the extra furlong [Saturday] should be right up his street.”
Andrew Farm, For the People Racing Stable and Windmill Manor Farm’s Verstappen will be making his Gulfstream debut in the McKnight. Winner of the 1 ½-mile Elkhorn (G2) last spring at Keeneland, the 5-year-old gelding was also second n the Bowling Green (G2) and Kentucky Cup Classic and most recently third by less than a length in the Red Smith (G2) behind Master Piece, who is running in Saturday’s $1 million 1/ST Bet Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).
“He had a great year last year. We left him at Turfway [Park] last winter and said we’d bring him down here this year and see how he handled Florida,” Walsh said. “I think he’s set to run a big race, as well. I think he will [handle the course]. I was a little up in the air about it, but he’s been handling the track at Palm Meadows very well and I think that gives a fairly good indication of how they’re going to manage here.”
