Sultana gets up late to take the Orchid, Coglianese Photo
Gulfstream Park Press
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Lou Donato, Theodore Manziaris, Paul Borrelli and Lanni Bloodstock’s Sultana pulled off a late-rallying upset off the shelf in Saturday’s $175,000 Orchis (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
Unraced since winning her stakes debut in the Nov. 8 Maple Leaf (G3) on the Tapeta course at Woodbine, the Kevin Attard-trained daughter of Always Dreaming outran her 18-1 odds while defeating her more experienced rivals in the 62nd running of the 1 ½-mile turf stakes for older fillies and mares, one of 10 stakes, five graded, worth $2.675 million in purses on a 14-race program headlined by the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa.
Sultana relaxed well off the pace under Junior Alvarado as Ayra Stark showed the way while pressed by Ramsey Pond and stalked by Speed Shopper and favored Bellezza. There was little change in the running order for the first mile, run in 1:39.39 on fractions of 23.79, 48.71 and 1:24.22, until Sultana entered the picture with a three-wide run on the far turn. Ayra Stark shook off a bid by Ramsey Pond on the turn into the homestretch to open a narrow lead with Speed Shopper on the attack and Sultana looming on the far outside. Ayra Stark dug in approaching the wire under Joel Rosario but was unable to hold off Sultana.
“Kevin wanted to make sure my filly gets relaxed. That’s what I was working on throughout the race. I got some cover and she was very kind to me,” Rosario said. “When I got her to the outside, I could tell she was going to be game to the end.”
Sultana ran the 1 ½ miles in 2:24.47 while prevailing by a neck. Ayra Stark held second, three-quarters of a length ahead of Speed Shopper.
Sultana had run on turf only once in five prior starts, scoring an impressive 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance win prior to the Maple Leaf.
“She’d been training really well at Palm Meadows. Obviously it was a tough task for her off the bench, but she had trained well. She looked physically great. She ended her last campaign in the Maple Leaf going a mile and a quarter with a nice win. When we ran her on the turf last season, I thought that was her best performance up to date, so we were anxious to get her back on the grass. I think she really excels over it,” Attard said. “I was a little concerned about the pace setup today, but it actually turned out a little quicker than I thought it would. Junior gave her a great ride. He got her to settle and when called on she came with a good run.”
