2-year-old filly gets third straight win, second stakes. (Ryan Thompson)
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Amanda Hernandez’s Willow Case came with a steady drive through the stretch to reel in favored Vita Mia and edge clear by three-quarters of a length to extend her win streak to three races in Friday’s $75,000 Hallandale Beach at Gulfstream Park.
Named for the city that Gulfstream has called home since it opened in 1939, the Hallandale Beach for 2-year-old fillies going a one-turn mile headlined a nine-race program to kick off September’s final weekend of the Sunshine Meet.
Ridden by Leonel Reyes for trainer Ramon Minguet, Willow Case ($8) covered a fast main track in 1:38.01 to win her second consecutive stakes following Gulfstream’s six-furlong Sharp Susan Aug. 9.
“I was very confident because she is a very professional, very focused filly,” Minguet said. “I thought that running a mile it would fit her very well. I think the longer distance is better for her than the short distance.”
Reyes had Willow Case positioned in fourth as 45-1 longshot Triple Threat led along the rail through a quarter-mile in 24.02 seconds with Sharp Susan runner-up Tessellate between horses in second and Sept. 6 maiden winner Vita Mia cruising three wide in third. Tessellate inherited the lead pressed to her outside by Vita Mia when Triple Threat began to drop back after a half in 47.19.
“This filly ran beautifully,” Reyes said. “It was the plan to sit behind the speed. I was behind two or three horses and at the eighth pole, I took her out and she finished good.”
Reyes tipped Willow Case to the far outside approaching the stretch and, after Vita Mia put away Tessellate, the bay daughter of Neolithic continued to gain ground with every stride before moving up on even terms past the sixteenth pole and galloping past the wire.
“That was the plan, to stalk the pace behind the speed horses. She was running well, and I was happy with her position. She closed the way I expected,” Minguet said. “In the last half-furlong, I got a little worried, but at the end she responded.”
Vita Mia was second, followed by Tessellate, Dakota’s Lil Auror, That Police – who stumbled badly out of the starting gate – and Triple Threat.
Reyes was encouraged with the way Willow Case galloped out in what was her fourth career race and first at a route of ground.
“I think she can get more distance – a mile, a mile and an eighth, a mile and a sixteenth,” he said. “That will be OK for her.”
Willow Case went off a 30-1 longshot when she ran a distant fourth behind subsequent Grade 3 winner Mythical in debut April 17, returning two weeks later to graduate by a neck at 14-1 odds going the same 4 ½-furlong distance. She went unraced until the Sharp Susan, which she won in a 27-1 upset.
Friday she was the third choice in a field of six at 3-1.
“We’ll see how she comes back to the barn. It’s been working for her to give her some time between races, four weeks to six weeks, and she responds to that,” Minguet said. “We’ll see in a few weeks what it looks like.”
