Speak Easy Gal evades capture in Orchid

Jockey Elvis Trujillo hoped to score a wire-to-wire victory on turf this

weekend. While it didn't come aboard his famous partner Presious Passion (Royal

Anthem) on Saturday in Dubai, Trujillo got back from his whirlwind trip in time

to guide SPEAK EASY GAL (West Acre) to a front-running score in Sunday's

$150,000 Orchid S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park. Owned by Farnsworth Stables and

trained by Marty Wolfson, the four-year-old just lasted by a diminishing head

from Lady Shakespeare (Theatrical [Ire]) to capture her stakes debut.

Speak Easy Gal, who had never raced past 1 1/16 miles, was coming off a pair

of allowance wins at that distance on turf. Both were accomplished in

front-running fashion, so it was no surprise that she bounded right to the early

lead in the 1 1/2-mile Orchid. Celtic Princess (Brz) (Public Purse) hustled up

to press Speak Easy Gal and was glued to her flank through splits of :24 1/5,

:50 2/5, 1:16 1/5 and 1:40 3/5. The 8-5 favorite Mushka (Empire Maker), last of

nine in the early going, moved all the way up to third to keep closer tabs on

the slow pace. By the time the leader reached 1 1/4 miles in 2:04, Mushka was a

little more than a half-length away on the outside.

Speak Easy Gal pulled away from a one-paced Mushka and a tiring Celtic

Princess at the top of the stretch, and she enjoyed a 1 1/2-length lead at the

eighth-pole. Lady Shakespeare and Nehantic Kat (Tomorrows Cat), however, were

rallying in unison. Rolling past Mushka, the closing duo gained on Speak Easy

Gal with every stride. Lady Shakespeare's kick proved to be stronger, so she

emerged as the biggest danger in the final yards. Speak Easy Gal reached for the

line and kept her head in front of the fast-finishing Lady Shakespeare, who had

all the momentum crossing the wire. The winner stopped the teletimer in 2:28 2/5

on the good turf.

"There wasn't much speed in the race, and I knew I was going to go right to

the lead," Trujillo said. "Every time she runs, she breaks sharp, and I was able

to slow things down on the lead and get away from them a little up front. She

was always going along very comfortable, and it was a slow pace; very easy going

for her."

"I ran her in this race because I thought she would be the only speed,

although they pressed her more than I thought," Wolfson said. "She ran just like

Golden Pond (Ire) did winning the Orchid (leading all the way for Wolfson in

1997). I haven't really thought of what might be next, but I like to give my

horses six to eight weeks between races."

Dispatched as the 6-1 fifth choice, Speak Easy Gal returned $14.40, $6.60 and

$5 while keying the $60.80 exacta, $252.40 trifecta and $852.40 superfecta

(5-3-8-1). Lady Shakespeare furnished $4 and $3.40 as the 5-2 second choice.

Nehantic Kat checked in another half-length back in third, paying $4.40 at 6-1.

Mushka was the same margin adrift in fourth, followed by Magical Theater (Smart

Strike), Liberally (Ire) (Statue of Liberty), Celtic Princess, Cable (Dynaformer)

and Who Plays Brahms (Brahms). Changing Skies (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), who would

have been a leading contender off her victory in The Very One S. (G3) last out,

was scratched, along with Love to Tell (Stage Colony).

Speak Easy Gal's scorecard stands at 9-5-1-1, $199,950. Formerly trained by

Gary Contessa, the chestnut broke her maiden for a $25,000 tag in an

off-the-turf contest at Belmont last September. After another victory in a turf

claimer, she had earned her way into allowance company. Speak Easy Gal finished

second in a January 7 allowance at Gulfstream to Tottie (GB) (Fantastic Light),

who came back to land the Suwannee River S. (G3). Following that effort, Speak

Easy Gal was purchased privately and transferred to Wolfson. She went on to

capture those aforementioned allowances, and with the Orchid to her credit, she

is now three-for-three for her new barn.

Bred by William and Annabel Murphy in Florida, Speak Easy Gal RNA'd for

$5,000 as an OBS August yearling. She is out of the

Victory Speech mare Spoken For, whose latest offspring is a juvenile colt named

I'm Taken (Black Mambo). This is the family of Grade 3 scorer Big Jewel (Winrightt)

and multiple stakes queen Miss Gibson County (Winrightt), herself the dam of

multiple stakes victor Gibson County (In Excess [Ire]).