Kauai Katie will be prohibitive favorite lining up against four rivals in
Tuesday’s Grade 3, $100,000
Old Hat at Gulfstream Park, a six-furlong, New Year’s Day test which is
literally the first opportunity for the daughter of Malibu Moon to enhance her
already stellar reputation as a newly turned three-year-old.
The speedy Kauai Katie, owned by Stonestreet Stables, ripped through her
first three starts in New York last year. A 12-length debut winner at Belmont,
the bay was an overwhelmingly popular winner of the Grade 2 Adirondack, by 2 3/4
lengths, and the Grade 2 Matron, by 7 1/2 lengths, in her next two starts.
A lukewarm 5-1 in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, perhaps due to
her inexperience beyond 6 1/2 furlongs, Kauai Katie tracked in second behind
eventual winner Beholder before fading through the stretch of that 1 1/16-mile
fixture. Kauai Katie finished fourth, beaten 7 1/2 lengths.
“It wasn’t a bad race. It was probably a little farther than she wants to
go,” trainer Todd Pletcher said in December. “She’ll probably be best at sprint
distances for now, and this is a good spot to get started.”
Also expected to show early foot in the Old Hat is Cor Cor, whose winning
debut at Keeneland was followed by a wire-wire score over the deeper Tampa Bay
Downs strip in the December 1 Sandpiper. The daughter of Smoke Glacken opened up
an early three-length lead in that six-furlong dash, but saw her margin reduced
to a half-length at the wire.
Power Lady was a dominating winner of her first two starts in Pennsylvania,
winning a Penn National maiden by 11 3/4 lengths and a Parx allowance by 7 3/4
lengths. Stalking for the first time in her career in the November 3 Smart Halo
at Laurel, the Discreet Cat miss was forced to check at the furlong pole and had
to settle for third, 1 1/4 lengths behind Lighthouse Bay.
“She was in behind a wall of horses the whole race and turning for home, she
had an opening on the inside. She went for it and the horse in front came down
on top of her,” Servis said.
Power Lady will race on Lasix for the first time in the Old Hat.
The Old Hat field is rounded out by She’s All Scat, winner of the November 24
Gin Talking at Laurel, and Cupids Messenger, who has finished unplaced in both
career starts against winners.
The other stakes for three-year-old fillies on Tuesday is the $100,000
Ginger
Brew at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. The contentious field includes the top
three finishers from the November 22 Lie Low at Aqueduct — Discreet Marq, Heart
of New York and Mariel N Kathy — as well as the Chad Brown-trained New York
maiden winners Corporate Culture and Wave Theory.
“All three horses are doing well, all three are evenly matched in my
opinion,” said Brown, who is also the trainer of Heart of New York. “They’ve all
had relatively the same experience. It’s hard to separate the three of them, and
I wouldn’t be surprised if any one of the three won.”
The other black type winners in the lineup are Tuttipaesi, a multiple stakes
scorer in Italy who adds Lasix after finishing last in the Group 2 May Hill at
Doncaster in England, and Kitten’s Dumplings, an easy three-length winner of the
November 10 La Senorita at Retama Park.
Floral Sky, an allowance winner on the Woodbine turf October 12, will be
saddled by Mark Casse, who won with five of his first 15 starters at Gulfstream.
Trainer Wayne Catalano, who is also off to a solid start this meet, will send
out turf debut winners Kitten’s Queen and I’m Already Sexy, both of whom visited
the winner’s circle during the Churchill Downs Fall meet.
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