Multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy will be a heavy favorite if she starts in the $75,000 Powder Break for fillies and mares, one of three stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.
An Eclipse Award finalist last season when taking the Fourstardave H. (G1) against the boys and the Matriarch (G1), Got Stormy also placed in the Woodbine Mile (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1). As good as that season was, 2020 got off to a slow start when she was only fourth in the Endeavour (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs in February. However, she rebounded with a narrow loss against males in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1) last time.
“She’s training extremely well. She went out and ran a great race in California her last start. It’s tough when you ship all the way to California. You’re taking a disadvantage there,” trainer Mark Casse said. “She got beat a neck. She ran her rear end off in their house. I’m very proud of her.”
A wet forecast could imperil Got Stormy’s participation in the one-mile grass test on Saturday, but Casse has ruled out sending the mare to California for the Shoemaker Mile (G1) later this month as a backup. Stablemate War of Will was scratched from last week’s $75,000 Sunshine Forever in favor of the Shoemaker Mile.
Also lining up in the Powder Break are multiple Grade 3 winner Valedictorian, the Chad Brown-trained duo of Noor Sahara and Tapit Today, and speedy Honey Fox (G3) runner-up Silver Kitten.
Earlier in the card, Saratoga Special (G2) winner Green Light Go looks to bounce back to better form in the $75,000 Roar, a 6 1/2-furlong dash for 3-year-olds.
Following his impressive stakes tally at the Spa, Green Light Go finished second to Tiz the Law in the Champagne (G1). His season debut was a relatively dull third to Mischevious Alex in the Swale (G3) on Feb. 1.
“I thought it wasn’t great, but it didn’t set up right for him,” trainer Jimmy Jerkens said. “It looked like there was a lot more speed than they showed, and the field was in a ball all the way around. When he had his run-up there really wasn’t anywhere to go, and he ended up falling back on the turn. He made a little run to be third, but we were hoping for something a little better.
“He didn’t do well after the race. Nothing soundness-wise, but he just didn’t go on and develop the way we wanted. He got a little sick and it was a long time getting over it. But, he looks like he’s on the way. I didn’t want to start him out in something that would knock him out. It’ll be over three months since he ran so this should be a good spot to start him back.”
The field of six includes Hutcheson upsetter With Verve and promising stakes newcomer Double Crown.
The $75,000 Musical Romance, for Florida-bred fillies and mares over 7 furlongs, has attracted a graded-quality field. Bellera captured the Comely (G3) and Ladies H. at Aqueduct in her last two, while Lady’s Island has won 10 of her last 12, including the Sugar Swirl (G3) in December by open lengths.
Also entered were Wildwood’s Beauty, runner-up in the Inside Information (G2) and Hurricane Bertie (G3) in her last two, and the multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old Two Sixty.
