Bettors looking for alternatives to Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) winner Soul of an Angel in Thursday’s $125,000 Rampart S. logically gravitated to Power Squeeze, but both were thwarted by the unheralded Windy Walk at Gulfstream Park. In a textbook case of “pace makes the race,” the 14-1 longest shot on the board capitalized on cozy fractions to spring the $30.20 upset.
While Windy Walk entered in sharp form as the winner of three straight, those victories came in starter allowances. The Christopher Davis sophomore had been well beaten in her only efforts in better company – the July 12 Wilton S. at Saratoga, albeit after a poor start, and in an entry-level allowance Aug. 17 at Ellis Park.
Nor did Windy Walk, typically a stalker, appear to have an edge according to the forecast race shape. Yet she ended up being the controlling speed after the scratches of Intrepid Daydream and Unsolved Mystery, followed by the lackadaisical break by Dazzling Move.
Windy Walk therefore found herself in the vanguard early, and jockey Tyler Gaffalione was quick to take the advantage handed to them. Ambling ahead of Charlie’s Wish through an opening quarter in :25.82, Windy Walk continued to set the leisurely tone in splits of :49.30 and 1:13.30.
Backers of 2-5 favorite Soul of Angel expected her to lollygag at the rear as usual. But it wasn’t encouraging to see her get a nudge to keep in touch with the field down the backstretch.
Rounding the far turn, 2.60-1 second choice Power Squeeze advanced to challenge, only to find that Windy Walk still had plenty left. Windy Walk edged away by 1 1/2 lengths in midstretch, and she needed most of that cushion as her margin dwindled in the final furlong.
Soul of an Angel delivered her trademark late kick on the outside, and Power Squeeze kept grinding to reduce the gap. Neither could quite overhaul the determined winner, who deserves credit for making the most of her chance.
Windy Walk held on by a neck from Power Squeeze, with Soul of an Angel another head back in third. The daughter of Munnings covered the one-turn mile in 1:38.01 to improve her record to 14-7-0-1, $321,102.
There was a 3 1/4-length gap back to Dazzling Move in fourth. Charlie’s Wish did not benefit from her forward position, retreating to last. Save Time was withdrawn in addition to the aforementioned Intrepid Daydream (both stablemates of Soul of an Angel from the Saffie Joseph Jr. barn) and Unsolved Mystery.
A Kentucky homebred for Richard Perkins, Windy Walk is out of the multiple stakes-placed Missalaney, by Badge of Silver. The chestnut hails from the further family of stakes upsetters, so she’s reviving a tradition. Her fourth dam, Changing Ways, won the 1994 Schuylerville (G2) at 10-1, and both of her stakes-winning offspring outperformed their odds as well – Pumpkin Shell prevailed as a 12-1 shot in the 2009 Busanda S., and Pays to Dream surprised the 2008 Dixie (G2) at 19-1.
Windy Walk’s fifth dam, Kazadancoa, is the celebrated matron of Runnymede Farm.
Later, the $125,000 Via Borghese S. was a different type of event as a 1 3/8-mile turf affair, but once again the lack of pace played a role in the result. LSU Stables’ La Mehana sat handy and got the decisive jump on even-money favorite Forever After All to prevail by a neck in a final time of 2:14.42. Pacesetter Marksman Queen, who bulled her way to the fore by the half in :50.70, checked in another half-length adrift in third.
Trained by Christophe Clement and ridden by Dylan Davis, La Mehana returned $6.60 as the 2.30-1 second choice. The French import has compiled a mark of 18-7-1-3, $400,047, reflecting her first U.S. coup in the Oct. 4 Waya (G3) at Aqueduct as well as listed stakes victories in the 2022 Prix Michel Houyvet and 2023 Prix Pawneese and Prix des Tourelles. Her stakes placings include last fall’s Prix de Royallieu (G1) in her Gallic finale and a couple of tough-beat thirds in her initial stateside attempts, the March 30 Orchid (G3) and May 3 Sheepshead Bay (G3).
La Mehana, a daughter of the Dream Ahead stallion Al Wukair, is a half-sister to German highweight juvenile filly Ocean Fantasy. Their dam, Oceanie, is a Dansili half-sister to multiple Group 2-winning stayer Watar.
Leave a Reply