One of the most accomplished two-year-old fillies in 2013, Rosalind, is set
to make her three-year-old debut at Gulfstream Park in Thursday’s featured
9TH
race, a $48,750 allowance slated for 1 1/16 miles on the main track.
Trained by Ken McPeek, Rosalind was Grade 1-placed twice last season,
finishing second in the Alcibiades at Keeneland and third in the Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita.
“She’s been training super. We gave her a little break after her trip west. I
eased her back into things, and this looks like a good spot to start the
season,” McPeek said. “She’s done everything right in her career, except win,
maybe, but hopefully it will propel her into one of the bigger preps before the
Kentucky Oaks.”
The daughter of Broken Vow debuted at Ellis Park in August, pulling away to a
2 1/2-length triumph in a mile turf race. She came back a month later to finish
third in the Pocahontas over Churchill Downs’ main track before her second-place
finish in the Alcibiades over Keeneland’s synthetic surface. After breaking
awkwardly and trailing the field in the Juvenile Fillies, Rosalind closed with a
furious rush to fall just a half-length short of first-place finisher She’s a
Tiger.
Rosalind has closed from far off the early pace in all of her races,
including her troubled fourth in her 2013 finale in the Hollywood Starlet, in
which she raced four- and five-wide. McPeek will equip Landaluce Educe Stables’
filly with blinkers for the first time Thursday.
“We just thought she needed a little bit more focus,” McPeek said. “It’s not
going to be a big cup; it’s going to be something simple. More than anything I
want to get her into the winner’s circle and teach her that’s where she needs to
be. She’s a pretty smart filly. She’ll handle it well.”
Rosalind was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite for her return to
action with Joel Rosario back to ride.
“I think she’s going to improve from two to three — let’s hope in a big
way,” McPeek said. “I don’t think you can rule out a grass career for her,
either, but at this point the short term goal is the Kentucky Oaks.”
Eight three-year-old fillies will take on Rosalind, including Ian
Wilkes-trained Bird Maker, the runner-up in the Golden Rod at Churchill before
finishing a distant second to Dame Dorothy in the slop at Gulfstream in her 2014
debut. The Todd Pletcher-trained In Tune, a recent debut winner at Gulfstream,
and Michael Matz-trained Comme Chez Soi, who was nosed by Penwith in a
Gulfstream allowance before finishing fourth behind Dame Dorothy in slop, also
figure prominently in the two-turn feature.
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