Photo: MEC
Regalo Mia, who broke her maiden at Gulfstream Park last season,
will seek her first stakes victory in the $150,000 Florida Sunshine
Millions Filly and Mare Turf.
After that score, the 4-year-old daughter of Sligo Bay finished in
the money in five straight stakes, including a second-place finish by a
nose in the Sands Point (G2) at Belmont last May.
“She’s a very small filly, size-wise, so it’s really hard to judge.
She’s a closer; she tends to be a deep closer, so when you’re riding to
the wire like that, it’s really hard to feel like your body’s in front
of the other jock’s body, and yet your horse is still a nose behind,”
trainer Michelle Nihei said. “So I think there’s a lot to judging her
accordingly.”
That streak of stakes placings was upended with a ninth-place finish
from the No. 12 post position in the Mrs. Revere (G2) at Churchill
Downs last November.
“There were a lot of things going against us that day. She drew outside
and she wasn’t really accustomed to being in the climate of having to
run at night and in 30 degrees. That track wasn’t playing predictable
that day. A lot of us who ran on the turf that weekend were kind of
puzzled how it was playing,” Nihei said. “I really think you want to
throw that race out. We’ve had a chance to regroup and we’re feeling
pretty confident.”
Javier Castellano, who was aboard Regalo Mia in the Sands Point, will return to the irons Saturday.