Photo: Hollywood Park
Tuscan Evening, who is undefeated in four starts in 2010
with all of the wins coming in graded races, will try to do something she has
never done before in the $250,000 Gamely Stakes on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
For all her accomplishments, the 5-year-old daughter of
Oasis Dream out of the Suave Dancer mare The Faraway Tree is without a Grade 1
victory.
Owned by William DeBurgh and trained by Jerry Hollendorfer,
Tuscan Evening can change that against a stellar field in the Gamely, a 1 1/8
mile turf race.
Voted Horse of the Meet at Santa Anita after consecutive
wins in the Monrovia, Buena Vista, Santa Ana and Santa
Barbara Handicaps, Tuscan Evening will have seven foes. She will be aiming for
her second win in three tries at nine furlongs.
In her most recent appearance at Hollywood Park, Tuscan
Evening was second, beaten 1 ¾ lengths by the now retired Ventura, in the
Matriarch, a Grade 1, last Nov. 28.
This was the only time Tuscan Evening has failed to win in
four starts on the Hollywood
Park grass. Her biggest
local victory came in the Royal Heroine, a Grade II, last July 11.
Rafael Bejarano will take his usual place atop Tuscan
Evening, who has won 10 of 25 while earning $899,408. She will carry 123 pounds.
“We’re ready,” said Dan Ward, Hollendorfer’s assistant
trainer. “(Her opponents) better be ready to run a mile and an eighth in 1:45
and change, because that’s what we’re going to do.”
If Tuscan Evening is to keep her roll going, she is going to
have to deal with Forever Together.
Trained by Jonathan Sheppard for Augustin Stable, the
6-year-old gray daughter of Belong To Me and the Relaunch mare Constant
Companion has won nine of 21 and banked $2,842,639. She will also carry 123.
A multiple Grade 1 winner, Forever Together will be making
her Hollywood Park debut. However, she is no stranger
to California.
In 2008, she won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita, then was
third in the same event behind Midday and Pure Clan last fall in Arcadia.
Forever Together, who will be ridden for the first time by
Rajiv Maragh as Julien Leparoux is sidelined with a back injury, will be
seeking to end a four race losing streak on Saturday.
Her last win came in the Diana, her second in a row in the
Grade 1, last Aug. 1 at Saratoga.
Jockey Alex Solis and trainer Paddy Gallagher, who combined
to win the 2009 Gamely with Magical Fantasy, are hoping for another victory
with General Consensus. If successful, they would become the first
jockey-trainer combination to win the Gamely in back-to-back years.
Now based in Kentucky,
Solis has already returned to Hollywood
Park once this meet to
win a stakes, taking the Railbird with Tanda on May 9.
Owned by Sierra Farm, General Consensus, a 5-year-old
Giant’s Causeway mare and the Seattle Slew mare Shootforthestars, was second,
one length behind Tuscan Evening, in the Santa
Barbara on April 17. She has won four of 16 and earned
$243,494.
Tuscan Evening isn’t the
only Gamely streaker. Medaglia d’Amour has won three in a row on turf
after finishing eighth of 10 in her career debut last July 31 on the
Polytrack at Del
Mar.
Trained by Ben Cecil for his wife Kristina and Zillah
Reddam, the 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro and the Blushing John mare
Izara was successful in her first foray into graded company.
She won the Wilshire Handicap, a Grade III, in her initial
attempt at Hollywood
Park on May 1. Bred in Kentucky by the Allen E.
Paulson Living Trust, Medaglia d’Amour has earned $116,200. The Gamely will be her
first attempt beyond one mile.
Another filly worthy of consideration is Well Monied. Owned
by C.T. Grether Inc. and trained by Howard Zucker, the 4-year-old daughter of
Maria’s Mon and the Quiet American mare Queen Of America has won two of three
on the Hollywood Park turf. Overall, she is 4-for-9 with
earnings of $371,300.
In her lone race of 2010, Well Monied won a $56,800
allowance on April 4 at Santa Anita, but was no worse than third in three
starts in graded company as a 3-year-old. Her win came in the 2009 Honeymoon
Handicap in Inglewood
and she was second behind Gozzip Girl in the American Oaks, a Grade 1, five
weeks later.
Completing the cast are Gotta Have Her, who has won eight of
25 and banked $882,608 for owner Green Lantern Stables LLC and trainer Jenine
Sahadi, Cat By The Tale, who was second to Tuscan Evening in the Santa Ana and
the runner-up to Medaglia d’Amour in the Wilshire, and Princess Haya, fifth in
the Wilshire in her California debut for owner-breeder Eileen Hartis and
trainer Carl O’Callaghan.
From the inside out, here is the field for the 43rd
Gamely: Gotta Have Her, Tyler Baze rides, 119 pounds; Medaglia d’Amour, Joel
Rosario, 117; Forever Together, Rajiv Maragh, 123; Tuscan Evening, Rafael
Bejarano, 123; Well Monied, Mike Smith, 119; General Consensus, Alex Solis,
117; Princess Haya, Joe Talamo, 123 and Cat By The Tale, Martin Garcia, 119.