Gulfstream Notes

- Meant to mention Maizelle going down for Pletcher at Gulfstream on Sunday - she was 3-10! Man, I mean, she looked good, but [redboarding alert] how about that 27 seven final quarter in her last race? She ran fine, but John Ward turned the table with Lovely Dream, off the four month layoff. This four-year old, $220,000 daughter of the New York stallion Freud has really turned things around since coming back at Belmont off a layoff last summer. After two big dirt wins, one by 16 lengths, Ward tried her on the grass with just a second to show, but here, back on the main, she was clearly better than Pletcher's filly.

The King of the World also ran second in the Very One Stakes with Safari Queen. Christophe Clement sent out Royal Highness for the win, and he also had a winner on Monday. Clement has been kind of quiet, having sent out only 24 runners at this meeting; Pletcher has already sent out 45 since his return. He got off to a slow start too, but he's hot as a pistol now, with five winners from his last nine starters. The latest was Egypt Lane in Monday's 5th, s four-year old Mr. Greeley filly dropping to a 30K after an 11 month layoff.

Pletcher did get another winner with Quiet Royal on Monday; she's yet another stakes quality turf filly for the barn, and she flashed her ample talent with an easy win, sent off at 1-2 by the fearless chalk players. John Velazquez had to take her three wide on the turn into quick fractions after he sat behind a slow pace, but she was in hand, and accelerated away under a hand ride; very nice. She was a close third in the G1 QEII Cup last fall in her U.S. debut before running up against Ouija Board in the Breeders Cup. She's a four-year old daughter of Royal Academy, out of a Miswaki mare. She has two siblings that were G3 winners in France, and the dam is a half to Dare and Go, and Go Deputy.