Jockey Elvis Trujillo hoped to score a wire-to-wire victory on turf this
weekend. While it didn’t come aboard his famous partner Presious Passion (Royal
Anthem) on Saturday in Dubai, Trujillo got back from his whirlwind trip in time
to guide SPEAK EASY GAL (West Acre) to a front-running score in Sunday’s
$150,000 Orchid S. (G3) at Gulfstream Park. Owned by Farnsworth Stables and
trained by Marty Wolfson, the four-year-old just lasted by a diminishing head
from Lady Shakespeare (Theatrical [Ire]) to capture her stakes debut.
Speak Easy Gal, who had never raced past 1 1/16 miles, was coming off a pair
of allowance wins at that distance on turf. Both were accomplished in
front-running fashion, so it was no surprise that she bounded right to the early
lead in the 1 1/2-mile Orchid. Celtic Princess (Brz) (Public Purse) hustled up
to press Speak Easy Gal and was glued to her flank through splits of :24 1/5,
:50 2/5, 1:16 1/5 and 1:40 3/5. The 8-5 favorite Mushka (Empire Maker), last of
nine in the early going, moved all the way up to third to keep closer tabs on
the slow pace. By the time the leader reached 1 1/4 miles in 2:04, Mushka was a
little more than a half-length away on the outside.
Speak Easy Gal pulled away from a one-paced Mushka and a tiring Celtic
Princess at the top of the stretch, and she enjoyed a 1 1/2-length lead at the
eighth-pole. Lady Shakespeare and Nehantic Kat (Tomorrows Cat), however, were
rallying in unison. Rolling past Mushka, the closing duo gained on Speak Easy
Gal with every stride. Lady Shakespeare’s kick proved to be stronger, so she
emerged as the biggest danger in the final yards. Speak Easy Gal reached for the
line and kept her head in front of the fast-finishing Lady Shakespeare, who had
all the momentum crossing the wire. The winner stopped the teletimer in 2:28 2/5
on the good turf.
“There wasn’t much speed in the race, and I knew I was going to go right to
the lead,” Trujillo said. “Every time she runs, she breaks sharp, and I was able
to slow things down on the lead and get away from them a little up front. She
was always going along very comfortable, and it was a slow pace; very easy going
for her.”
“I ran her in this race because I thought she would be the only speed,
although they pressed her more than I thought,” Wolfson said. “She ran just like
Golden Pond (Ire) did winning the Orchid (leading all the way for Wolfson in
1997). I haven’t really thought of what might be next, but I like to give my
horses six to eight weeks between races.”
Dispatched as the 6-1 fifth choice, Speak Easy Gal returned $14.40, $6.60 and
$5 while keying the $60.80 exacta, $252.40 trifecta and $852.40 superfecta
(5-3-8-1). Lady Shakespeare furnished $4 and $3.40 as the 5-2 second choice.
Nehantic Kat checked in another half-length back in third, paying $4.40 at 6-1.
Mushka was the same margin adrift in fourth, followed by Magical Theater (Smart
Strike), Liberally (Ire) (Statue of Liberty), Celtic Princess, Cable (Dynaformer)
and Who Plays Brahms (Brahms). Changing Skies (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), who would
have been a leading contender off her victory in The Very One S. (G3) last out,
was scratched, along with Love to Tell (Stage Colony).
Speak Easy Gal’s scorecard stands at 9-5-1-1, $199,950. Formerly trained by
Gary Contessa, the chestnut broke her maiden for a $25,000 tag in an
off-the-turf contest at Belmont last September. After another victory in a turf
claimer, she had earned her way into allowance company. Speak Easy Gal finished
second in a January 7 allowance at Gulfstream to Tottie (GB) (Fantastic Light),
who came back to land the Suwannee River S. (G3). Following that effort, Speak
Easy Gal was purchased privately and transferred to Wolfson. She went on to
capture those aforementioned allowances, and with the Orchid to her credit, she
is now three-for-three for her new barn.
Bred by William and Annabel Murphy in Florida, Speak Easy Gal RNA’d for
$5,000 as an OBS August yearling. She is out of the
Victory Speech mare Spoken For, whose latest offspring is a juvenile colt named
I’m Taken (Black Mambo). This is the family of Grade 3 scorer Big Jewel (Winrightt)
and multiple stakes queen Miss Gibson County (Winrightt), herself the dam of
multiple stakes victor Gibson County (In Excess [Ire]).