Multiple Grade 1-winning sprinter Spiced Perfection spent her first two seasons competing exclusively at Southern California tracks, but she took her game on the road last year with starts in Kentucky, Maryland and New York. The Peter Miller-trained mare will open her 5-year-old campaign with her first attempt at Gulfstream Park in Saturday’s $200,000 Inside Information (G2).
One of two undercard dirt stakes on a blockbuster Pegasus World Cup program, the Inside Information features 12 distaffers at 7-furlongs.
Spiced Perfection exits a facile tally in the Dec. 7 Go for Wand (G2) at Aqueduct. Based at San Luis Rey training center, the California-bred daughter of Smiling Tiger also captured the Madison (G1) and TCA (G2) at Keeneland in 2019. She finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) two starts back, and the classy performer has earned more than $1.2 million. Javier Castellano rides.
Blamed rates as her main rival if ready to go off the layoff for Bill Mott. Last seen winning the Royal Delta (G3) at Gulfstream as the odds-on favorite in mid-February, the 5-year-old mare ran big when returning from a similar layoff in the 2018 Raven Run (G2), finishing a clear second to subsequent champion female sprinter Shamrock Rose. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the call for Bill Mott.
A convincing winner in all three starts, J P’s Delight will make her first start against graded foes. Kathleen O’Connell trains the Florida-bred daughter of J P’s Gusto, and the front-running specialist exits a 2 ¾-length score in a restricted Tampa stakes on Dec. 14. Jairo Rendon retains the assignment.
A Bit of Both, who came up short in fifth as the 9-5 favorite in the Dec. 14 Sugar Swirl (G3), will try again for her first graded triumph. Trained by Jason Servis, the four-year-old filly has won 7-of-10 career starts. Pink Sands merits respect off a rallying win in the Dec. 14 Rampart (G3) over the track. Our Super Freak exits a win in the Shine Again at Laurel Park in late September, and the 4-year-old filly will make her first start for Cherie DeVaux after selling for $210,000 at the Keeneland November sale.
The $150,000 Fred W. Hooper (G3) drew a full field of 14 for a one-turn mile on the main track, and Free Enterprise is the probable favorite in his stakes debut for Chad Brown. A close second in his first three outings, the 5-year-old gelding broke through with a convincing maiden win at Belmont Park in late September, and the son of Curlin exits a three-length victory in a Nov. 23 entry-level allowance at Aqueduct. Free Enterprise registered commendable BRIS Speed ratings (102-96) for those wins, and Castellano will guide.
His challengers include Epic Dreamer, Gray Magician, Phat Man, Seven Trumpets, Tale of Silence and Zenden.
