C2 Racing Stable LLC and Stefania Farms LLC’s Mystic Lake is set to continue her remarkable run on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, as the 4-year-old Mo Town filly attempts to secure her fifth straight stakes victory in the $125,000 Sugar Swirl.
Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Mystic Lake enters the six-furlong sprint as the 8-5 morning-line favorite among seven fillies and mares lining up for the race, one of five stakes featured on Saturday’s 11-race card. The program also includes the $150,000 Harlan’s Holiday (G3), a 1 1/16-mile prep for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Jan. 24, and the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G3), a 1 1/8-mile turf prep for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).
Mystic Lake captured last year’s Sugar Swirl with a patient run from just off the pace and followed with a triumph in the Inside Information (G2) at Gulfstream. After finishing off the board against Grade 1 competition at Keeneland and Churchill Downs, the Florida-bred filly bounced back to claim four consecutive stakes at four different tracks—the Memorial Day Sprint at Lone Star, Dashing Beauty at Delaware, Pink Ribbon at Charles Town, and Liberty Bell at Parx.
“We’ve given her a little break after her last race because we want her to hopefully have a good campaign next year,” said Joseph, whose morning-line favorite last ran on Sept. 23. “This is the starting point. We feel she’s fit enough to be competitive in this race. Hopefully, she’s ready to get the job done and then we can move forward toward next year.”
Tyler Gaffalione, who guided Mystic Lake in her two most recent starts, returns in the saddle.
Joseph will also field Averill Racing LLC’s R Morning Brew, a 3-year-old daughter of Curlin’s Honor who impressed winning the Florida Sire Stakes Desert Vixen after a victorious debut in 2024. Following four winless efforts, she returned from nearly six months off to capture a 6 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance Sept. 20 at Gulfstream and most recently finished third while pressing the pace in a similar test.
“She started promising. Then her form went south. When they go south like that, they give you two or three in a row. She gave us two or three races we thought were not her,” Joseph explained. “We gave her some time off and she’s come back improved. They normally show that improvement from 2 to 3 just naturally, and I feel like she’s shown that improvement in her first races back.”
Edgard Zayas has the return mount on R Morning Brew, who is rated fourth at 4-1 on the morning line.
Stephen Rousseau’s Nic’s Style, second on the morning line at 9-5, will seek her fourth Gulfstream victory without defeat. The 5-year-old Uncaptured mare broke her maiden by 6 ½ lengths on debut at Gulfstream May 5, 2022, before returning from a 15-month hiatus to win a state-bred allowance by 10 ¼ lengths for former trainer Ralph Nicks.
Transferred to Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Nic’s Style won five of her next six starts, including the Hurricane Bertie (G3) at Gulfstream March 8, before a seven-month break. She most recently finished fourth in the Nov. 8 Pumpkin Pie at Aqueduct. Junior Alvarado, who has ridden Nic’s Style in all nine career races, retains the mount Saturday.
Diane Morici’s Ms. Bucchero, a 5-year-old daughter of Bucchero rated third on the morning line at 7-2, will look for her 10th career victory in the Sugar Swirl. The Florida-bred multiple-stakes winner captured her Gulfstream debut last time out with a front-running score in a six-furlong optional claiming allowance. Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride her for the first time Saturday.
Completing the field are Troy Johnson, Wendell Yates, and Maritza Westin’s Win N Your In, owner/trainer Michael Lerman’s Secret Revenge, and St. Elias Stable’s Kiss Me Slow.
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