Momentum and opportunity converge in Saturday’s Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, where Albaugh Family Stables’ improving filly On Time Girl seeks to underline her Kentucky Oaks ambitions with a third consecutive stakes success against a deep and progressive field.
The $225,000 Grade 2 contest, run over a one-turn mile, has drawn a competitive field of nine sophomore fillies and offers valuable qualifying points toward the Kentucky Oaks. With 105 points distributed on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale, the race represents a significant stepping stone on the road to Churchill Downs.
On Time Girl arrives in peak form. A decisive winner of the Forward Gal Stakes over seven furlongs on January 31, she earned 20 Oaks points with a three-length success that showcased both tractability and determination. Of the rivals she defeated that afternoon, only Imperatrice re-opposes.
Jason Loutsch, racing manager for owner Dennis Albaugh, believes consistency has been her defining trait.
“There hasn’t been a race where she’s thrown in a clunker,” he said this week. “Every time she runs, she gives her all. She’s just kept progressing.”
Trained by Brad Cox and again partnered by Irad Ortiz Jr., On Time Girl will break from the outside gate in post nine. Despite pre-race gate nerves last time, she settled beautifully off the pace before producing a polished stretch run, matching a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 82.
Her juvenile campaign hinted at similar promise. She won three of four starts at two, her only defeat a narrow loss in the Myrtlewood at Keeneland, before reversing that form emphatically in the Fern Creek later in the autumn.
Depth Builds in the Davona Dale Stakes Line-up
The Davona Dale Stakes has attracted depth beyond the favourite.
Cox also saddles Paradise, a daughter of Gun Runner owned by LNJ Foxwoods and NK Racing. Lightly raced, she impressed in a front-running maiden victory over the course and distance on January 4 and retains the services of Edgard Zayas from post three.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher fields a strong hand with Imperatrice and She Be Smooth. Imperatrice, runner-up to On Time Girl in the Forward Gal, is expected to benefit from the return to a mile. She Be Smooth, an eye-catching debut winner over the track in January, steps directly into graded company with Flavien Prat aboard.
Three-time Championship Meet leader Saffie Joseph Jr. relies on My Miss Mo, a Florida-bred daughter of Uncle Mo who seeks improvement after a below-par effort at Tampa Bay Downs. Drawn on the inside, she will attempt to rediscover the authority of her 12-length maiden success here in November.
Haute Diva, trained by Patrick Biancone, brings recent winning form after edging the Cash Run on New Year’s Day, while Bill Mott’s Swing Vote stretches out in distance following a determined maiden breakthrough last month.
Completing the field are Omaha Bay, victorious on debut over Swing Vote, and Blazing Brat, runner-up in the Sandpiper on her dirt bow.
Saturday’s programme also features the Fountain of Youth Stakes, a key prep for the Florida Derby, adding further significance to an afternoon rich in three-year-old talent.
For On Time Girl, however, the focus is singular. Another polished performance in the Davona Dale Stakes would not only secure a third consecutive stakes success but also confirm her place among the leading fillies of her generation.
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