Nafzger Barn Sends Two-Pronged Entry Postward In Bonnie Miss
By: John Gaver III

(Mar. 13, 2003) - Trainer Carl Nafzger has been around Thoroughbred horse racing long enough to know that good fortune comes in cycles, so his dearth of winners over the winter in South Florida isn't getting the Plainview, TX native in the doldrums.

"This is just part of the game," Nafzger told Daily Racing Form on Mar. 1 when asked about his current cold streak (going into the Friday, Mar. 14 card at Gulfstream, Nafzger's barn was zero-for-46). "Sometimes things just don't go your way. We don't come down here, or go into any meet for that matter, looking to win a lot of races. I never worry about win percentages. We're looking to win the big races. That's always been my game plan and I think my record bears me out."

Nafzger will saddle a pair of fillies to try and win another of those big races on Friday, Mar. 14 at Gulfstream Park when he sends a pair of graded stakes winners - My Boston Gal and Westerly Breeze - postward in the 33rd running of the Bonnie Miss Stakes (GII), the marquee event for 3-year-old fillies at the Hallandale Beach, Fla. racetrack.

My Boston Gal is coming off the worst effort of her career to date, where she shut down and finished last as the favorite in the Davona Dale Stakes (GII) on Feb. 23, but Randall Bloch, Chester Porter and Phil Milner's daughter of Boston Harbor had a viable excuse in the race, as she had an ulcer on her epiglottis which caused her to displace her soft palate, thus restricting her breathing.

"I knew something was wrong after she ran like that," Nafzger said about his charge's effort in the Davona Dale. "But at the time I didn't know what. I figured she might get beat, but not like that." the trainer recalled.

My Boston Gal scoped clean after a half-mile work on Mar. 4 in :49 flat and the ulcer has since subsided. She has won three-of-four starts lifetime including last year's Golden Rod Stakes (GII) at Churchill Downs.

Westerly Breeze finished third, 13 ¾-lengths behind the flashy Bird Town, in the Charon Stakes at Gulfstream Park in her 3-year-old debut and she figures to be tighter in the Bonnie Miss and should appreciate the stretch-out around two turns, as she won last fall's Alcibiades Stakes (GII) at Keeneland going a mile and a sixteenth. The Bonnie Miss will be the daughter of Gone West's first crack at a nine-furlong trip.

The 5-2 morning line favorite for the Bonnie Miss and the filly to beat in the race is Gilbert Campbell's Ivanavinalot, who is coming off a pair of second place-finishes against stakes company, the most recent of which was at the hands of Yell in the Davona Dale.

The front-running, Florida-bred daughter of West Acre will be cross-entered in Sunday's Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs, according to her trainer, Kathleen O'Connell, and a decision will be made on which race she will run in after entries are drawn for the Florida Oaks on Friday, Mar. 14.

"We're just trying to find the easiest race possible," O'Connell told Daily Racing Form. "Right now our ultimate goal is the Kentucky Oaks, and we don't want her running her hardest race this weekend."

Other Bonnie Miss entrants that are expected to be cross-entered in the $150,000 Florida Oaks are Ebony Breeze, a winner of two consecutive stakes races at Tampa Bay Downs by a combined total of 7 ½ lengths and Spin Control, who turned heads at Gulfstream when winning a nine-furlong allowance race on Feb. 23 by 13 ½-lengths for trainer Graham Motion.

Holiday Lady, third behind My Boston Gal in the Golden Rod and recent winner of an entry-level allowance race at Gulfstream; Gold Player, third in the Davona Dale behind Yell and Tarnished Halo, fourth behind Holiday Lady in allowance company, round out the field.

The complete field for the 33rd Bonnie Miss Stakes, in post position order with jockeys, weights and morning lines odds, is Ebony Breeze, Jerry Bailey, 116, 3-1; Tarnished Halo, Jose Santos, 116, 15-1; Holiday Lady, Eibar Coa, 116, 3-1; My Boston Gal, Pat Day, 120, 5-1; Westerly Breeze, Rene Douglas, 120, 6-1; Spin Control, Edgar Prado, 116, 4-1; Gold Player, Mark Guidry, 116, 12-1 and Ivanavinalot, John Velazquez, 122, 5-2.

Old Hat Trifecta Back In Forward Gal - With the Phipps Racing Stable champion juvenile filly Storm Flag Flying electing to bypass the Stonerside Forward Gal Stakes (GIII) at Gulfstream Park on Friday, Mar. 14, the seven-furlong event drew a field of eight evenly-matched sophomore fillies led by the top three finishers of the Old Hat Stakes - House Party, Chimichurri and Glorious Miss.

The gray or roan filly House Party will stretch out a furlong off her Old Hat win for Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, but the daughter of French Deputy has an affinity for Gulfstream Park and has a prior win going seven-eighths of a mile.

Chimichurri won the Grade III Tempted Stakes as a juvenile and was a game second to House Party in the Old Hat Stakes. The filly's trainer, Todd Pletcher, had entered the daughter of Elusive Quality in the Charon Stakes on Feb. 23, but scratched his charge when he felt a wet track would be detrimental to her chances.

"Her worst race I think was when she caught the slop at Belmont," he said of her third-place finish - the only time that Chimichurri has been worse than second - in last October's Astarita Stakes (G2). "She likes it hard and dry."

One of the fillies that beat Chimichurri in the Astarita, Fast Cookie, is a fellow Forward Gal entrant. The bay daughter of Deputy Minister is coming off a sharp entry-level allowance race at Gulfstream, which she won by four lengths.

Glorious Miss, third in the Old Hat; Midnight Cry, second to the well-regarded Elegant Designer in the Great State Juvenile Challenge and the graded stakes-placed filly Final Round are other contenders in the well-matched field.

The complete field for the 23rd running of the Stonerside Forward Gal Stakes, in post position order with jockeys, weights and morning line odds is Midnight Cry, Edgar Prado, 117, 6-1; Fast Cookie, Jerry Bailey, 117, 4-1; Chimichurri, John Velazquez, 121, 3-1; House Party, Jose Santos, 121, 5-2; City Fire, Cornelio Velasquez, 117 6-1; Bella Lauren, Mark Guidry, 115, 15-1; Final Round, Pat Day, 117, 12-1 and Glorious Miss, Eibar Coa, 117, 8-1.

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