There's no disputing General Jim has shown ability. The son of Into Mischief , an $850,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, scored second time out as a 2-year-old at Saratoga Race Course. Then after an allowance victory, routing 1 1/16 miles on the turf, and two frustrating stakes efforts, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey went back to the drawing board with the talented Courtlandt Farms' runner, and the colt returned Feb. 4 with a resilient victory in the $125,000 Swale Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
McGaughey tacked blinkers onto General Jim for his latest breeze, a four-furlong move in :48 1/5 Jan. 28 that jockey Luis Saez called "magnificent." The blinkers stayed on for the Swale, ensuring the colt would be extra sharp and extra focused in the cut-back to seven furlongs following a troubled fourth-place finish in the Jan. 1 Mucho Macho Man Stakes at a mile.
The second choice behind proven speedster Super Chow, Saez tucked General Jim into a stalking third position alongside Two of a Kind early on. Super Chow, as expected, dictated the pace on a loose lead, firing off a :22.69 first quarter and :45.31 half-mile. Rounding the final bend, General Jim overtook Two of a Kind and fixed his sights on Super Chow, running down the leader in a dogfight to the wire.
General Jim ($5.20) prevailed by a length over Super Chow. He clocked the seven furlongs in 1:23.34 on a fast track.
Two of a Kind finished a distant third, 11 lengths behind the top two in third.
"The race came out perfect for him we knew we had plenty of speed (in here)," Saez said. "We just tried to get out there running and find a good spot. When I came to the top of the stretch I just had a lot of horse. I knew we would get (Super Chow)."
Bred in Kentucky by Fifth Avenue Bloodstock and Centerline Breeding, General Jim is out of the stakes-placed Curlin mare Inspired by Grace. The dam of two winners from three foals to race, Inspired by Grace is a full sister to grade 1 victress Off the Tracks and half sibling to grade 2 winner Concord Point.
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Red Carpet Ready Remains Undefeated
Though it was mid-afternoon at Gulfstream and not a Californian night at the Golden Globes, Red Carpet Ready didn't discriminate as she strutted down the Hallandale Beach stage Saturday to win the $125,000 Forward Gal Stakes (G3).
Tracking the pace in the seven-furlong under Saez, the 3-year-old daughter of Oscar Performance sat behind Twice as Sweet and Arella Star through an opening quarter in :22.78 after a slight stumble from the gate. As a half went by in :45.98, the filly took to the front and bounded further away at the stretch in 1:10.57 while Undervalued Asset made a bid from the outside with Atomically moving closely behind.
At the wire it was all Red Carpet Ready, who took the seven-furlong event by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:23.54 over the fast track for Ashbrook Farm and Upland Flats Racing.
Undervalued Asset was runner-up, with Atomically a length back for third.
The Rusty Arnold trainee is 3-for-3 with earnings of $265,470.
The Forward Gal was worth 40 points on the road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on a 20-8-6-4-2 scale. Red Carpet Ready earned 20 points to put her in a tie for third on the Oaks leaderboard, while Undervalued Asset took home eight points, and Atomically nabbed six.
"She's answered the bell every time we've run her, every time we change what we've done with her, she's pretty special," Arnold said. "Luis said she tried to break so sharp that she lost her footing a little bit. After she recovered, she did everything right."
The filly was bred in Kentucky by Lynn B. Schiff out of the Street Sense mare Wild Silk, who has two winners from three foals to race. She also has a 2-year-old Oscar Performance filly, as well as a yearling colt by the Mill Ridge sire. She was bred back to Not This Time for 2023.
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