A classic pace meltdown in the Feb. 1 $155,000 Forward Gal Stakes (G3) played right into the hands of a waiting Eclatant, who exerted her superiority late with a 1 1/4-length score.
The seven-furlong Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park served as the season opener for Stonestreet Stables' homebred Eclatant, a daughter of six-time leading stallion Into Mischief and full sibling to grade 2 winner Mutasaabeq. Two-for-two to begin her career around one turn, she failed to stay the 1 1/16 miles when finishing third to stablemate Good Cheer in the Nov. 30 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.
Losing no shame in defeat, trainer Brad Cox sent the filly southward to kickstart her sophomore campaign in Florida. While the Forward Gal Stakes awards the winner 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, it was the seven-furlong distance of the race that most appealed to Cox.
The Forward Gal also happened to suit another Cox trainee, the stakes-winning Girvin filly Stunner.
"They were both training well," Cox said. "I hate to run them against each other other but I thought this was what they both wanted to do."
The fillies rewarded Cox by completing the 1-2 exacta in the Forward Gal. It was Cox's 2,500th victory as a trainer since the Kentucky horseman saddled his first horse in 2004.
As the race unfolded, maiden winner Rojo Rita beelined for the lead after veering in sharply only yards following the start. With the leader careening through dizzying early splits of :22.04 and :44.76, Luis Saez kept Eclatant settled in the clear midpack behind horses. Wheeling into the far turn, favored Rojo Rita attempted to fight off the challengers but grew leg-weary, allowing a fresh wall of horses to vie for the lead with an eighth of a mile left to run. Rojo Rita faded to finish sixth, but after a stewards' inquiry into the start, was disqualified and placed last for interference.
Eclatant circled four wide around the final bend, rallied resiliently under Saez, and drove past her rivals to the wire in a final time of 1:23.61. She returned $10 for the win.
"We followed the speed and when we came to the three-eighths (pole) I felt like I had horse, and at the top of the stretch she gave me a good kick," Saez said. "She was digging and digging and kept coming."
The Queens M G, a two-time stakes winner last year for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., finished third, one length behind Stunner.
Already a recipient of three Road to the Kentucky Oaks points when third in the Golden Rod, Eclatant increased her total to 23 points following the Forward Gal. Though she now sits at the top of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) leaderboard, Cox indicated she may stay at one-turn distances in the future.
"They both performed well," Cox said of his two fillies. "I think the long-distance goals for the both of them will be spots like the Test and the Eight Belles and maybe the Beaumont. It was good to get a run into both of them this winter and get their seasons kicked off."
