Connections ‘On Standby’ with Champion Filly Shisospicy

Millionaire Sterling Silver Targeting G3 Hurricane Bertie
$175,000 Any Limit Up Next for G3 Winner Mythical

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Morplay Racing and Qatar Racing’s millionaire Shisospicy, the South Florida-based champion female sprinter of 2025, has recovered from infection that forced the connections to skip last weekend’s planned trip to Saudi Arabia.

Trainer Jose D’Angelo has been pleased with the 4-year-old Mitole filly, who won five of seven races last year starting with an optional claiming allowance triumph in February at Gulfstream Park and capped by the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) against males in November at Del Mar.

“Shisospicy, she’s perfect now,” D’Angelo said. “I don’t think that we have enough time to prepare in the way that we would like to go to Dubai, so we are on standby with her.”

Meanwhile, Leon King Stable Corp. and Michael and Jules Iavarone’s Bentornato, her Grade 1-winning stablemate, is on schedule to make the trip to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen (G1) March 28.

Last out winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) on the same card as Shisospicy, Bentornato has been breezing steadily since mid-January at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. Most recently he went a half-mile in 47.90 seconds Feb. 14, second-fastest of 67 horses.

“Bentornato is doing great. I’m very happy with his [last] workout. We are planning to leave for Dubai on the 13th,” D’Angelo said. “I’m very happy with them. I’m sure that they’re going to have a good year. Hopefully we can get the trophy here from Dubai.”

Millionaire Sterling Silver Targeting Hurricane Bertie (G3)

Mark Anderson’s multiple stakes-winning millionaire Sterling Silver, a last-out second in the Inside Information (G2) on Pegasus World Cup Day, will continue her quest for elusive graded success in the $175,000 Hurricane Bertie (G3) March 7 at Gulfstream Park.

The 7-year-old mare was back on the work tab over the weekend with a half-mile breeze in 49.83 seconds Feb. 15 over Gulfstream’s main track. It was her first move since closing to be second, beaten less than three lengths, in the seven-furlong Inside Information.

“From a numbers standpoint, she’s right back up there. She ran a huge race. I was very happy with her. She’s just a hard knocker,” trainer Anthony Margotta Jr. said. “We’re heading toward the Hurricane Bertie. She came out of the race good and she’s been training good, so that’s our next stop.”

Sterling Silver won six stakes for New York-breds starting with the 2022 Franklin Square at Aqueduct as well as the 2024 Manatee overnight handicap at Tampa Bay Downs before debuting for Margotta with a 1 ¼-length triumph in Gulfstream’s one-mile Rampart Dec. 26. A conversation with Anderson led to the mare coming back for another season.

“Mark and I discussed it. He was contemplating if he should sell her or run her another year. With the amount of money they were offering him, there’s so much money in purses these days,” Margotta said. “I’m in the camp of if you’ve got a good horse, I don’t care how old they are. There’s a lot of money to be made, not just in the breeding shed. You can make money on the racetrack, like the old days.”

Sterling Silver has run in 15 prior graded-stakes, finishing second or third seven times. She crossed the wire four lengths in front in the 2023 Gallant Bloom (G2) at Aqueduct for original trainer Tom Albertrani but was taken down and placed second for interference inside the eighth pole.

“She’s a Grade 2 winner, but not technically,” Margotta said. “To get it done officially would just keep adding to her resume. She’s just a pleasure to be around.”

Having overcome drug and alcohol addiction more than a decade ago to return to racing, Margotta is a focal point of an upcoming documentary entitled Brothers: A Story of Recovery directed by filmmaker Jason Romolo, an award-winning producer and video editor for Toronto-based Big Shave Productions.

Margotta was recently filmed at Gulfstream for the documentary that will also include retired Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, himself a recovered alcoholic. Romolo is aiming for a public release in May.

“We’re finishing up the mixing and the coloring. The film’s done. We’re working on getting it into film fests and eventually it’s going to make its way to YouTube and everybody’s going to be able to see it,” he said. “We’re hoping to do maybe some private screenings. We’ve had one private screening just for friends and family in New Jersey and had probably about 100 people there.”

$175,000 Any Limit Up Next for G3 Winner Mythical

Arindel’s Grade 3-winning homebred Mythical, beaten favorite in the Forward Gal (G3) Jan. 31, will cut back to six furlongs when she returns to Gulfstream Park in the $125,000 Any Limit for 3-year-old fillies March 14.

Mythical ended her 2-year-old season with a front-running victory in the My Dear Girl division of the Florida Sire Stakes Nov. 29, her two-turn debut. She cut back to seven furlongs to launch her sophomore campaign in the Forward Gal, breaking a step slow and rushing up to the lead before tiring to be a distant fifth.

“I think the last race was a little unfortunate. It didn’t end up working out the way we planned or how we wanted. She had a slow break for the first time in her career. The track was deep. There were a couple things that didn’t go the way we want, but everybody can have a bad day. She had a bad day that day,” trainer Jorge Delgado said. “We’ll regroup and we’re going to run her on the 14th.”

Delgado won the Any Limit in 2024 with AMO Racing’s Launch. Mythical owns five wins, four in stakes, from seven starts, including the Tremont against males and the Adirondack (G3) for fillies last summer at Saratoga. The Forward Gal was her first loss in four tries at Gulfstream.

Mythical won her first three starts before finishing fifth in the seven-furlong Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga, returning to win the FSS Susan’s Girl and My Dear Girl. Delgado is hoping for a similar kind of rebound next month.

“She’s healthy and happy and as good as she was before the race. It was just one of those bad days,” he said. “She bounced back before from the race at Saratoga. We have no complaints. She has seven starts, five wins, and she’s been very solid for us. I’m happy to have her around. We’re looking forward to the next race.”