Shred the Gnar Seeks to Extend Streak in G3 Royal Delta

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Trainer Brian Lynch will saddle Shred the Gnar for a start in Saturday’s $175,000 Royal Delta (G3) at Gulfstream Park with the opportunity to secure his Championship Meet-leading ninth stakes victory.

Lynch’s sole focus, however, will be centered on a loftier long-range goal for Flying Dutchman Breeding and Racing LLC’s 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief, who will seek her fourth straight triumph in the 1 1/16-mile feature for older fillies and mares.

Shred the Gnar, who has been installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite, will make her 2026 debut while facing as many as seven rivals in the Royal Delta after finishing her 3-year-old campaign with 2 ¾-length victory in the one-turn mile Chilukki (G3) at Churchill Downs Nov. 19.

“She’s acting like she’s a very special filly. We’re just trying to look after her properly with a big goal at the end of the year for her,” Lynch said. “We’ll run her here and if she runs like we think she will, then we’ll run her in the La Troienne on Oaks Day and take a couple spots this summer and hopefully we’re still heading for the end goal at the end of the year.”

The end goal being the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) Oct. 30 at Keeneland, with the May 1 La Troienne (G1) at Churchill Downs being a close-race goal. However, Shred the Gnar must show she is Grade 1-stakes worthy with a big performance in the Royal Delta.

The $610,000 yearling purchase at the 2023 Saratoga Select Yearling sale, who finished second beaten a neck in her six-furlong career debut last February at Gulfstream, graduated at the Hallandale Beach racetrack six weeks later by 6 ½ lengths at a one-turn mile. She went on to capture her two-turn debut in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance May 2 at Churchill before going to the sideline.

“She had some little minor hiccups that needed a little time. It all took care of itself, and she had a really game race in the Chilukki,” Lynch said. “We gave her a little bit more time and she has been working solid. She had her last work [Saturday], and I couldn’t have been more pleased with it.”

After rallying from off the pace to just miss in her career debut at six furlongs, Shred the Gnar won her last three races in front-running fashion while stretching out in distance.

“I think the further she runs, the better for her,” Lynch said. “I think in the end, she’s a mile-and-an-eighth horse, a mile-and-a-quarter horse.”

Mario Gutierrez is named to ride Shred the Gnar for the first time in the Royal Delta, replacing Luis Saez.

Ten races following Shred the Gnar’s romp on the May 2 Churchill program, Legion Racing’s Drexel Hill rallied from 13th and last to finish second behind Good Cheer in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Drexel Hill and Shred the Gnar will finally meet in the Royal Delta.

Following her runner-up finish in the 1 1/8-mile Oaks at 32-1, Whitworth Beckman-trained Drexel Hill was out of action for six months before returning to finish second in the 1 1/8-mile Mother Goose (G2) Nov. 8 at Aqueduct. The daughter of Bolt d’Oro went on to win her 2026 debut in the 1 1/16-mile Wayward Lass at Tampa Bay Downs Jan. 10.

“She’s a 4-year-old this year coming out of a pretty decent campaign as a 3-year-old with a second in the Oaks. She did have a slight issue out of that, so we gave her a little time and brought her back in the Mother Goose,” Beckman said. “She ran a great second and came back after another couple months and won the Wayward Lass.”

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who was aboard for her Mother Goose runner-up finish, returns for the Royal Delta.

Full of Run Racing II LLC and Madaket Stable LLC’s Alpine Princess will make her 2026 debut in the Royal Delta after concluding her 2025 campaign with a two-length victory in the Nov. 27 Falls City (G3) at Churchill Downs. The 5-year-old daughter’s victory was her long-awaited first graded-stake success following several placings during her 17-race career.

Corey Lanerie has the mount on Brad Cox-trained Alpine Princess, who is rated second on the morning line at 5-2.

Don Alberto Stable’s late-developing Senza Parole enters the Royal Delta off an eye-catching 7 ¼-length victory in a Jan.15 optional claiming allowance run over a one-turn mile at Gulfstream. The Chad Brown-trained 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner, who was out of action for a year before returning to the races at Saratoga last August, has produced a pair of ‘bullet’ half-mile breezes at Payson Park in preparation for the Royal Delta.

Miguel Vasquez will ride Sensa Parole for the first time Saturday.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is represented by three entrants in the Royal Delta, including Miller Racing LLC’s Claret Beret, who is coming off a third-place finish in the seven-furlong Inside Information (G2) at Gulfstream Jan. 24, and Dazzling Move, who finished fifth in the Inside Information. Joseph is also scheduled to saddle St. Elias Stable, WSS Racing, Turf Express Inc. and Stefania Farms LLC’s Eunomia, who won a Dec. 13 Tampa Bay Downs optional claiming allowance the first time he saddled her.

Micah Husbands has the return mount on Claret Beret, while Dazzling Move will be ridden for the first time by Tyler Gaffalione. Edwin Gonzalez has the call on Eunomia.

Twin Oaks Bloodstock’s Nothing Like You will make her first start for trainer Brendan Walsh in the Royal Delta. The multiple graded stakes-winning 5-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon, who was formerly trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, will be coming off a 4 ½-month layoff after producing a ‘bullet’ workout at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.

Jorge Ruiz has the call on the 2024 Santa Anita Oaks (G2) winner.