Tessellate Seeks Stakes Breakthrough in Juvenile Fillies Sprint

Impressive Maiden Winners La Dolce Vita, Epigram Among Rivals

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Magic Cap Stables, Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch, Castle Gate Farm, Kuehne Racing and John Reinhardt’s Tessellate, stakes-placed in each of her last two starts, will get another chance to break through when she returns as a leading contender in Saturday’s $75,000 Juvenile Fillies Sprint at Gulfstream Park.

The Juvenile Fillies Sprint going 6 ½ furlongs on the main track is the headliner on an 11-race program that begins at 12:20 p.m.

Bred in Florida by Castle Gate Farm and trained by Sunshine Meet leader Saffie Joseph Jr., Tessellate shortens up in distance after running third behind Willow Case in the one-mile Hallandale Beach Sept. 26, a race where she dueled for the lead nearing the stretch and wound up beaten 6 ¼ lengths.

In her prior start, the $170,000 yearling daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner McKinzie came from off the pace to be second as the favorite in the six-furlong Sharp Susan Aug. 9, 3 ¼ lengths behind Willow Case in a race contested over a sloppy and sealed main track.

“Last time we stretched her out. We didn’t think she wanted to go that far, but we wanted to give it a try. The cutback should help her a lot,” Joseph said. “This is the logical spot. There wasn’t anything around so we stretched her out going a mile last time just to see what happened, but she wants to be a sprinter.”

A front-running debut winner against state-breds going five furlongs July 19, Tessellate drew Post 2 of eight and will be ridden by Edgard Zayas. They are rated as the 5-2 second choice on the morning line.

“She’s fast, but she doesn’t need the lead. She can sit and make a run,” Joseph said. “I think she goes in there with a very good chance.”

Joseph also entered La Dolce Vita and Mystical Belle. After two unsuccessful tries on the turf, Peachtree Stable homebred La Dolce Vita graduated with a popular 1 ¾-length maiden special weight triumph Oct. 24 sprinting six furlongs on the main track.

“She won well last time,” Joseph said. “She’s coming back obviously a little quick, but I think if she runs her race she should be a big factor.”

La Dolce Vita has been favored in each of her three races, running second in debut going five furlongs Aug. 1 at Gulfstream, beaten four lengths by subsequent Hollywood Beach runner-up The Princess Bro. Fourth in a one-mile maiden spot Aug. 30 at Kentucky Downs, she is the Juvenile Fillies 2-1 program favorite from Post 1.

“She showed promise right away. When she got beat the first time we were a little surprised, but the horse that beat her turned out to be a nice horse,” Joseph said. “She ran big last time in her first time on the dirt. I’m still not convinced that she doesn’t want the grass, but for now we’ll stick to the dirt.”

Joseph indicated MyRacehorse, P T Racing, Clay Sides and John Reinhardt’s Mystical Belle (Post 5, 3-1), a good-looking maiden winner over the all-weather Tapeta course Sept. 12 at Gulfstream, would likely scratch in favor of an optional claiming allowance for 2-year-olds on Sunday. In her two races, Mystical Belle was second behind her stablemate and subsequent Frizette (G1) runner-up Rileytole and then a 1 ¼-length winner over next-out winner Flowko.

“She’s run well,” Joseph said. “She ran second first time out to a nice horse that ran second in a Grade 1, and then she won second time and beat a filly that came back to win, also.”

Oliver Gray’s Dakota’s Little Auror (Post 4, 15-1) is the other horse in the field with stakes experience, having run third in the Sharp Susan and fourth in the Hallandale Beach. She has lost three straight following a maiden triumph against Florida-breds sprinting 4 ½ furlongs June 20.

Make Your Wish, Lady Chance and Epigram all enter the Juvenile Fillies Sprint off victories. Amanda Hernandez Zorilla’s Make Your Wish (Post 6, 30-1), trained by Ramon Minguet, comes from the same connections that campaigned Willow Case before the filly was sold via digital auction for $340,000.

After placing in each of her first three races, including a back-to-back runner-up finishes, William Law Jr.’s Florida homebred Lady Chance (Post 7, 20-1) graduated by 2 ½ lengths against state-bred company Oct. 26.

Epigram (Post 8, 3-1), owned and trained by Jose Castro, will be making her stakes debut off one race, an eye-catching 9 ¾-length open maiden special weight triumph Aug. 15 sprinting five furlongs on Gulfstream’s main track.

“She’s doing good. She had a good race last time, exactly like we hoped. We hope that she can run the same race. She’s a good horse, very talented,” owner-trainer Jose Castro said. “We hope she can win again. She’s in good condition, she’s training good, she’s working good, she came out of the race good. She’s very, very happy.”

Castro, who purchased Epigram for $38,000 in April as a 2-year-old in training, said the gap between starts was by design. Her multimillionaire sire, Code of Honor, was a Grade 1 winner whose first of four rgraded-stakes triumphs came in the 2019 Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream.

“She is very fast. She has a nice pedigree. When we bought her at the auction, the first time we saw her at the barn we were looking for the good confirmation. That’s the reason we chose her,” Castro said. “She’s still a baby so we have to try to just go little by little with her. We try to get her ready for this moment and right now she’s ready to run again.”

Completing the field is Sultan Racing’s Nour (Post 3, 10-1), who ran second in an Oct. 25 optional claimer at Gulfstream but finished ahead of both Willow Case (third) and Dakota’s Lil Auror (fifth).