Drifaros Bids for Fifth Straight in Hurricane Bertie

My Purple Haze Stables' Drifaros  is scheduled to step into graded stakes company in the March 11 $125,000 Hurricane Bertie Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park, where the 4-year-old daughter of Kantharos   will make a bid for her fifth consecutive victory.

"There are a couple of really nice fillies in the race, but she's going to show up," trainer Terri Pompay said. "She's going to be a contender, definitely."

Pompay has had to tread softly while training Drifaros, who has experienced foot issues throughout her career.

"She doesn't grow much foot, so it's been a bit of a challenge," Pompay said. "We train her barefoot. We put the shoes on about a week out. We'll usually do an open gallop, breeze her a little, with the shoes on. We leave them on her and she runs in them."

Her feet may be a little tender, but she has been tough to beat. While presenting Pompay with the challenge off protecting the Kentucky-bred filly's feet while properly training her for a peak effort, Drifaros has won four straight races following a third-place finish in her debut. She graduated at Monmouth Park by 2 3/4 lengths last June despite trouble at the start and came back three weeks later to capture an allowance race by 3 1/4 lengths while rallying from off the pace.

"She's a nice filly. She wants to do it and she loves to do it. She is getting better and better," said Pompay while stressing that Drifaros is very sound. "She had a few issues with her feet last summer at Monmouth. Her feet, they don't grow a lot. Walking on the concrete there back and forth to the barn, they were just killing her. We tried putting glue-on shoes on her, but it didn't really work with her."

Drifaros was turned out with the hopes that her feet would grow a little more. She returned at Gulfstream Jan. 22 with a dominating 2 1/4-length allowance optional claiming victory before going on to win the Feb. 11 Minaret Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

"She's a medium-sized filly. She's not big. She's not little. She's kind of non-descript, but when it comes to a race, she's there," Pompay said.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano is scheduled to ride Drifaros for the first time Saturday.

Frank Fletcher Racing Operations' Frank's Rockette  is expected to be heavily favored for the Hurricane Bertie. The 6-year-old daughter of Into Mischief  , who has been first or second in 19 of 25 starts, is coming off a 12 1/4-length victory in the Sugar Swirl Stakes (G3) Dec. 31 at Gulfstream Park.

St. Elias Stable's Colorful Mischief  enters the Hurricane Bertie off a pair of runner-up finishes at Gulfstream. The 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief ran second behind Maryquitecontrary  in both the mile Rampart Stakes and seven-furlong Inside Information Stakes (G2) with late rallies.

"She's been doing well; she's been running well. It looks like she's going to be competing against a heavy favorite in there, so she's going to have to step up," Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. "She would definitely benefit from a fast pace, so we'll hope that develops."

Entries: Hurricane Bertie S. (G3)

Gulfstream Park, Saturday, March 11, 2023, Race 8

• Grade III
• 6 1/2f
• Dirt
• $125,000
• 4 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 4:07 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Diamond Wow (KY)	Shaun Bridgmohan	118	Patrick L. Biancone	8/1
2	2Colorful Mischief (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	Todd A. Pletcher	7/2
3	3Fire On Time (KY)	Edgar Perez	118	Dale L. Romans	10/1
4	4Frank's Rockette (KY)	Junior Alvarado	124	William I. Mott	4/5
5	5Drifaros (KY)	Javier Castellano	122	Teresa M. Pompay	6/1
6	6R Adios Jersey (FL)	Leonel Reyes	122	Gerald S. Bennett	8/1