Grade 1 Showdown on Tap in Sand Springs Stakes

There are eight graded stakes on the Gulfstream Park March 4 card, but one will have to look beyond that blockbuster slate if they want to catch one of the day's saltiest matchups.

Grade 1 winners Catch a Glimpse and Celestine are each set to make their seasonal debuts, as the two turf distaffers headline a field of nine in the $100,000 Sand Springs Stakes going one mile over the Gulfstream grass.

Both Catch a Glimpse and Celestine share a similar narrative heading into Saturday's test, with each trying to regain top-level form after tailing off at the end of 2016. After capturing the June 11 Longines Just a Game Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park, just missing the course-record in the process, Celestine finished third in the Oct. 8 First Lady Stakes (G1T) before turning in a disappointing 12th-place outing in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) last Nov. 5.

BALAN: Celestine Dominant in Just a Game Victory

Breeders' Cup day was also not a terrific one for Catch a Glimpse, as the 2015 Canadian Horse of the Year came in eighth in the Filly & Mare Turf (G1T), her third consecutive loss after previously rattling off an eight-race win streak that included a victory in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) July 9.

ANGST: Catch a Glimpse Something to See in Oaks

"Did she need a freshening? Probably, because she had had a good, hard campaign," said Mark Casse, who trains Catch a Glimpse for owners Gary Barber, Michael James Ambler, and Windways Farm. "She's doing really well. We gave her some time, she's grown up, and we're excited to get her started."

While both got a needed freshening, Celestine also got a new set of connections. The 5-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy was purchased by Moyglare Stud Farm for $2.55 million at the 2016 Keeneland November breeding stock sale and was subsequently transferred from Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott to the barn of Christophe Clement. In addition to a steady string of works at Payson Park Training Center, Celestine also has some strong prior form at Gulfstream to draw upon. She ran third in last year's Sand Springs en route to breaking through for her first graded win last April in the Honey Fox Stakes (G2T) over the same course and distance.

Catch a Glimpse has also prevailed over the Gulfstream surface, winning the Herecomesthebride Stakes (G3T) in her 3-year-old debut in February of 2016. Given that both she and Celestine do their best running on or near the front end, the Sand Springs could come down to which one blinks first.

"It's not going to be easy (in the Sand Springs)," Casse said. "Is she cranked to the hilt? Maybe not. But she's done enough that she's ready to run and have a good showing."