Competition Deep in FSS My Dear Girl Division

Five fillies who won or placed in the first two legs of the Florida Sire Stakes' filly division will be back to test each other in the final round Sept. 30, the $400,000 My Dear Girl Stakes at Gulfstream Park, race 13 on the card.

Owner/breeder Ramiro Medina's Go Astray has the most wins, with two, in the 8 1/2-furlong stakes for Florida-bred juveniles. The daughter of Gone Astray —Soi Disant (by Holy Bull) won the Aug. 5 Desert Vixen Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths. The next leg, the Sept. 2 Susan's Girl Stakes, she led through most of the seven-furlong distance but got passed a sixteenth from the wire by eventual winner Starship Bonita and Dessert Honeys.

Go Astray, who is trained by Angel Rodriguez, is the most experienced of the field with seven starts to date. She has been in the money in five of those starts. Jockey Jose Batista will be back on board. 

Starship Bonita, also by Northwest Stud's Gone Astray, finished fourth in the Desert Vixen before her Susan's Girl triumph. Owned by Starship Stables and trained by Steve Dwoskin, she will be ridden back by Carlos Montalvo. Starship Bonita was bred by Bill and Lyn Rainbow and is out of the Honour and Glory mare Happy Honeymoon.

Tyler Gaffalione, Gulfstream's summer meet leading rider by wins (69) through Sept. 28, will be aboard Dessert Honeys for the first time. The filly by High Cotton —Gotcha First (Trippi) will be making her third start. She made her debut Aug. 6 at Saratoga Race Course a day after the first leg of the Florida Sire Stakes was run. A leap at the start cost her ground early, but Dessert Honeys ran courageously late to finish fourth. She just missed taking the Susan's Girl Division by a head.

Dessert Honeys is raced by Homewrecker Stable and trained by Eddie Kenneally, who bought the filly for $80,000 out of this year's Ocala Breeders' Sales April 2-year-olds in training sale. She was sold by her breeder Ocala Stud.

Another of the five series challengers is Awesome Mass, an Arindel homebred by Brethren —Horah for Bailey (Doneraile Court). She finished second to Go Astray in the Desert Vixen and was fourth in the Susan's Girl for trainer Stanley Gold. Edgard Zayas, Gulfstream's summer meet leader by earnings ($1,844,388) will be aboard for the first time. Awesome Mass broke her maiden in her third start by 11 3/4 lengths July 20 at Gulfstream.

In the FSS $400,000 In Reality Stakes Division, also being run at a 1 1/16 miles, GoldMark Farm's homebred Soutache is the standout. The son of Backtalk—Granrubanbleu (Afleet Alex ) finished third in the Aug. 5 Dr. Fager Division, the FSS's opener for colts and geldings, and followed up with a win the Sept. 2 Affirmed Division. 

Soutache is trained by Ralph Nicks and will be ridden by Gaffalione. The colt has already won two out of three starts and collected $165,000 in purses. 

The only other entrant in the In Reality with stakes experience is Highborn, a gelded son of High Cotton who finished fourth in the Affirmed stakes. Highborn races for Tracy Pinchin and is trained by her husband Jose. He will be ridden by Zayas, who was aboard Highborn when he broke his maiden at Gulfstream Aug. 12 by 7 1/4 lengths.

Arindel's homebred Tip Sheet, who is also entered in In Reality, started in the Dr. Fager stakes but lost his rider and did not finish.