Mythical Coliagense photo
G3-winning Homebred Looms Large in Florida Sires Stakes Filly Final
Gulfstream Park Press
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – As good as Arindel home bred MythicaHaving completed her first season of racing – three stakes wins, one over the boys, one in a Grade 3 and the best Beyer Speed Figure of any two-year-old filly in 2025 – her connections are even more excited about what lies ahead.
Mythical will take another step toward achieving that potential when she attempts two turns for the first time as she looks to keep her perfect local record intact in the $300,000 My Dear Girl at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.
The My Dear Girl for fillies and $300,000 In Reality, each running 1 1/16 miles, co-headline an 11-race program concluding the 44th running of the $1.2 million Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Florida Sire Stakes series for 2-year-olds by accredited Florida stallions.
Mythical, trained by Jorge Delgado, signaled her ability early and translated that into her April 17 unveiling at Gulfstream, where she ran 8 ½ lengths ahead and sprinted 4 ½ furlongs in 51.37 seconds.
“Amazingly, she’s one of those horses where she showed you how good she is from the first time you saw her,” Delgado said. “She’s showing signs of getting better, which is very exciting. She’s been good so far, but it looks like she could be very good.”
Mythical spent the summer with Delgado’s northern range at Monmouth Park and raced three times at Saratoga, beating the men by 3 ½ lengths in the 5 ½ furlong Tremont on June 5 at Belmont Stakes (G1) weekend and earning a 93 Beyer. Back against fillies for the 6 ½ furlong Adirondack (G3) four weeks later, she crossed 3 ¼ lengths, again leading from gate to wire.
Mythical stretched to seven furlongs for the August 30 Spinaway (G1) and dueled for the lead but faded to fifth behind two-time Grade 1 winner Tommy Jo. Delgado brought her back to Gulfstream for the FSS Susan’s Girl, also at seven-eighths, marking her first time facing state peers.
“She had a little class exemption last time,” Delgado said. “She had a very busy summer at Saratoga. She won against the boys, then she won the graded stakes and then she ran grade one. She needed some time to come back and slow down.”
Under regular rider Emisael Jaramillo, who was good for each of her races, Mythical showed a new dimension by slowing the pace early before taking command after half a mile and sending home a 12 ¾ length winner as the 2-5 favorite.
“She was ready for the race and she loves this track,” Delgado said. “She’s getting better every day. We’re curious to see how she does for about two turns and what we can do with her from there.”
Mythical has flown three times since the Susan’s Girl, most recently four furlongs in 49.46 seconds on November 22. Jaramillo returns to ride from Post 3 at a top weight of 122 pounds, two to four pounds than her rivals.
“We’re confident she’ll be fine,” Delgado said of the two-turn test. “Every gallop and every race she showed that she should have no problem with that, but only during the races do you really find out.”
While they can’t look past the My Dear Girl, Arindel and Delgado would like to see the Mythical show enough to keep her on track for what they hope will be a start in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) next spring. Gulfstream’s 2025-2026 Championship Meet will award points for the Kentucky Oaks on January 31, Davona Dale (G2) on February 28 and the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) on March 28.
“Hopefully we can get to the Oaks. I think that’s a goal we have in the back of our minds,” Delgado said. “We want to find a race where we can get some points here, but we are focusing on this race first.”
Delgado said Mythical has a special nickname around the stable, one inspired by the filly who won the 2024 Oaks – one of her seven career Grade 1 victories – en route to Horse of the Year honors.
“We call her little Thorpedo Anna,” Delgado said. “We’ll see. She’s a very talented horse, but she also has a very good mind and I think that’s the most important thing in the end.”
MyRacehorse, Thoroughbred Acquisition Group and Miller Racing’s Love like Lucy is the only horse in the field to have competed in the previous two legs of the FSS Filly Series, finishing third after winning multiple stakes and placed in English Group 2 Lennila in the six furlong Desert Vixen on September 6 and a distant second behind Mythical in the Susan’s Girl. Love Like Lucy’s debut victory on August 8 came over a pair of subsequent winners – the two-time stakes-placed Vita Mia and the William Law Jr. bred Lady Chance, second in the Juvenile Fillies Sprint on November 15, who returns in the My Dear Girl.
Bayou Brigidowned by Sea Warrior Stables and trainer Heather Smullen, is entered to make her dirt debut after four races on artificial turf and one on Gulfstream’s all-weather Tapeta track. She is the only horse with two-turn experience: she graduated Aug. 8 and went a mile and 70 yards on the synthetic, finished sixth in the 1 1/16-mile PG Johnson on Aug. 27 at Saratoga and ran third in the one-mile Our Dear Peggy on Oct. 25 at Gulfstream.
Completing the field is owned and trained Mary Lightner Be very daringfourth in Susan’s Girl, and Robert Cotran’s Girl Win bets only.
The My Dear Girl is a tribute to the Florida-bred mare that was named champion 2-year-old filly in 1959. Campaigned by future Kentucky Derby (G1)-winning owner Frances Genter, My Dear Girl became a successful broodmare whose best foal to race was In Reality.
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