Getmotherarose Blossoms in Honey Fox

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Mary Sullivan homebred Getmotherarose overcame a rough start to blossom into a stakes winner by the end of Saturday’s $150,000 Honey Fox Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

Sent away from gate 7 under Junior Alvarado at 11/1 odds, Getmotherarose was pinched back toward the rear after several jostling foes from either side caused her to stumble out of running room. Up front, the rail-breaking Silver Kitten set the early pace, posting fractions of :23.07, :46.79, and 1:11.58 while Valedictorian gave closest watch.

Straightening for home, Silver Kitten still held a slim lead and repelled Valedictorian’s bid at the top of the stretch. Behind her, Alvarado slipped Getmotherarose into the clear and set her down for the drive home.

Surging past the pacesetter just outside the 1/8 pole, Getmotherarose began to clear away late under a brisk hand ride before crossing victorious by 1 1/2 lengths. The Tom Bush trainee completed the mile-long event over the firm turf course in a final time of 1:34.73.

“I had a dream trip, you know, the entire way around,” Alvarado said. “Every time I wanted to get a good spot, she was there for me. By the 3/8 pole, I knew we were going to be fine, and as soon as we turned for home, I found a clear spot, put her outside, and she gave me a hell of a trip.”

Silver Kitten held second by 3/4 of a length over Sister Hanan, who rallied five-wide from near-last to take third by 3/4 of a length over La Feve. The same distance separated her from Miss Munnings in fifth, though the rest of the field was farther back.

Valedictorian weakened to sixth ahead of Munchkin Money, the 2/1 favorite Atomic Blonde, Conquest Hardcandy, Sweet Hitch Hiker, and Steelin Magnolias to complete the order of finish. 

Getmotherarose’s win came in her graded stakes unveiling and followed a fourth in the South Beach Stakes, her first time running at any stakes level. The 4-year-old daughter of Get Stormy improved her record to 14-5-2-2 with $276,623 earned.

“We thought the filly was coming into the race about as good as we’ve ever had her,” Bush said. “She hadn’t run in a couple of months when she ran in the South Beach. She had a pretty wide trip in that race and she probably did get a little tired. The race probably helped her and she’s really thrived the last month. We were real confident she would run well, but she got a great trip from Junior Alvarado and it paid off. We wanted to get to where we thought she could run a little further than we were running her as a nice filly. Now that we see that she’s stretching out nicely, we’ll have to sit down and figure things out.”

Getmotherarose returned $24.80 to win, $11.20 to place, and $10.80 to show. Silver Kitten brought back $10.40 to place and $7.80 to show, while Sister Hanan paid $9.80 to show.