The $200,000 Shirley Jones Handicap (G2) for fillies and mares at seven furlongs was scheduled for last Saturday at Gulfstream Park with a field of seven, but day-long downpours forced the cancellation of the last four races, including the Shirley Jones.

Racing Secretary Bill Couch has rescheduled the race for Saturday and it will be re-drawn at regular entry time on Wednesday.

Stronach Stable’s 5-year-old mare Sugar Swirl was the solid favorite for the Shirley Jones after impressive victories in the First Lady Handicap (G3) and Hurricane Bertie Handicap (G3) earlier in the meet for trainer Brian Lynch. She is in line to be the first to sweep Gulfstream Park’s three open stakes for older female sprinters.

A Canadian homebred chestnut daughter of Touch Gold, Sugar Swirl is expected back in the entries and was kept on edge with a half-mile workout in 47 3/5 Monday morning at Palm Meadows.

Sugar Swirl will be bidding for a fourth consecutive stakes victory, having won the Very Subtle Stakes at Churchill Downs, home of the 2008 Kentucky Derby, last fall for horse trainer Bobby Frankel before being sent to Lynch for a winter campaign.

www.gulfstreampark.com 

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 10:25 pm and is filed under Gulfstream Park, Horse Racing Industry, Horses, Race Tracks News, Stakes Races, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.