Onlyforyou steps up big in Grade 2 Forward Gal S.
January 25, 2014
Just as she did in her first two starts, Malibu Moon’s stellar 3-year-old filly Onlyforyou dominated her foes in the $200,000 Forward Gal S. Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
It was the first stakes outing for the Glencrest Farm LLC colorbearer and already the fifth stakes horse of 2014 for her sire, who finished 2013 ranked fourth on the General Sire list.
Onlyforyou went straight for the lead under jockey Javier Castellano after breaking sharply from the gate. She led through a quarter-mile in 22.65 seconds, a half in 45.33. Turning for home, Onlyforyou drew away from the field under little urging from Castellano, running seven furlongs in 1:22.50 to win by nearly three lengths.
“(The performance) kind of speaks for itself,” said winning trainer Todd Pletcher. “Anytime you have one win three in a row to start their career, it’s not very many of them that do that.
“She’s a filly that has always impressed us in her training. She’s a beautiful filly, a big, scopey, good-looking filly that has tactical speed. It’s been a pretty straightforward introduction so far.”
Pletcher mentioned the 1 1/16-mile Davona Dale (G2) on Feb. 22 at Gulfstream as a next possible start for Onlyforyou, which would be her first start around two turns.
Onlyforyou is out of the stakes-placed mare Erhu, and was a $115,000 purchase out of the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling sale.