Mythical dominates Gulfstream stakes, earns return trip to Saratoga

Mythical took the kind of step that separates a fast filly from a summer star. After getting pinballed around at the break in Saturday’s $100,000 FHBPA Sophomore Fillies Sprint at Gulfstream Park, the Arindel homebred settled into third, launched her run before the quarter pole and turned the race into a procession, winning by 5 1/2 lengths in 1:11.13.

The result was more than another stakes notch. It was Mythical’s seventh victory in nine lifetime starts, her sixth stakes win, and another reminder that she keeps finding a way to upgrade her resume every time the competition gets sharper. Sent off at 1-9 in the six-furlong dirt sprint for 3-year-old Florida-bred fillies, she paid $2.20 to win and finished well clear of La Chismosa, with Flowko third. Love Like Lucy and Unfaithful Rose completed the order of finish in a race that scratched down to a compact field of six.

Jorge Delgado did not hide what he saw. “Somebody leaned on her,” the trainer said of the break, adding that she was “not too sharp from the gate,” but once Edgard Zayas got her rolling, “everything was smooth” after that. Zayas was even more direct about where Mythical belongs. “One of the best fillies in the country,” he said, adding, “Hopefully this year she shows she can probably win a Grade 1.”

That kind of talk is backed by the record. Mythical won five of six starts as a juvenile in 2025, banked $540,750 that year alone, and already owns a Saratoga stamp after winning the GIII Schuylerville Stakes there. She also became the first filly since Florida-bred Rosie O’Greta in 1995 to win the Tremont Stakes at Saratoga, which gives this summer campaign a cleaner edge than most sophomore stakes routes. Saratoga is not just a destination on the calendar for Mythical; it is a track where she has already shown she can travel, handle the moment and beat quality.

Saturday’s race pointed her right back there. Delgado said another Saratoga start is likely, with the $175,000 Jersey Girl Stakes on June 4 the target. After winning the Any Limit Stakes at Gulfstream on March 14 in 1:09.50, Mythical has now backed up that speed with professionalism. In a Saturday program that featured six Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association stakes, she looked like the filly with the cleanest path to bigger things.