Mythical Sets Stakes Record in Gulfstream Park's Any Limit Victory

Mythical delivered a stakes-record performance in the $125,000 Any Limit Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, giving trainer Jorge Delgado and jockey Edgard J. Zayas a emphatic victory in Race 3 on the afternoon card.

The Arindel homebred and Florida-bred filly, sent off at 9/5 morning-line favoritism from post five, turned in the most significant effort of her young career by tracking down pacesetter Sweet Ember to claim the win. Sweet Ember, trained by Edward Plesa Jr. and ridden by Jose E. Morelos from the two hole, had set the tempo, but Mythical reeled her in to seize the victory and rewrite the race's record books in the process.

The win carried particular weight given Mythical's immediate prior form. She had finished a disappointing fifth in the Grade 3 Forward Gal Stakes before turning up at Gulfstream for the Any Limit, and the stakes-record clocking underscored just how sharply she rebounded. The filly had also accumulated back-to-back stakes victories at Gulfstream earlier in the meet, taking the Abundantia Stakes on December 27 and the Ladies' Turf Sprint Stakes on February 7, before the Forward Gal setback interrupted her momentum.

The six-horse field presented legitimate alternatives. A Fine Chardonnay, the 2/1 morning-line choice trained by Ian R. Wilkes and piloted by Tyler Gaffalione, carried top weight of 124 pounds alongside Mythical and represented the most serious threat on paper. Hollen Drive, at 7/2 under Jorge Ruiz for trainer William Walden, and Sweet Ember rounded out the principal contenders, while Dee's On Dow and Tizasweetlady were listed at 15/1.

Zayas, who carried the same 124-pound assignment as Gaffalione, found the winning move at the right moment, driving the Florida-bred past Sweet Ember to give Arindel its stakes-record result on a Gulfstream card that also featured the $125,000 Hutcheson Stakes for 3-year-olds later in the afternoon.