Nic’s Style wins Gulfstream sprint by 5½ lengths in track-record time

Nic’s Style did more than win the FHBPA Fillies and Mares Sprint at Gulfstream Park. She smashed the 6½-furlong stakes in track-record time, going 1:17.13 on a fast main track and putting 5½ lengths between herself and the rest of the field.

The race changed shape before the break when Mystic Lake, the 7-5 morning-line favorite, scratched along with Happy Ride and Poiema, shrinking the field to four. Nic’s Style inherited favoritism and paid it off at $2.20 to win, with Junior Alvarado keeping her in control for trainer Bill Mott from start to finish. Once the field settled, there was no real suspense. Just a Philly finished second, 13¾ lengths behind the winner, and Girvin Star was another 1¼ lengths back in third.

The result landed in the middle of a loaded Gulfstream card that featured six Florida-bred stakes worth $600,000 and drew 108 nominations. The FHBPA Fillies and Mares Sprint carried a $100,000 purse and produced a total win-place-show pool of $265,819, a reminder that even a state-bred race can deliver the kind of betting punch that turns a sharp performance into a meaningful commercial result.

For Nic’s Style, the victory also answered a question that had been hanging over her season. The Florida-bred bay mare by Uncaptured out of Sense When, by Street Sense, was foaled April 17, 2020, in Florida, was bred by D’Oyen Thoroughbreds LLC and races for Rousseau Racing. FTBOA said this was her fourth start of 2026, and she had been second in her previous four starts before finally breaking through. That run included a runner-up finish in the $125,000 Sugar Swirl Listed Stakes at Gulfstream on Dec. 20, 2025.

The payoff was tangible for owner Stephen Rousseau of Coral Gables, Florida, who earned $60,000 from the victory. BloodHorse listed the win as Nic’s Style’s first of 2026 and her eighth from 14 career starts, with lifetime earnings now above $640,000. Against statebred company, and at a demanding sprint distance, she looked less like a horse benefiting from a soft spot and more like one ready to carry this form into bigger races.