BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Arindel homebred Mythical returned to her dominating form Saturday with a two-length victory in the $122,500 Any Limit Stakes at Gulfstream Park, easily outrunning four other 3-year-old fillies over six furlongs in a stakes record time of 1:09.40 on a fast track. She eclipsed the old mark of 1:09.51 set by Frank’s Rockette in the 2020 Any Limit.
It was her sixth win in eight career starts and first this year in two races after finishing fifth in the seven-furlong Forward Gal (Grade 3) on January 31.
Ridden by Edgard Zayas from post four and trained by Jorge Delgado, Mythical was quickest out of the gate before Florida-bred Sweet Ember and Jose Morelos jetted to the front on the rail. Sweet Ember was a length-and-a-half in front of Mythical in second through a :22.31 first quarter mile and kept a length advantage into the turn. Zayas sent Mythical two-wide after Sweet Ember just before hitting the five-sixteenths marker and took over with little effort before they hit the top of the stretch.
Sweet Ember did not give in easily though, fighting on the inside until the last sixteenth when Mythical spurted clear under a hand ride from Zayas. Sweet Ember completed the Florida-bred exacta with A Fine Chardonnay another two-and-a-half-lengths farther back in third. Hollen Drive was fourth and Florida-bred Tizasweetlady fifth. Dee’s On Dow was scratched.
Mythical paid $4.40 to win.
A winner of her first three career starts by a combined 15 1/4 lengths, second time out Mythical defeated males in the $145,000 Tremont at Saratoga in June before winning the Grade 3 Adirondack over six-and-a-half furlongs in August, also at Saratoga. She sustained her first loss when fifth in the Grade 1 Spinaway then returned to her native Florida for the last two legs of the filly division of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Florida Sire Stakes. She finished her 2-year-old year winning the seven-furlong, $200,000 Susan’s Girl by 12 ¾ lengths in October and the $300,000 My Dear Girl by two-and-a-half lengths after a mile-and-a-sixteenth.
By St Patrick’s Day out of the Brethren mare Lailoni, Mythical has now earned $624,615. Mythical is the lone starter from three foals by Lailoni, who has an unraced 2-year-old colt, Boston Bird, by Noble Bird; and a yearling filly, Sonny’s Iris, by Colonelsdarktemper.
Run 12 times since 2014, the Any Limit has now been won by five Florida-breds including Ballet Diva in 2016, Who’s the Lady in 2017, Brunette Princess in a dead heat with Kentucky-bred Miss Marcela in 2019 and Spirit Wind in 2022.
Return to the March 14 issue of Wire to Wire
