BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Amanda Hernandez’s Willow Case wore down 6-5 favorite Vita Mia in deep stretch to win by three-quarters of a length in producing her second consecutive black-type victory in the $75,000 Hallandale Beach at Gulfstream Park Friday. Trained by Ramon Minguet, the Florida-bred daughter of Pleasant Acres Stallions’ Neolithic was the best of six 2-year-old fillies going a one-turn mile.
Longshot Florida-bred Triple Threat had a short advantage ahead of a compact field in the run to the far turn as rider Leonel Reyes kept Willow Case within two lengths of the leader while last on the outside through a controlled half mile in :47.19. Recent four-length maiden race-winner Vita Mia and Tessellate, who was second to Willow Case in the Sharp Susan and the 3-2 second choice in the wagering, took off together to lead by two lengths around the far turn as Willow Case assumed third and began to deliberately close in on the leaders. Vita Mia put a head in front of Tessellate at the top of the stretch then Willow Case joined the fight on the outside but was still a half-length back after six furlongs in 1:11.83. Willow Case slowly eroded Vita Mia’s advantage until taking over just inside the sixteenth pole to win in 1:38.02 on the fast track. Florida-bred Vita Mia was second with Florida-bred Tessellate another five-and-a-half lengths back in third. Florida-bred Dakota’s Lil Auror was fourth followed by That Police and Triple Threat.
“This filly ran beautifully,” Reyes said. “It was the plan to sit behind the speed. I was behind two or three horses and at the eighth pole, I took her out and she finished good.”
Willow Case paid $3.80 to win.
“That was the plan, to stalk the pace behind the speed horses. She was running well and I was happy with her position. She closed the way I expected,” Minguet said. “In the last half-furlong I got a little worried, but at the end she responded.
Fourth behind future graded stakes-winning Florida-bred Mythical in her first race on April 17, Willow Case has not lost since having next won a four-and-a-half-furlong maiden special weight for fillies by a neck on May 1. She then took the $75,000 Sharp Susan by three-and-a-quarter lengths going six furlongs over a sloppy track at Gulfstream on Aug. 9. Willow Case earned $44,550 to increase her career bankroll to $130,910.
“I was very confident because she is a very professional, very focused filly,” Minguet said. “I thought that running a mile it would fit her very well. I think the longer distance is better for her than the short distance.”
Bred in Florida by the late Sherry R. Mansfield and Kenneth H. Davis, Willow Case is out of winning Drosslemeyer mare Pillow Case. Mansfield and Davis purchased Pillow Case in foal to Gone Astray for $5,000 out of the Northwest Stud consignment at the 2019 Ocala Breeders’ Sale Winter Mixed Sale. Pillow Case has produced three winners from four starters and six foals with Willow Case her only black-type winner. She has an unnamed yearling filly by Ocala Stud stallion Colonel Liam and was bred to Ocala Stud Roadster in 2024.
“We’ll see how she comes back to the barn. It’s been working for her to give her some time between races, four weeks to six weeks, and she responds to that,” Minguet said. “We’ll see in a few weeks what it looks like.”
Willow Case is the 62nd Florida-bred winner of an open black-type stakes in 2025.
Return to the September 26 issue of Wire to Wire
