BY BROCK SHERIDAN
A neck winner of her second race at odds of 14-1, Willow Case again prevailed with long odds in a three-length score at 25-1 in the $75,000 Sharp Susan at Gulfstream Park Saturday. With Leonel Reyes aboard, Willow Case circled her rivals in the turn to cruise past frontrunner Evolution with a quarter mile to the finish then rocketed into the lane and ran away unchallenged for an easy victory.
It was the third win on the day for Reyes who won the fifth race with Florida-bred I Love Venezuela and the sixth race with Snappy Comeback.
“It’s been a good day,” Reyes said. “I have to thank the owners and my agent because everything is possible through them. I hope to keep it going.”
Trained by Ramon Minguet for Amanda Hernandez, Willow Case finished the six furlongs in 1:11.51 on the sloppy and sealed track. Florida-bred Tessellate, the 9-5 favorite, finished second with Florida-bred Dakota’s Lil Auror third. Victory Music, Mo Hijinx, Street Belle and Florida-bred Evolution completed the order of finish. Haute Diva and Late Night Text were scratched.
Willow Case paid $56 on a $2 win ticket.
“The trip was okay,” Reyes said. “I tried to put her in a good spot. The track was sloppy today but she got good position. When we came to the three-eighths pole she was really going good, and she galloped out strong. I felt I had a lot of horse.”
In her first start going four-and-a-half furlongs at Gulfstream Park on April 17, Willow Case was fourth, nearly 16 lengths behind future graded stakes-winning Florida-bred Mythical. She then came back to break her maiden by a neck at the same distance at Gulfstream on May 1 before preparing for the Sharp Susan. The bay filly has now earned $86,300 in her three starts.
Willow Case is by Neolithic, who stands in Florida at Pleasant Acres Stallions, and is out of Pillow Case, by Drosselmeyer. She was bred in Florida by the late Sherry R. Mansfield and Kenneth H. Davis. She is the first stakes winner for Pillow Case, who has produced three winners from four starters and six foals.
Pillow Case has an unnamed yearling filly by Ocala Stud resident Colonel Liam and was bred to Roadster, who also stands at Ocala Stud, in 2024. Davis and Mansfield purchased Pillow Case for $5,000 out Northwest Stud consignment at the 2019 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Winter Mixed Sale when she was in foal to Northwest Stud’s Gone Astray. Pillow Case went through 2025 OBS Winter Mixed sale in January and was purchased by Mahmud Mouni for $5,200 in foal to Roadster. Pillow Case is a half-sister to stakes-placed and graded stakes-producer One for Jim. Her second dam is Grade 1 Mother Goose-winner Jersey Girl, dam of Grade 1-winner Jersey Town.
Willow Case is the third consecutive Florida-bred winner of the Sharp Susan following Let Them Watch in 2023 and Win N Your In last year. Florida-bred Onyx won the 2019 Sharp Susan.
She is the 50th Florida-bred this year to win an open black type stakes in North America.
Return to the August 9 issue of Wire to Wire
