Grade 3 Forward Gal Offers 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Oaks Points

Eight weeks after ending a stellar juvenile campaign with a fifth victory in six starts, including all three over her home track, Arindel's Grade 3-winning homebred Mythical is set to launch her 3-year-old season with a return to graded company in the $175,000 Forward Gal Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, January 31.

The 46th running of the Forward Gal for sophomore fillies sprinting seven furlongs on the main track is the third of five stakes, two graded, worth $950,000 in purses on a 12-race program anchored by the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) for 3-year-olds on the road to the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1).

First race post time is 12:15 p.m.

2026 Forward Gal Stakes Field & Odds

Race 10 at Gulfstream Park

Saturday, January 31 - Post 4:45 PM

Entry	Horse	ML Odds	Jockey	Trainer
1	Music Burst	10-1	Luis Saez 118 Lbs	George Arnold II
2	Tessellate	6-1	Junior Alvarado 120 Lbs	Saffie Joseph, Jr.
3	Secane	12-1	Micah Husbands 118 Lbs	Saffie Joseph, Jr.
4	Mythical	5-2	Edgard Zayas 123 Lbs	Jorge Delgado
5	Sneaky Good	8-1	Tyler Gaffalione 120 Lbs	Brad Cox
6	On Time Girl	9-5	Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 Lbs	Brad Cox
7	Hollen Drive	15-1	Jorge Ruiz 120 Lbs	William Walden
8	Imperatrice	5-1	John Velazquez 118 Lbs	Todd Pletcher

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Named for the Florida-bred 2-year-old filly champion of 1970 that won a dozen races including the Grade 1 Alabama, Mother Goose, Spinaway and Gazelle, the Forward Gal offers 42 qualifying points for the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (G1) to the top five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis.

"We're very happy with her preparation. She's always been a forward filly and all the training she had since her last race has been really good," trainer Jorge Delgado said. "Every day she seems to be even better and every week she seems to be breezing better."

Four of Mythical's five wins at 2 came in stakes, the first two of them against open company in the 5 ½-furlong Tremont and 6 ½-furlong Adirondack (G3) at Saratoga, where she then ran fifth in the Spinaway (G1) in her first try at seven furlongs. The daughter of St. Patrick's Day rebounded in a big way in the Florida Sire Stakes series to take the Susan's Girl Oct. 18 and My Dear Girl Nov. 29 - her lone two-turn attempt - by 15 ¼ combined lengths.

"It was an unexpected blessing, for the barn and for myself, and it's been very fun ride with her," Delgado said. "Every day is always something to look forward to with her. You always enjoy having these kinds of horses that make you look better. I have to thank [Arindel's] Brian [Cohen] for that. We're looking forward to it. I know we're coming in 100 percent. I'm very excited for Saturday."

Edgard Zayas will ride Mythical for the first time after Emisael Jaramillo, who had been aboard for all six of her starts, moved his tack to southern California. Rated as second choice on the morning line at 5-2, they drew Post 4 in a field of eight and will carry topweight of 123 pounds, yielding three to five pounds to her rivals.

"Of course, the races will start getting tougher, with more fillies and new fillies with every race. But she seems to handle everything pretty much so far every distance and every challenge the same," Delgado said. "She's undefeated here at Gulfstream. She's been very solid every race she runs here and I think she likes to be home. She loves to breeze here and she loves to run here. It's a speed-favoring track and she has natural speed and all those things together I think give her a better shot every time she runs here."

Three-time defending Championship Meet leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., recent 1-2 finisher in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) with Skippylongstocking and White Abarrio, entered stablemates Tessellate and Secane. Final Furlong Farm and Madaket Stables' Secane (Post 3, 12-1) has run third in back-to-back one-mile stakes attempts including Gulfstream's Jan. 1 Cash Run, where she was beaten two necks in a three-way photo.

Magic Cap Stables, Paul Braverman, Timothy Pinch, Castle Gate Farm, Turf Express Racing Inc. and John Reinhardt's Tessellate (Post 2, 6-1) won the 6 ½-furlong Juvenile Fillies Sprint by 13 lengths Nov. 15 at Gulfstream in her 2-year-old finale and kicked off this year with a 2 ¾-length triumph in the seven-furlong Gasparilla Jan. 10 at Tampa Bay Downs. She has never been worse than third in five starts.

Joseph is a two-time winner of the Forward Gal, with Tonalist's Shape in 2020 and R Harper Rose in 2024.

Trainer Brad Cox will send out the pair of Sneaky Good and On Time Girl. Albaugh Family Stables' On Time Girl (Post 6) is the 9-5 program favorite exiting a 3 ½-length victory in the Nov. 29 Fern Creek sprinting 6 ½ furlongs at Churchill Downs, where she also captured a six-furlong open allowance by four lengths in her second start.

LNJ Foxwoods and NK Racing's Sneaky Good (Post 5, 8-1) is undefeated in two starts, both favored going six furlongs, including a 2 ¾-length score in the Dec. 6 Sandpiper at Tampa last time out. Cox has won two of the last four runnings of the Forward Gal, with Girl With a Dream in 2022 and Eclatant last year.

In addition to Mythical and Tessellate, both Hollen Drive and Imperatrice come off Gulfstream victories. Woodland Way's Imperatrice (Post 8, 5-1) stretched out from her runner-up finish in a six-furlong debut maiden event Oct. 26 at Aqueduct to graduate in front-running fashion going a mile Dec. 13 for trainer Todd Pletcher. The Hall of Famer previously won the Forward Gal with Zaajel (2001), Onlyforyou (2014), Kauai Katie (2013) and Broadway's Alibi (2012).

OXO Equine's Hollen Drive (Post 7, 15-1) was a 4 ¾-length maiden special weight winner in her Oct. 1 debut at Horseshoe Indiana, then struggled with a sealed muddy track when fifth in the Smart Halo Nov. 8 at Laurel Park. The daughter of Practical Joke kicked off her 3-year-old season with a two-length optional claiming allowance triumph sprinting 6 ½ furlongs Jan. 3 at Gulfstream under Jorge Ruiz.

"I thought she ran great last time. Jorge got along with her well and gave her a great trip," trainer Will Walden said. "It came up a tough race. She's going to have to move forward, but she's given us no indication that she's not going to."

Completing the field is Bryant Prentice III's Music Burst (Post 1, 10-1), a bay daughter of Maclean's Music that went wire to wire to graduate in her second start Nov. 13 at Churchill Downs and most recently ran second, beaten a half-length, in a Dec. 21 optional claiming allowance over the all-weather surface at Turfway Park. All three of her races have come at six furlongs.

"She's trained good down here and we're pretty excited about running her," said trainer Rusty Arnold, who won the Forward Gal with Letgomyecho in 2005 and Red Carpet Ready in 2023. "I think she'll handle the seven-eighths. We'll see if she handles the step up in class. It's a big difference."

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