Following a solid win in the Forward Gal Stakes (USA-G3) on January 31, On Time Girl was a 4-5 favorite for Gulfstream Park’s Davona Dale Stakes (USA-G2) on February 28. She was a reasonable choice in a field in which only one of the other six fillies, Cash Run Stakes winner Haute Diva, had won anything but a maiden special weight. Maiden winner She Be Smooth had other ideas, though. Making only her second lifetime start, the Todd Pletcher trainee dawdled behind the field early but made up nearly six lengths between the three-quarter pole and the stretch call to go from over four lengths off the lead to a length and a half in front. From there, she kept widening under mild urging, finishing six lengths ahead of My Miss Mo, who held the place by half a length over On Time Girl.
A Calumet Farm homebred, She So Smooth is the fourth stakes winner and first graded stakes winner from the first crop of 2021 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (USA-G1) winner Lexitonian. The stallion is a son of Speightstown out of the Tapit mare Riviera Romper, whose dam, Swap Fliparoo (by Exchange Rate), won the 2006 Test Stakes (USA-G1). This seems a speed-oriented pedigree, but Lexitonian is also the sire of Fire and Wine (out of Double Latte, by The Factor), who won the 9-furlong Coronation Futurity last year at Woodbine.
On the dam’s side, She Be Smooth is the last foal of 2009 Ogden Phipps Handicap (USA-G1) winner Seattle Smooth. The dam of six previous winners, including Grade 3-placed Seattle Slang and minor stakes-placed Gunfire (both by Tapit), Seattle Smooth is by Quiet American, now the broodmare sire of 147 stakes winners, and is out of unraced Our Seattle Star (by Washington D. C. International, USA-G1, winner Seattle Song), making her a half sister to stakes-placed Storming Starlet and to Moonshine Gal (by Forest Wildcat), dam of 2018 Ladies Handicap (USA-L) winner Just Got Out (by Harlington).
A half sister to multiple restricted stakes winner Rare Star (by Rare Performer), Our Seattle Star is out of stakes-placed Starsburg (by Whitesburg), a half sister to minor stakes winner Bold Decision (by Handsome Boy). Produced from juvenile stakes winner Dot’s Star (by the good juvenile Su Ka Wa, a son of 1956 American champion 2-year-old male Barbizon), Starsburg is part of a line of descent from Helen Barbee, a tough race mare crowned by racing historians as the American champion older female of 1912.
On paper, She Be Smooth looks more like a come-from-behind miler than a filly that really wants a two-turn distance, but one never can tell for certain without trying, and with 50 points toward a starting berth in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) already in the bank, there seems no reason not to try her at a longer trip and plenty of reason to do so. Although come-from-behind runners always run the risk of encountering traffic jams, the responsiveness she showed to Flavien Prat’s handling and her quick acceleration should serve her well in a larger field and give her a good chance to prove herself as a genuine Kentucky Oaks contender against stronger competition.
A Calumet Farm homebred, She So Smooth is the fourth stakes winner and first graded stakes winner from the first crop of 2021 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (USA-G1) winner Lexitonian. The stallion is a son of Speightstown out of the Tapit mare Riviera Romper, whose dam, Swap Fliparoo (by Exchange Rate), won the 2006 Test Stakes (USA-G1). This seems a speed-oriented pedigree, but Lexitonian is also the sire of Fire and Wine (out of Double Latte, by The Factor), who won the 9-furlong Coronation Futurity last year at Woodbine.
On the dam’s side, She Be Smooth is the last foal of 2009 Ogden Phipps Handicap (USA-G1) winner Seattle Smooth. The dam of six previous winners, including Grade 3-placed Seattle Slang and minor stakes-placed Gunfire (both by Tapit), Seattle Smooth is by Quiet American, now the broodmare sire of 147 stakes winners, and is out of unraced Our Seattle Star (by Washington D. C. International, USA-G1, winner Seattle Song), making her a half sister to stakes-placed Storming Starlet and to Moonshine Gal (by Forest Wildcat), dam of 2018 Ladies Handicap (USA-L) winner Just Got Out (by Harlington).
A half sister to multiple restricted stakes winner Rare Star (by Rare Performer), Our Seattle Star is out of stakes-placed Starsburg (by Whitesburg), a half sister to minor stakes winner Bold Decision (by Handsome Boy). Produced from juvenile stakes winner Dot’s Star (by the good juvenile Su Ka Wa, a son of 1956 American champion 2-year-old male Barbizon), Starsburg is part of a line of descent from Helen Barbee, a tough race mare crowned by racing historians as the American champion older female of 1912.
On paper, She Be Smooth looks more like a come-from-behind miler than a filly that really wants a two-turn distance, but one never can tell for certain without trying, and with 50 points toward a starting berth in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (USA-G1) already in the bank, there seems no reason not to try her at a longer trip and plenty of reason to do so. Although come-from-behind runners always run the risk of encountering traffic jams, the responsiveness she showed to Flavien Prat’s handling and her quick acceleration should serve her well in a larger field and give her a good chance to prove herself as a genuine Kentucky Oaks contender against stronger competition.
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