Maggie Go, having regained her confidence, heads for the Sand Springs Stakes

The daughter of Winning Prize will face 10 rivals this Saturday on the Gulfstream Park turf; Flavien Prat will be in her irons

Maggie Go winning at Gulfstream Park / GULFSTREAM PARK

HALLANDALE BEACH, Florida (Special for Turf Diario).— The major card to be held this Saturday at Gulfstream Park, with the Florida Derby (G1) as the main attraction, will feature several South American contenders to follow.

While the Argentine Ayra Stark (Cosmic Trigger) and the Chilean Doña Clota (Iván Denisovich) will be part of the field in the Orchid Stakes (G3) —already covered in these pages— their fellow Argentine Maggie Go faces a significant challenge of her own.

Returning to stakes company, the talented daughter of Winning Prize is one of 11 confirmed runners for the Sand Springs Stakes, a 1,700-meter turf contest with a 175,000 dollar purse.

Trained by Chad Brown for the partnership of Michael Dubb, Andrew Rosen, John Stuart, and Michael J. Caruso, the bay will break from post 1 with Frenchman Flavien Prat in the irons. She is quoted at 6/1 in the morning line as the fourth choice in a competitive field.

A winner in Argentina of the Clásico Eliseo Ramírez (G2) and holder of several top-level placements there, Maggie Goopened her Northern Hemisphere campaign with a notable second in the Eatontown Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park, though she lost her way in two subsequent starts.

Following a very brief freshening, she returned to action in mid-February at the same track where she competes now, winning an allowance optional claiming race with a strong closing kick, arriving at the Sand Springs Stakes with high confidence.

The favorite appears to be Sweet Rebecca (American Pharoah), trained by Brendan Walsh for Resolute Racing, who, like Maggie Go, is coming off an allowance victory here. A winner of the Memories of Silver Stakes (L) early in her campaign, she looks to take another step forward.

Under the training of Mark Casse, with Venezuelan jockey Javier Castellano aboard and as a granddaughter of Candy Ride, the name Candy Quest (Connect) also stands out firmly. She takes a step down in class after finishing second in the Endeavour Stakes (G3) and fourth in the The Very One Stakes (G3), not forgetting her 2025 victory in the Ontario Colleen Stakes (G3) at Woodbine.

Hang the Moon (Uncle Mo) and Silver Moonlight (Liam's Map) will also add their share of quality to the lineup.