‘It’s High Time’ for revenge in Desert Vixen; ‘Dream of Me’ in Dr. Fager

On July 5 at Gulfstream Park, It’s High Time found herself chasing the pace set by Ballet Diva in the Cassidy S. The dark bay miss could never get to that rival and ended up finishing third, beaten eight lengths on the wire.

Fast forward to Saturday and It’s High Time turned back a challenge from Ballet Diva when prevailing by 3 1/4 lengths in the $200,000 Desert Vixen division of the Florida Sire Stakes (FSS). This time around, it was Ballet Diva who wound up in third, four lengths behind It’s High Time.

The duo broke on top with Silent Prayer, who ended up leading the way around the backstretch down on the rail. It’s High Time pulled her way to the front entering the turn with 1-5 favorite Ballet Diva racing just off her flank on the outside.

Ballet Diva appeared ready to take command for a brief moment, moving up to run in tandem with It’s High Time, but then suddenly dropped back again. As the eventual winner continued her momentum, Ballet Diva was overtaken by Silent Prayer and forced to settle for third.

It’s High Time was an easy winner of her debut on May 21 at Gulfstream, scoring by 7 1/4 lengths in that 4 1/2-furlong contest, and successfully stretched out in this spot when stopping the clock in 1:12.59 for the six-furlong Desert Vixen.

The Tracy Pinchin homebred is trained by Jose Pinchin and was ridden by Harry Hernandez for the first time on Saturday.

It's High Time (Leslie Martin/Adam Coglianese Photography)

The $200,000 Dr. Fager came one race from the end of Gulfstream’s Saturday program and saw Dream of Me score by 2 1/4 lengths after dueling throughout with Mr. Kisses.

That duo plus 9-5 favorite Li’l Meatball hooked up from the start and battled it out through splits of :22/61, :46.32 and :58.68. Upon hitting the stretch, Li’l Meatball’s jockey, Miguel Vazquez, dropped the whip and the colt flattened out soon after.

Mr. Kisses had taken command by this point but Dream of Me fought back on the inside. The Anna Varsi trainee never relented, even after collaring Mr. Kisses, and pulled off under Eduardo Nunez to post a final time of 1:12.11 for six furlongs on the fast main track.

Dream of Me, campaigned by Kathy Machesky, broke his maiden in his second start on July 26 at Gulfstream, wiring that sloppy, sealed affair by 3 3/4 lengths. The gray colt’s debut also came on an off track, but he proved Saturday more than handle of handling fast surfaces as well.

Mr. Kisses was sent off the second longest shot at 35-1 in the nine-horse field, but was tenacious up front and, unless facing Grade 1 company, probably won’t get those kinds of odds in his next one.

Dream of Me (Lauren King/Adam Coglianese Photography)