HALLANDALE BEACH - The juvenile racing season at Gulfstream Park was kicked off with a dead-heat for win in today’s fourth race, in which Mark Casse-trained Reiterate and Wesley Ward-trained Marva shared the glory in their respective career debuts in the 4 ½-furlong dash for 2-year-old fillies.

    Marva, the 3-5 favorite, broke on top under Eduardo Nunez and set the pace into the stretch, only to receive a late challenge by Reiterate, who saved ground along the backstretch and far turn before responding to the urging of jockey Nik Juarez. Marva held gamely but was caught at the finish line by Reiterate.

    Reiterate and Marva ran the 4 ½ furlongs in 52.17 seconds. Sonar rallied late under Emisael Jaramillo to finish third, 1 ¼ lengths back. Owned by Gabe Ginsberg, Reiterate is a Florida-bred daughter of Competitive Edge who brought $45,000 at the 2018 OBS October sale.

    “When they sent her from the training center in Ocala, they said they had pretty high hopes for her,” said Casse’s assistant trainer, Nick Tomlinson. “Since they sent her to me, she’s never done anything wrong. She’s got a great mind on her. She’s very, very classy. Hopefully, she has a bright future.”

    Also bred and owned by Ward, Marva is a daughter of Iqbaal. “She’s a homebred. I own the sire,” Ward said. “We got lucky. I’ll take lucky any day.”

 


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