The Brad Grady homebred Honey Dijon turned the tables on 3-5 favorite R Harper Rose to register her first stakes victory in taking the $300,000 1 1/16-mile My Dear Girl Stakes, the filly division finale of the FTBOA Florida sire stakes at Gulfstream.
The Joe Sharp-trained filly broke sharply from her inside post and settled comfortably in third through opening fractions of :23.19, :46.78, and 1:11.45 while always keeping front-runner R Harper Rose in her sights. As they passed the mile marker, the dark bay filly slowly crept up along the inside with jockey Paco Lopez before swinging to the two-path and engaging R Harper Rose at the head of the stretch.
From there, the daughter of Girvin quickly put away the heavy favorite, who could offer no resistance, and motored home to an easy 2 3/4-length victory while eventually easing up at the wire.
The final time of 1:45.60 was nearly identical to the In Reality male division clocking (1:45.59) earlier on the card.
Girvin sired both the male and female Saturday sire stakes final winners and jockey Paco Lopez was the winning rider of both divisions.
R Harper Rose ran well for the place spot and was easily 7 1/4 lengths clear of the closing third-place finisher, Haunted .
Honey Dijon paid $8 for a $2 win wager and is now 2-1-0 from five starts with earnings of $284,450.
Brad and Misty Grady bred the winner in Florida, the same connections as In Reality juvenile colt victor Seminole Chief.
VIDEO: FTBOA FLORIDA SIRE MY DEAR GIRL S. (BT)
