Captiva Island
$125.000 For Fillies And Mares Four Years Old And Upwards
5 Furlongs – Turf
Gulfstream Park – March 14, 2026

With rain currently more likely than not for Saturday it is possible that this field could change but, for now, we have nine fillies and mares set to head to the gate for the eleventh running of the Captiva Island, a five-furlong dash on the grass. All entrants will carry 124 pounds.

1. Red High Heels (TwinTowersRacing/J. Bravo) G2 winning mare was purchased way back in 2023 for $4.000. Not a bad deal. She was a long neck away from taking the G3 DEL Handicap as recently as last September, but she is moving back to the grass for the first time since her third lifetime start in December of 2023 right before her sale. Her grass works are good enough to say she can run on it but it is a question mark. In her twenty-two races she has also never run on a wet track so if it is anything other than firm add another unknown.

2. Shine To Class (Our Athletes/Mario Gutierrez) Four-year-old homebred sports an impressive seven wins from ten starts. She is a stakes winner and has been very close to adding a graded stakes win to her resume, so her record is earned against some tough competition. She is six of nine on grass and two wins in three off track starts. Works are fast and she comes out of a winning tuneup in a Santa Anita allowance. There is nothing to knock here. 

3. Frozen Mist (Maxmillion Farm/N. Juarez) Speaking of very little to knock… five-year-old mare is a G2 winner since being purchased privately for $100.000 last May. She has only failed to pick up a check in one of her seven stakes races since the purchase and has earned over $1,500.000 in her career. Unfortunately, the one race she failed to cash in was her last race and 2026 debut in the G2 Lukas Stakes. Although she finished eighth, she only lost by a length in that and given her history you have to write that off and like her move back to five furlongs. 

4. Mo Li Mo (John Henry/D. Davis) Another graded stakes winning mare with an impressive record. She has won thirteen of her twenty-six races. She opened up her 2026 campaign by taking The Ladies Turf Sprint at this track in February. She is working very fast in the mornings. She has a come from behind style that always presents the problem of finding a way through the field but her record shows that she finds her way more often than not. 

5. Stellar Strength (Mb Stables/E.J. Zayas) Multiple graded stakes winner who has won almost $2.000.000. She has been in the money in twenty four of her twenty-eight races and she always shows up. Last year she was a length and a long neck away from sporting an eight stakes races in a row win streak including six graded events. The likely favorite.

6. When Doves Cry (Big Jd Racing/L. Salles) This field is loaded with stakes winners and she in another having appeared in the winner’s circle in four stakes events over her career. She has not been able to translate that same success in graded races and although this race does not have a graded designation it has drawn several graded stakes winners and the field is of that quality. She has two sharp seconds this year in stakes races including a second place to Stellar Strength to her inside in The Lightning City Stakes a month ago. She is capable but needs some racing luck to put her over the top here. 

7. Jean From Winter Pen (Robeth/J. Rosario) Privately purchased a little over a month ago for $100.000. She is making her first start for her new barn. She is a restricted stakes winner but makes her open stakes debut here. She won her last race in a Tampa overnight by two lengths sprinting on the grass and has hit the board in three of her four grass attempts. She has picked a very tough group to make her grass stakes debut as well. Has to prove it but if she can top this field that purchase price will look like a bargain. 

8. Glass Ceiling (Black N Gold Stable/M.J. Husbands) Claimed for $8.000 last summer she has won three of four races since then. The one time she didn’t wear the flowers was in her stakes attempt in the Abundantia, a turf sprint at this track last December. She has won an overnight at the Fair Grounds since and comes back to give it another shot in stakes company here. She is consistent and always competitive, but this field has so much depth it would be a surprise, but this barn has a 23%-win ratio so they enter to win.

9. Tried N True (Spb Racing/Jo Ruiz) This filly won the aforementioned Abudantia sprinting on the grass here. That was two races ago. She finished last of eight in her 2026 debut behind dead heat winner Mo Ki Mo in The Ladies Turf Sprint five weeks ago and is looking to rebound here. She likes to show early foot and for a five furlong sprint this race looks to lack the type of early speed you would expect with only a couple of others expected to go. She could clear from the outside post and surprise. 

For a $125.000 this race has drawn a stellar field that you would expect in a graded contest. You have to pick some of the tried-and-true entrants proven against top level competition. With that in mind I will put the top finishers in the following order: Mo Ki Mo, Stellar Strength, Frozen Mist and Shine To Class.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded