Vividly showed her potential in U.S. debut

Circumstances naturally dictate how a horse’s connections perceive a certain race.

For instance, expectations were not particularly high for a filly named Vividly when she was dismissed at 15-1 in her North American debut in the first race on Pegasus World Cup Day at Gulfstream Park – especially after she practically walked out of the starting gate.

With a quarter-mile to go in the one-mile turf race, Vividly was still last of 11 – but not for long, as she launched a furious outside run to finish fourth, beaten just a length for all the money. Suddenly, the outlook was much brighter.

With that conspicuous effort under her proverbial belt, Vividly might well come a solid favorite Thursday in the only open allowance on a 10-race Gulfstream card. Irad Ortiz Jr., the leading jockey at the three-month-old championship meet, has taken the call on Vividly in the featured ninth race, a $52,000, first-level allowance to be run at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf.

First post Thursday is 1:10 p.m. It’s part of the 20-cent Rainbow 6, which spans races 5-10 and is projected to offer a guaranteed pool of $1 million, assuming the jackpot was not emptied Wednesday by a solo winning ticket.