Dust and Diamonds the one to beat in Sugar Swirl

Dust and Diamonds, who emerged as one of the leading female sprinters in the

country in her past two starts, will make her debut for new owner Stud TNT and

trainer Todd Pletcher in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000

Sugar

Swirl at Gulfstream Park. The six-furlong dash, the first graded event of

the 2012-13 Gulfstream season, has attracted a field of seven fillies and mares.

A four-year-old daughter of Vindication, Dust and Diamonds was previously

trained by Steve Asmussen, who conditioned the filly to an 8-1 upset win of the

Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Handicap at Belmont Park at Belmont Park in late

September. A multiple allowance and minor stakes winner heading into the Gallant

Bloom, Dust and Diamonds defeated a strong field that included divisional

champion Musical Romance and multiple Grade 1 heroine Turbulent Descent.

In her final start for Asmussen, in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare

Sprint at Santa Anita, Dust and Diamonds finished a clear second to presumptive

female sprint champion Groupie Doll, who overcame both a wide trip and track

bias favoring front runners to win by more than four lengths. Dust and Diamonds

was 3 3/4 lengths ahead of Switch, who had run second in the previous two

editions of the Filly & Mare Sprint.

Consigned to the Fasig-Tipton November Sale three days after her Breeders'

Cup effort, Dust and Diamonds was gaveled down to Stud TNT for $900,000.