(Chart, Equibase)
Eugene and Laura Melnyk's favored Tweedside disposed of pace-setting Amelia and danced away from San Dare and Hi Tech Honeycomb in the stretch to score a 5 1/2-length victory in Sunday's $200,000 Orchid Handicap (gr. II), switched from the turf to a sloppy Gulfstream Park main track.Ridden by Rene Douglas, the 5-year-old Thunder Gulch mare covered the 1 1/2-mile Orchid in 2:32 1/5.Trained by Todd Pletcher, Tweedside settled in second place, well off the pace established by Amelia, who led by as many as five lengths on the backstretch. Douglas moved to the tiring leader's outside on the turn for home with Hi Tech Honeycomb and jockey Manoel Cruz ranging up on them while three wide. But Tweedside took off from there and opened up a three-length lead on her rivals by the time they hit the stretch. San Dare and Mark Guidry made her way through on the inside and was a clear second, five lengths in front of Hi Tech Honeycomb. Tweedside, who earned $120,000, had finished second to San Dare in the The Very One (gr. IIIT) in their last confrontation on the Gulfstream lawn Feb. 8. She ended a four-race losing streak and won for the second time in two tries on an off-track. Overall, Tweedside has won seven times in 20 starts with a career bankroll of $646,791.Dr. and Mrs. R.S. West and Mr. & Mrs. Mackenzie Miller bred her in Kentucky. Sent off at 6-5 in a field of seven reduced by two scratches, Tweedside paid $4.40, $2.60 and $2.20. San Dare, who was seeking her third straight graded stakes victory, returned $3 and $2.40. Hi Tech Honeycomb's show price was $3.20.