Seven Fillies Line Up For Manhattan District
We’re back in New York this Sunday for what looks to be another closely matched race between seven three-year-old fillies. The lone graded race on Saturday’s card will be the seven-furlong Manhattan District Stakes (G2). It looks like we’ll have a fast track for the 2:30 pm post time on Sunday. Lets take a look at the seven fillies that will be heading to the starting gate.
- Coyote Howling – derekcarlson2 – D. Carlson – 8/1
Going into the rail slot on Sunday, the modestly bred chestnut filly is already stakes placed and will be making her second try in graded stakes competition this weekend. The three-year-old is out of broodmare Speedway Surprise, who has two offspring on the ground to date, including a listed stakes winning local champion. The most recent start for this filly was in Oregon during the Cadoka Stakes (G3) at seven furlongs. This was the first time the filly saw an off track, with the course rated as good. The filly set off straight on the lead and maintained this through the entire race leading up to the stretch where she was caught by a late charging field. She would cross the wire just off the board in fourth, back off the winner by a length and three quarters. Her only other start as a three-year-old was in a listed stakes race over seven furlongs in Michigan, in which she finished third. Prior, the filly won two consecutive allowance races late in her two-year-old season. This filly looks like a near certainty for leading the field out of the gate, never breaking out of the gate off the lead in any of her six career starts.
2. Purple Honor – tatty4 – B. Child – 2/1
This impressive bay filly has never finished off the board in any of her seven lifetime starts, and of those the daughter of Honor Code has only been defeated once. She is the second graded winner produced by broodmare Awesome Princess and is currently ranked fifth in dirt sprinters for her class. Her most recent start was the fillies only loss, which was dealt to her in The Stonestop (G2) at seven furlongs in Kentucky. The filly came from far off the pace in twelfth early on the rocket forward in the stretch, where she ran out of ground, but managed to get up for second, just half a length behind the winner and setting a speed figure of one hundred. The most recent win for the filly was in her prior start, this in Florida during The Girl Up Front (G2), also at seven furlongs, and also in late closing fashion.
3. Invincible Tumbler (IRE) – givencovid – W. McClendon – 7/2
In the number three slot we will have the third best ranked dirt sprinter, who is out of the graded placed broodmare Tumblestone and by Invincible Spirit. The bay filly is already a Grade I winner with over a million in career earnings, and is coming off four consecutive wins. Though beginning her early career on the turf in her native Ireland, the filly is undefeated over the dirt. The most recent start for the Irish-bred was in Vermont during the 2022 Equinics (G1) at six furlongs. The filly came out of the gate and settled back towards the middle of the pack. Moving through the six furlongs, the filly gradually picked off runners spread out in front of her, winning the race by a length and setting a lifetime best speed figure of ninety-eight. One thing to note, the filly has never gone past six furlongs on the dirt, and her two lone starts over six furlongs on the turf both resulted in the fillies only two off the board finishes. Both of these were at a mile.
4. Miso Mad (TUR) – valesa16 – S. Tate – 5/1
The lone grey in the field will be the next into the gate on Sunday, the filly will be cutting back in distance again, looking for a start on a fast track at seven furlongs despite being ranked at twenty-four in dirt routers. The filly is sired by Daredevil and is out of the stakes winning broodmare Crazyeyes Sanders. The filly had her most recent start in the Cadoka Stakes (G3) at seven furlongs on an off track along with another filly in Sunday’s race. After setting back off the pace towards the rear of the field at the break, the filly was sent to make a move midway through the race which brought her home to finish third in her first graded start since the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Filly (G1) last year where she finished eighth. The most recent win for the three-year-old came in a listed stakes in Ohio over seven and a half furlongs. She is the most experienced horse in this weekend’s field with ten lifetime starts.
5. American Social – rubber6 – C. Gerhke – 4/1
Making her graded debut this weekend, the bay filly by top sire American Pharoah, is out of the graded winning broodmare Ziggy Indy, and is the second of two listed stakes winners on the ground for the broodmare. The most recent start for the filly was also a win, this coming in a seven and a half furlong listed stakes race in New York. The filly won in wire to wire fashion, though with some other speed in the race this weekend, its likely the filly will probably set off just off the pace in second early on, as she has done successfully in past races. She set a speed figure of ninety-five in her most recent start. The only off the board finish for the filly was over a dirt track at a mile and three sixteenths.
6. Fleetwood Covid (SAF) – fleetwood – R. Waples – 12/1
The longshot in Saturday’s field, the South African-bred bay filly is graded placed and out of the allowance winning broodmare Fleetwood Indy. To date, the filly has won two of her seven lifetime starts. Her most recent start was here in New York during The Adam’s Apple (G3) at a mile over the dirt. Breaking towards the tail end of the field, the filly managed to maintain her position early on and made some progress on the rest of the rest of the field late in the race. She finished seventh, four and a half lengths off the pace of the winner. She set a lifetime best speed figure in this race of eighty-eight. The most recent win for the filly was midway through her two-year-old season over a sloppy dirt course over seven and a half furlongs in an allowance race in Canada.
7. Starflash – robsscoobi – Z. Ayya – 9/1
Last up in Sunday’s field, this filly is the only scratch bred of the field, and is by promising sire Practical Joke. The filly is graded placed, finishing on the board in five of her eight lifetime starts. Like a good portion of the rest of of this weekend’s field, the filly made her most recent start in the Cadoka Stakes (G3). The bay filly set off the pace early on behind a couple of front runners and made a move late down the stretch, finishing a fast closing second, just a quarter length of the pace and setting a lifetime best speed figure of ninety-eight. The most recent win for the filly came in the final race of her two-year-old season, during a local-bred allowance race over seven furlongs.
Flrancho’s Picks
Win: Invincible Tumbler (IRE)
Place: Purple Honor
Show: Starflash