Ten 3 YO Fillies Go For Grade 2 Lake Flacid
The Lake Flacid Upper New York (1) RINGER II (CAN) Odds: 7/1 Owner: Bael Stables Ringer II is a Canadian-bred daughter of Buie, and she’s out of the Hold Tiger mare Wolf House, who made most of her money on the track running in marathon dirt stakes races. The three year old daughter of Buie here started off her career on the turf, as a late two year old, and she was throwing some pretty nice numbers on the grass. Then her connections, Bael Stables, threw her on the dirt in some big money allowance events in Upper New York and Pennsyvlania, before she switched back to the turf earlier this season. She’s been running in mostly listed stakes since her switch back to the turf, and she’s got one win since the surface switch. That came in April, when she won a 9.5 furlong listed stakes in New Jersey. Ringer II has three thirds and a first in her last five starts, but probably one of her more impressive efforts came last time out, when she threw a 96 speed figure in the 9-furlong A.P. Swamp Turf Filly Route in Delaware. She was only beaten by 1 ½ lengths there, while finishing third. She popped a 100 speed figure four starts back, when she finished third in the 9.5 furlong Dynasea Turf Filly Route in Oklahoma, the only triple digit speed figure race of her brief career. She looked really sharp last time out, and she looks to improve on that performance here in Upper New York this weekend. (2) ELITE ROCK (IRE) Odds: 9/2 Owner: Elite Racing Stables Elite Rock, a three year old daughter of Rock Of Gibraltar, comes in here to Upper New York as your 9/2 second favorite on the morning line, and she is coming off her first triple digit speed figure of her career. She popped a 103 number in the Equinics, when she ran in the 8-furlong Grade 1 Franfurt Niederrad. She ran fifth there. Two starts back, she was sixth in the Grade 3 Feeling Bad, where she showed a lot of early foot in trying to keep up with K’s Twelve Oaks, who finished second in that 9-furlong race. That hot early pace may have been her undoing there in the Grade 3 Feeling Bad Stakes, as Elite Rock finished sixth in the six-horse field. She steps back up to the 9-furlong distance here this weekend in the Grade 2 Lake Flacid. Of her 14 career starts, seven of them have been in graded company, so this field — and this level of competition — is nothing new for the Rock Of Gibraltar progeny. A very precocious two year old, she won four of her seven starts as a two year old, and she started off this season with two consecutive wins. She hasn’t won since then, but this might be the time she steps up to the plate and knocks one out of the park. (3) SAPHIRE BLUE (KY) Odds: 7/2 Owner: Alisham Stables Another precocious two year old here is your Lake Flacid morning line favorite, Saphire Blue, a three year old daughter of Giant’s Causeway. She is a scratch-breeding by Alisham Stables, and she’s got Mr. Prospector and Alyday back there in her breeding, and that always means a lot of speed early on. She won four of her five two year old starts, two on the turf, and three on the dirt. In her final start of her juvenile campaign, she won the 8.5 furlong Aly’s Chant Turf Juvenile Filly listed stakes in Sweden with a pretty impressive 91 speed figure. This filly has got a ton of speed, and she’s shown it throughout her career. She was gradually stepped up in distance as a three year old, but she didn’t fare nearly as well as she did when she was two. Then three starts back, she was dropped into sprints. She finished second in a listed stakes in Newmarket, before she won the 6.5-furlong A.P Rizz Kid Turf Filly Dash listed stakes in Finland in impressive fashion going gate to wire. She popped a pretty huge 105 speed figure there, a career high for the Giant’s Causeway daughter. Last time out, she finished second in a listed stakes in Denmark, this time at 7 furlongs. She jumps back into the classic distances here this weekend in Upper New York, and if her past performance charts are any indication, Saphire Blue will probably try to go to the front early and steal this race. Can she hang on the whole 9 furlongs though? That’s the big question for your morning line favorite here in Upper New York this weekend. This is her first try ever at this distance on the turf, and that’s always an unknown factor. She looks hot coming in here, she’s extremely well rested (hasn’t raced since July 21), and she might just hang on here. (4) SCHMITT (IRE) Odds: 5/1 Owner: Right At Home Stables Right At Home Stables, always a familiar face in these graded events, sends out Schmitt, an Irish-bred daughter of Sea The Stars, whose scratch-breeding includes Monsun and Northern Dancer. She is extremely lightly raced coming in here, with only eight career starts, three of which she’s won. Schmitt popped a career-high 106 speed figure a couple starts back, when she finished fourth in the Grade 3 Hot Springs in New Jersey. She’s been running mostly 8-8.5 furlong races so far in her career, and this will be only her second try going as long as the 9 furlongs required here in the Lake Flacid Stakes. She won three of her first four starts, but hasn’t won since February. But, then again, she’s been strictly in graded company her last four starts. She’s been facing some pretty stiff competition too. This field should be more to her liking. Her highest graded finish was three starts back in the Grade 3 Great Woman in California back in May. She finished third there, beaten 7 lengths. This step up in distance might be a lot to ask of her, especially since she’s running on three weeks rest. Most of her races up to now have been spaced much farther apart than that, but maybe this is what she needs to put her over the top. (5) JAYE DUKE (IRE) Odds: 20/1 Owner: Jdtrot42 Stables Jaye Duke started out her career on the dirt early in her two year old season, and when she didn’t show much there, her connections claimed her for $30,000. She won a race for her prior connections but she had never thrown anything higher than a 66 speed figure. That’s when Jdtrot42 Stables claimed her and saw the turf potential in this three year old daughter of Duke Of Marmalade, who is out of the Forestry mare J Colody. She’s won nine of her 11 starts for Jdtrot42 Stables, including three listed stakes wins in a row in her last three starts, all at 9.5 furlongs. She drops a half furlong in distance here, but she’s definitely the hottest filly coming into this race. All three of those stakes wins came by a combined 9 ½ lengths margin of victory, which is pretty impressive. I don’t think the step down in distance is going to hurt Jaye Duke at all here, considering she won those listed stakes so easily. She really hasn’t faced graded company before, and those three listed stakes wins were all 4 or 5 horse fields. She’s going to be tested here, that much is certain, but she won all of those listed stakes geared down at the end. Now we get to see if Jaye Duke is ready for graded company. She’s 20/1 in this spot, mainly because she’s yet to throw a 100 speed figure. A very live long shot here in the Lake Flacid. (6) SAILOR MOON (KY) Odds: 6/1 Owner: Phillysun7 Stables Sailor Moon comes into the Grade 2 Lake Flacid with only TWO turf starts under her belt. She started off her career on the dirt, where she was doing well enough, not finishing out of the top three in 7 career dirt races. But two starts back, Phillysun7 Stables threw the daughter of Malibu Moon on the turf, and she responded with a huge effort in a 9-furlong allowance in Northern California. She raced on July 28 in the 10-furlong Road Rubbing Turf Filly Route in Montana, and she closed late to just lose by a nose. She threw her first triple digit speed figure race there (100). She drops back to 9 furlongs here, and that can only mean trouble for the rest of this field. She’s out of an Elusive Quality mare who also has Caerleon in her pedigree, and that means tons of stamina. Expect exactly that–tons of stamina–from this deep closer from Phillysun7 Stables this weekend. She’ll be charging hard late, and now that she’s found her true home on the turf, she’s likely to be tough to beat here. (7) LIGHTPASSER (CAN) Odds: 5/1 Owner: Mickyb2 Stables The three year old daughter of North Light out of the Danzig mare Vice Money has sparkled on the turf her last three starts, popping 95, 104 and 94 speed figures, and she’s got two wins and a third to show for it. She won her two nine furlongs races, and like Sailor Moon breaking just to her inside, she ran ten furlongs last time out–and finished third. Now, she’s dropping back to nine furlongs too, here, in her first graded stakes attempt. She’ll be dangerous here. Two starts back, she ran the 9-furlongs in a German allowance event in 1:48 2/5, and that’s pretty hot. Lightpasser is one of two co-second favorites here installed at 5/1 odds by the morning line guys, and she should be extremely dangerous in her first graded stakes attempt ever. One drawback–she is running on three weeks rest. You might think that’s a bit of a quick turnaround, but Lightpasser has done this before, running on short rest, and she’s been outstanding. She should be a major player in this race. (8) DIVERGENCE (ENG) Odds: 8/1 Owner: UFO Testing Center Divergence, an English-bred daughter of New Approach, didn’t waste much time getting into stakes action as a two year old. She debuted in a six furlong listed stakes and won. She’s a scratch-bred who’s got Icecapade and Caro back there in her scratch-bred pedigree. She’s got five wins in her 11 career starts, and lately she’s been hitting some pretty tough graded company. She had won four of her five starts, before her last three efforts–a couple of graded efforts in the Grade 2 Regina Elina and the Grade 2 Sandy Ring, both 8-furlong affairs. Last time out, she warmed up for this Lake Flacid with a six-furlong listed stakes. That was on August 11, which put her on super sharp here this weekend in Upper New York. IF she likes this 9 furlongs, and there’s no reason she shouldn’t, she could be a solid player in this field. She should break out on top quickly and go right to the front, and she’ll try to play catch-me-if-you-can with the rest of this field. (9) DRESS UP VAMPYRE (FR) Odds: 32/1 Owner: Gorytus Stables The French-bred Dress Up Vampyre is 32/1 here, and she’s only got three starts coming into the Grade 2 Lake Flacid. After a pretty nice turf debut, she went on the dirt, and she only recently returned to the grass in her last two starts. The three year old daughter has changed owners almost as many times as she’s changed saddle cloths, having been claimed three times in her brief career so far. She just started running four months ago, and already she’s got nine career starts. In fact this is just about the longest break she’s taken between races. She last ran–and won–in the 10-furlong listed Brabata Turf Filly Special in North Dakota, before she was shipped her to Upper New York by her new connections, Gorytus Stables. She’s from a sire called Konig Turf, and she’s out of a Faltaat mare, Future Commodity. She’s got a career-high 89 speed figure, which isn’t anywhere close to most of these, and that speed number came on a dirt race. But then again, she’s got a listed stakes win at ten furlongs on her resume, something not many in this field can brag about. She threw an 85 speed figure there, but it was a very short field, and she won by five lengths. Lots of question marks for this one, who was simply dominating in her last performance. (10) KOHELU ENCUMEBENE (KY) Odds: 8/1 Owner: Tazdevil Stables Kohelu Encumebene is a pretty well-bred daughter of Medaglia D’Oro, and her dam is the Peintre Celebre mare Born To Be Queen. Born To Be Queen has certainly been regal in the shed, as Kohelu Encumebene has a stakes-placed sister, another graded-placed sister, and she herself is a stakes-winner. Not bad for three out of five half siblings. Not bad at all for the entry from Tazdevil Stables. After her debut, Kohelu Encumebene finished second four consecutive times before she broke her maiden in a 7-furlong race in the heartland of America, Kansas. She was running low-mid 70-ish speed numbers early in her career, but as soon as she hit the route races, she really has blossomed. She’s been in graded events in two of her last three starts (both fifth place finishes), and inbetween those two starts she won a listed stakes in South Dakota, the 8.5-furlong Kryszostoniak Turf Filly Route. She popped a 96 speed number there. In fact, her speed figures have been on the rise throughout her career. She still hasn’t broken that magical 100 speed figure barrier. Don’t be surprised if this is the weekend she breaks through the century-mark in speed figures–and don’t be surprised if she breaks through with her first graded win here.
Grade II
Distance: A mile and one eighth, Or 9 Furlongs, Or About 1800 Metres
Surface: Firm Turf
Purse: $150,000
Condition: Fillies and mares, 3 years old