Females test their stamina in Water Heather(IRE) Memorial

Virginia lengthens the track to thirteen furlongs for this week’s feature race, the Water Heather(IRE) Memorial. The race is for all fillies and mares three years and up, and will run on a track rated as firm. The $50000 purse has drawn some of the best female turfers out there to compete. The field is short, at five entries, so everyone will collect a check. Ages range from three to five years, with experience ranging from fifteen starts to nearly forty. Oddsmakers have spoken loud and clearly, choosing a 2/5 favorite, with the rest of the field bunched between 4/1 and 9/1 odds. In a race of this length, odds can be deceiving though, so tune in Saturday for what promises to be another excellent marquee race for the Virginia track.

PP1) Salfly’s Spur(AUS) Sired by Flying Spur(AUS), Trained by rose. Salfly’s Spur(AUS) is the sole three year old filly to enter this field, coming in ranked nineteenth in the Long Turf division for her age category. This will be her fifteenth career start, and her eleventh straight stakes start. She has four stakes victories to her credit, and enters this one riding a three race winning streak. Over her last ten starts, she has run to a record of 4-3-3-0-0, with no 100+ outings yet. She comes off a stakes victory in New Mexico at sixteen furlongs in her last outing. She has never been off the turf in her career, and with twelve top three finishes in fourteen starts, I don’t see any reason why she should. She loves the long route distance, and she has won her last three by a combined distance of fourteen and a half lengths. She is a wire to wire type runner, and she has proven quite hard to catch when she builds up a lead. She has no early speed to contend with in this one, so there is nothing to stop her from getting the lead she wants. She should be leading this one at the top of the stretch, but there is some good closing speed in this one, so she will need every bit of cushion she gets to hold on.

PP 2) Snowbunny Sailor Sired by Polish Navy, Trained by blackruby. Snowbunny Sailor is a four year old filly running in her nineteenth career race here. She comes in as the oddsmakers favorite here, at 2/5 odds. She has one career stakes victory and she collected a check at graded level. Over her last ten starts, she has compiled a 2-3-0-2-2 record, with six 100+ speeds. Those statistics earned her the odds she received in this race, but this is where the question start. Not sure precisely what her trainer was going for here, the most likely case was the short field in this one. This will only be her second start on turf, and her first experience was a less than stellar outing for her. It was on an off track, but she hasn’t seemed to suffer badly on sloppy dirt, so the surface change here doesn’t appear to be a positive. Likewise, this is her longest run to date by four furlongs. Her sire has been known to throw some long runners, but they are the exception, rather than the rule. She has done very well at nine furlongs, but she will have a lot more track to cover in this one. She runs as a midpack closer, and her close has been very consistent on dirt. She’ll have a burner in front of her in this one, and at this distance, she will likely have more distance to make up than she is used to seeing. I think turf will be a bigger issue than distance in this one, and her position at the half should tell the story.

PP 3) Enlighten Sired by Fantastic Light, Trained by pearljam. Enlighten is the well raced veteran of this field, a five year old mare making her thrity seventh start here. She carries a 114 divisional ranking, but is still seeking her first stakes victory. Her last ten starts have netted her a 1-1-2-3-0 record with no 100+ starts. She enters this one coming off a Grade II effort in New Mexico at nine and a half furlongs, where she finished a disappointing tenth out of ten starters. She has three dirst starts in her career and while in speed she has shown some surface versatility, she is definitely more sucessful on the grass. Both of her career victories have come at ten furlongs or better, and her best speeds have been in the eleven to twelve furlong range. Beyond twelve furlongs, her speeds have dipped, but she has collected checks in two of three tries. She is a closer, capable of making up large distance at times, but her close this year has been spotty at best. She’s gonna have a good piece of ground to make up in this one it looks like and she is going to have to find that that close in this one to be a factor.

PP 4) Mals Approval Sired by With Approval, Trained by jockfan. Mals Approval makes her throty second career start here in her four year old campaign. She has one stakes victory to her credit, coming earlier this year. In her last ten starts, she has notched a 1-0-2-3-2 with no 100+ speeds. She comes off a fifth place finish in an eleven furlong stakes in Delaware in her last outing, ten lengths out at the wire. In shorter races, her dirt speeds have generally been better than those on turf. At twelve furlongs and longer though, she has had more success on the grass. She is a deep closer, who has had some stellar runs widely interspersed between lackluster efforts. Her close seems to be at its best the longer she runs, though, and the distance here will benefit her. Her speeds have not really been at stakes level, but she has benefited from some short fields, as she will here again. If she can duplicate her run in her Florida stakes run earlier this year, she could threaten in the stretch.

PP 5) Gold And Green II Sired by Seeking The Gold, Trained by manni168. Gold And Green II is a four year old filly, making only her sixteeenth career start here. She brings a number 97 divisional ranking to the table, along with one stakes win. Her last ten starts have netted her a 3-2-2-1-1 record, with no 100+ starts. She comes off a seventh place finish in her last start, a twelve furlong stakes in Ottawa, where she seemed to sustain some type of injury. This is her first start after a seven week layoff. She displays a strong turf preference, and her two tries on dirt were not especially sucessful. Once she was able to get some longer distances in her three year old season, she blossomed, with seven top three finishes in ten starts at eleven furlongs or better. She has faired less well at stakes level, but still finds herself consistently in the money. She’s not in an overly fast field here, and she should be competitive. She is another closer in this field full of them, but her close has been one of the most consistent here. The long layoff is a question mark in this race, but if she runs as she has been, she has about the best close here, and should be in the mix at the wire.