“Light”, Espresso, and Treasures in the Mother Story

Welcome back to New Jersey, and as we near the end of today’s card, we find there is still a bunch of real nice races, so stick around.  The 15^th race on the card is the Mother Story Handicap, a G1 race for 2year old fillies going 8.5 fl on the Fast Dirt course.  The namesake of this race, Mother Story, was, as her owner remarked, a very good filly.  She was champion 2 year old, an Eclipse Award winner and a stakes winner at 2 and 3.  She also had a simrivalry with Alone That Baby during her racing years.  So let’s see the girls running here today…

Breaking from PP1, is #37718 Territorial T, a ted trained chestnut filly by Indian Territory out of Touch Your Self(Grindstone x Deputy Minister) and is 5/2-2-0 lifetime.  This filly has done well in allowance races and lower level stakes, but her only try in graded company did not inspire confidence in her, finishing 14^th LTO.  Her speeds also have not been as good as some of the other fillies in this race.  She is the longshot in this race, at 23/1 and has jock Q. Oliver taking up the reins.

Next, in PP2, is #47730 No Apagues La Luz, a super21 trained brown filly, who is a daughter of Empire Maker based on Spirit Of Texas(Danzig x Forty Niner) and is 6/4-2-0 in her career.  Here is a BB Juvie Fillies runner, finishing a close second to Pro Dubai LTO.  This filly is definitely on to watch in this race, for she has the speeds and the graded experience that some of these other fillies don’t have.  She is the favorite in this race, going off at 5/1 and has New Jersey’s top jock J. Benisz in the irons.

Starting in PP3, we have #96746 Espresso D’Italia.  This lasthope1 trained dark grey filly is by Medaglia D’Oro out of Arequipa(Miswaki x Seeking The Gold) and is 7/3-1-1 lifetime.  Here is another talented filly whose recent speeds should have her at least hitting the board today.  She has run this distance before and won a G2 LTO at this distance.  She is off at odds of 8/1 today and has jock R. Case in the saddle.

Next, breaking from PP4, is #97977 Big Time Star, a canismajor trained brown filly by Aldebaran out of Chicago F(IRE)(Theatrical(IRE) x Affirmed) and is 9/4-1-1 lifetime.  This filly seems to be a bit hard to read for me. She has done well in stakes races, but those were small fields, even though she did finish 4^th in a G2 two races back.  Her speeds have been decent, but we will have to see if she can handle the class jump.  She is off at 11/1 and has jockey P. Perabo in the irons.

In PP5, we have #89019 Baldo Hollandia.  This rintintin trained chestnut filly is a daughter of Pure Prize out of a Secretariat mare and is 6/1-1-2 in her career.  This is another BB Juvie Fillies runner, but her run in that race was far from stellar, finishing 14^th.  She had done very well in graded stakes before that BB run, however, even though she never won one and her speeds so far have been ok, but she will need to kick it up a couple notches to hit the board her today.  She is at odds of 13/1 and jockey G. McMurtry has the ride today.

From PP6, is #97433 Biter Hollandia, a barrstable trained brown filly by French Deputy out of Biter Phone(Crusader Sword x Affirmed) and is 8/2-2-2 lifetime.  This filly has been pretty consistent in her recent speeds, but she has not yet won a stakes event.  Her speeds have been decent, but she will have to pick it up a little to hit the board today.  She is off at odds of 8/1 and is ridden by C. Hargain.

Breaking in the middle, from PP7, is #14425 Without Wings, a ajfarms trained brown filly by Dynaformer out of a Palace Music mare and is 8/2-1-2 in her career.  This filly has been doing well in allowance races and only ventured into stakes races LTO, where she finished 7^th.  I don’t see her doing too much against the other fillies in this race, but it is a tough call.  She is off at 11/1 and has jockey C Shelton in the saddle today.

Next, in PP8, we have #97609 Icepro T.  This shanx trained brown filly is a daughter of Septieme Ciel out of Cap Improve(Mr. Prospector x Icecapade) and is 8/2-2-2 lifetime.  After beginning her career on the grass, she broke her maiden first time on the main track and has been running in stakes ever since.  She has been decent in open stakes events, except for her last race where she finished 9^th.  She will definitely be jumping up in class here today and will need to greatly improve to hit the board today.  She is off at odds of 13/1 and is ridden by E. Walker.

Breaking from PP9, is #99045 Amazing Discovery(IRE), a isittrue trained brown filly by Galileo(IRE) out of I’m Feeling Numb(Gone West x Pine Bluff) and is 7/4-0-1 in her career.  This filly is another one who started out on turf, but has really improved since her switch to dirt.  She is making a jump in class, but her dirt speeds have been decent so far and she may be an exotic to watch.  She is off at odds of 14/1 and jockey K. Word takes up the reins on her today.

From PP10, we have #98827 Assistant.  This johnno1 trainee is a brown filly by Phone Trick out of Firey Turf(Forty Niner x Caerleon) and is 6/3-0-2 lifetime.  Her owner admits to butchering her record by running her against the boys, but says she should be running hard in the stretch.  She has done very well so far in her career, besides that run vs. the boys a few back.  She finished 3^rd in a G1 two races back and her speeds have been fairly good so far, and she will have a good shot if she can run down the rest in the stretch.  She is off at odds of 8/1 and has jock M. Harrison in the irons.

Next, in PP11, is #101732 Dixieland Deputy, a lurch trained chestnut filly by Dixieland Band out of Bold Deputy(Deputy Minister x Bold Lad(IRE)) and is 7/3-2-1 in her career.  Here is another filly that is taking a class jump, having won a regular stakes event LTO.  Her speeds have been ok, but she will definitely need to pick up the pace a bit in order to hit the board today.  She is at odds of 10/1 and is ridden by jockey D. Wuerful.

Breaking from PP12, we have #98985 Theshellyshuffle(IRE). This anthberg trained brown filly is a daughter of Generous(IRE) out of Sister Achievement(Temperence Hill x Mocito Guapo(ARG)) and is  8/2-3-0 lifetime.  This filly might be a bit out of her league in this race.  She has attempted stakes twice, finishing 2^nd in a regular stakes and a 7^th in a G2 LTO. Her speeds have not been as consistent as some of the other fillies here today, and I don’t see her being in the top 3.  Her odds are at 18/1 and she is being ridden by Z. Dundey.

Next, breaking from PP13, is #101684 Jades Treasure, a thebandit trained chestnut filly by Gone West out of a Danzig mare and is 5/2-2-1 in her career.  This filly has been very successful so far in her career and is another one to watch in this race.  Her speeds have been decent thus far and is in a position to steal this race away from the other girls here today.  She is off at 6/1 and has jock M. Squitieri in the irons.

And last, but not least, from PP14, we have #99063 Buda City(IRE).  This juju trained brown filly by Century City(IRE) out of Buda The Other(Kingmambo x Northern Dancer) and is 6/3-0-1 lifetime.  So far, I would say this filly is better suited for lower level stakes and allowance races, even though she has won a stakes event already.  Her best run at this distance was in an allowance LTO and her only graded try resulted in a 7^th place.  To have a shot here, she will need to really pick up the pace a lot.  She is off at 12/1 and has jockey B. Schock in the saddle.

            This race is another one of those wide open, surprises-can-happen kind of races.  There are several talented fillies in this race with a shot at getting to the wire first, but I do like the 2, the 10 and the 13 to round out my top 3, but nothing is sure with this group.  Good luck to all horses and owners in this race and Good Racing!