Queen Of Hearts(IRE) Bonanza seeks to crown a winner

Virginia repeats last week’s race, this time for younger fillies, hosting the Queen Of Hearts(IRE) Bonanza. The race for three year old fillies runs over seven and a half furlongs of firm turf. A purse of $55000 is on the line which will be shared by the majority of this short field. The race drew a tightly matched field of six fillies, many still looking to make a name for themselves here early in their sophomore season. The oddsmakers are calling it anyone’s race, with two co-favorites at 2/1 and two longshots at a very short 6/1 odds. At the point in their careers where every race counts, they are hoping this will be a launching pad to bigger and better things.

PP 1) Wondergirl Erin Sired by Sakhee, Trained by zeco5. Wondergirl Erin starts her ninth race here. This will be her third straight stakes start, and she has one stakes victory to her credit. In her first eight starts, she has put together a 2-3-1-1-0 record, with a best speed of 87.2, which came in her last start. That last outing was at Equinics in a six furlong dirt effort, where she finished ninth. As with many though, she ran a better race than her placement would indicate. This will be only her second turf try, and the switch at this point is somewhat of a mystery. She has been steadily improving with each race while on dirt. Her other turf try was a good run, and her breeding supports turf, but surface is a wildcard in this race. She likes the extra distance here, and her best runs have been at seven furlongs and beyond. She’s a midpack closer and with the exception of her last, her close has been stellar. The softer surface doesn’t appear to be a plus for her here. Whether she is still gaining ground when they enter the stretch will determine if she is a serious threat here.

PP 2) John’s Niner Sired by Blushing John, Trained by daunte6. John’s Niner makes a tenth career start here. She is no stranger to stakes, with her last five starts coming at this level. She’s still looking for her first stakes win, though finished second in her prior four turf stakes. Overall in nine starts she has garnered a 2-5-1-0-0 record, with a best speed of 82.5, earned in her first stakes run in the middle of last season. She comes off and eight and a half furlong dirt stakes in DC, where she finished a hard closing seventh, gaining six lengths down the stretch. She is surface versatile, running comparable speeds on both surfaces, but thus far, turf has been her most productive. Her speeds have also remained consistent across a six to eight furlong range. While at first glance, this would appear to be a weak distance for her, the prior two starts she made in this range were both off track, and on a firm track her speed should jump several points over those efforts. She is a deep closer, and her close has been picture perfect, though she hasn’t been quite able to make it all the way home. She will be a threat here, and with a slightly faster break, sh could land in the winner’s circle.

PP 3) Spirit Of America Sired by A.P. Indy, Trained by harvey. Spirit Of America is the most lightly raced filly in this field making her seventh start. Behind back to back allowance wins, she makes her second career stakes start here, looking for her first victory at this level. Her first six starts have lifted her to a 3-0-0-0-1 record, with a best speed of 90.3 coming in her last run. She come off half length victory in a six and a half furlong open allowance in Maryland in her last start. She switched to the turf two starts back, and has been rewarded with two consecutive victories and steadily improving speeds. She proven herself to be a sprinter, and her best runs have been in somewhat shorter races. She hasn’t faired well in short routes, and this one may be a bit too long for her. She is a deep closer, and while spotty on dirt, especially in longer races, her turf close has been right on the mark. If she is inside five lengths at the half, she will definitely be a threat in the second half of this one.

PP 4) Wondergirl Event(IRE) Sired by Barathea(IRE), Trained by zeco5. Wondergirl Event(IRE) carries a 1A number in this one, as the second entry by trainer zeco5. She is making an eleventh lifetime run in this one. This will be her fourth straight in stakes competition, and she seeks her first stakes win. In her first ten outings, she flown to a 1-5-3-0-1 record with a best speed of 83.7, earnied in her forst stakes run three starts back. She grabbed a fifth place finish in her last run, a stakes at this distance in DC, not really a factor in that race. She switched to dirt after steadily improving over her first three on dirt, and continued to improve with her move to turf, up until her last two starts. Seven of ten career starts have come in this distance range, and she is done well, though it is hard to gauge if there is another distance that she might prefer. She is a midpack closer and it appears that many times her move tends to come a bit to early to be able to maintain it down the stretch. She going to have a lot late speed to contend with here, and she will need to save some energy for the stretch to be a factor here.

PP 5) Angela Sired by Medaglia D’Oro, Trained by chapman. Angela makes a ninth career outing here. This will be her second stakes, her first in open stakes, and she is looking for that first stakes triumph. Her first nine starts have netted her a 3-2-0-1-1 record with a best speed of 92.3 earned two starts back. Her last run was at nine furlongs in Equinics, where she finished tenth in a packed field. She switched to turf in her third start, and her speeds have increased every race since right up to her last, which was her longest outing, as well as run over a yielding surface. She has run well from five and a half to nine furlongs, and the distance shouldn’t be a problem for her here. In fact she has shown some stamina that could hold her in good stead against a field full of late speed here. She has done her best running as a leader or stalker, and she has shown little to no inclination to close from any deeper. That bodes well for her here, in a race that doesn’t sport much early speed. If she can open a cushion here in a leisurely early pace, she could be tough to catch here.

PP 6) Straight A Sophie Sired by Lemon Drop Kid, Trained by pointe. Straight A Sophie faces her eleventh career race here. This is her ninth straight stakes, and she has three stakes wins under her belt. Her first ten starts have left her with a 4-0-3-0-0 record, and a best speed of 79.8 earned in her last start. She comes off a isappointing seventh place finish in a six furlong stakes in Alabama in her last run, where she never quite got up to speed. Her dirt and turf speeds have been comparable, but she was competitive at stakes level in her two year old season on the grass. This will be her longest run to date, with the bulk of her starts coming in the six to six and a half range. It’s hard to say at this point whether the distance will help or harm. She normally starts at a speed that should leave her just off the pace, but in juvenile fields that has translated to leader/stalker type runs, and she did well from that position. Her three year old runs have been less impressive, and she may need to cultivate a faster break to compensate for the faster speeds as the horses mature. She will need more speed than she has shown so far to contend in this one.