Chubby Visa S. – G2
Welcome to California, where one of the co-features on this Saturday’s action packed card is the Grade 2 Chubby Visa Stakes for fillies and mares 3 and up. Several of the sim’s top fillies and mares will travel 1 1/16 miles for a purse of $300,000. Here is a look at the field, in post position order:
Valdumia is a four-time stakes winner, but her last two outings have been shaky. She had a few nice victories earlier this year, but has historically been overmatched in graded company.
Mystery Mystique, making her first start for trainer prosfrgold after going through the auction last week, had a few nice allowance scores earlier in the year but has not cracked a 100 speed figure in her career. She will be up against it.
After a shaky end to last season, co-favored Waki Notion has been razor sharp all spring and summer, finishing in the exacta in all of her last five starts. She has two graded wins to her credit this year already and there is no reason to think she won’t be flying at the end once again.
War Pegasus is winless in her last ten starts and has been off the board in her last five. She will need to return to the form she showed over the winter to be competitive. This is her graded stakes debut.
Storm Secret has finished in the exacta in 11 of her 12 starts, picking up two stakes wins along the way. This is obviously a classy filly and she should be right there at the end, charging late along with Waki Notion.
Westegen is a Grade 1 winner, but most of her best races have come at a mile and a quarter or longer. She seems to have lost a step in her last few races.
Go For Bluff, a 3-year-old, ironically ran perhaps the best race of her career in her only start against older fillies and mares, in the Vogue Handicap over this racetrack. It is difficult to guess whether she can duplicate that effort, but if she can she will have a chance to pick up a check.
Dividing Range recently broke her maiden in lucky number start 13. Her recent stakes debut wasn’t a bad effort, but she would need to show a lot of improvement to be competitive here.
Glass Heart makes her first start back after suffering a setback in the G1 Bumblebee Classic back in June. Prior to that, she scored a terrific second place finish in the G1 Cosmopolitan Handicap against the boys. The layoff is a bit of a concern, but this filly has knocked heads with top company and will be competitive here if she’s ready.
Homecoming Dance, the winner of 14 races and over a million dollars, is having an outstanding season with five stakes wins already. She will likely be a little closer to the pace than the other favorites, and that may work to her advantage. She is co-favored on the morning line with Waki Notion.
Stormshaft is another 3-year-old, and she is trying the older girls for the first time. She has had a terrific season so far, winning her first four starts before a heartbreaking loss in the Bluegrass Oaks. She is one of the top 3-year-old fillies in the sim, and it will be interesting to see how she measures up against her elders.
Able Mabel, a 6-year-old veteran of 37 starts and 3 stakes wins, is surprisingly making her debut in graded company. A repeat of her most recent effort would make her competitive here, but she is facing a much tougher group of fillies today.
Copenhagen Again has three stakes wins to her credit this year, including two Grade 3’s. One of her better efforts would put her in the mix, although her best races seem to be at distances longer than she will get today.