Krishna(ire) Looms Solid Choice

Tabitha Bewitched Stakes
Grade III
A mile and one half
Firm Turf
$125,000
Fillies and mares, 4 years old and up
 
PP  Horse ID  Horse  Owner  Jockey  Odds 
1 MESQUITE  conniecpu  F Foster  3/1 
2 REBEL YELL N  lordpye  M Dunaway  4/1 
3 TESS CARLISLE  rohan  D Doughty  6/1 
4 SALFLY’S SPUR(AUS)  rose  M Davis  13/1 
5 PJ TOTAL QUEST  osstable  G O’Donnell  6/1 
6 KRISHNA(IRE)  paceman2  R Wilhite  9/5 
7 BLACK TIE DANCER(IRE)  dochobo  H O’Connell  8/1

 

Seven classy fillies and mares answer the call in this week’s feature.  Here are the ladies from the hedge outward:

 

Breaking from the inside gate is the second betting choice, Mesquite, from the barn of noted trainer, part-time reporter, and sometimes gossip columnist, Conniecpu.  Connie’s homebred enters the fray in superb form.  The daughter of Black Minnaloushe has won three stakes in a row, each at eleven furlongs.  This is the longest she has traveled so it’s impossible to determine whether or not the additional panel will be of any consequence.  Tune in Saturday to find out!

 

Next comes Pye’s classy veteran, Rebel Yell N.  I have a soft spot in my heart for this old gal because Pyeman bred her on my recommendation.  Andy sent me an instant message looking for a DS and DDS to go with War Chant.  I suggested Persian Bold and Bounding Basque.  The rest is history.  Rebel Yell N recently returned following a long absence due to Pye’s self imposed exile.  Big Oil is back and this mare may be also.

 

Front running Tess Carlisle drew the three hole.  The well bred (Rainbow Quest x Northern Dancer) four year old would be just a few grand shy of a half million bucks in career earnings with a victory in the Tabitha Bewitched.  Tess is already a multiple stakes winner and Grade I placed in only fourteen career starts.  Trainer Rohan has tabbed the talented Duffy Doughty to ride the filly and try to end her three race losing streak.

 

Salfly’s Spur(aus) is a model of consistency.  The daughter of Flying Spur(aus) and the prolific producer Repulsively Pop (Storm Cat) has hit the board in seventeen of twenty career attempts.  Rose’s speedy four year old concluded 2005 by winning five consecutive stakes.  She hasn’t been quite as successful this year, so far, but a return to her best form puts her right on the wire.

 

Osstable is well known for all those talented “P J” horses.  And P J Total Quest will represent the barn in here.  P J Total Quest is a multiple stakes winner and is Grade I placed by virtue of a third place finish in the G.S.R. Oaks.  The daughter of Elnadim and Georgia Quest(gb) has earned in excess of a half million dollars thus far.  She is currently in the throes of a six race losing streak but prior to that had won four of five.  Fits here off her best effort.

 

Heavily favored Krishna(ire) will start from post position six.  There isn’t much, if anything, that I can say about Krishna(ire) that hasn’t been said already and probably better.  Eclipse winner.  Equinics winner.  Six time Grade I winner.  Grade I winner on both dirt and turf.  $4,604,080 in career earnings.  But what has she done lately?  Oh yeah, she’s undefeated in 2006.  It’s her race to lose.

 

Rounding out our classy field is Black Tie Dancer(ire).  The daughter of Black Tie Affair(ire) and Appealing Gun (Polish Precedent) is a multiple stakes winner of over a half million dollars.  Last time out Dochobo’s homebred finished second to Adagio Fragrance in the Serpentine Fleet in Taiwan.  Look for this one to be in stalking mode for jockey Davis on Saturday.