Don’t Miss Out Handicap draws field of six

Virginia highlights three year old fillies this week in the Don’t Miss Out Handicap. We had another beautiful week of weather here in Sim Virginia, and the race will run over six and a half furlongs of turf that is rated as firm. There is a $45000 purse up for grabs. The challenge drew out six fillies, and once again we look to have a pretty tight field. All six competitors are in their second season of racing, and all of them have some stakes experience under their belts. Several are also stakes winners. Oddsmakers have chosen a 6/5 favorite, but have left everything else up for grabs. The remaining contenders go off between 4/1 and 6/1 odds. An upset here could make for decent exotic payouts.

PP 1) Brahms Avenger Sired by Brahms, Trained by vigilante. Brahms Avenger makes her twelvth career start here, and the fifth of her three year old campaign. She has two previous stakes wins. Her first eleven starts have netted her a 4-1-0-2-1 record with a best speed of 88.4, earned late in her two year old season. Her last run was a nine and a half furlong stakes in Rhode Island, where she finished a long out fourth in a short field. She switched to turf after two rather lackluster starts on dirt to begin her career, and she responded by breaking her maiden at first asking on the grass. She went on to win three more in her next eight turf starts. She has shown decent speed out to eight furlongs, though all her her previous wins have come in sprints. She’s a mid pack closer, and her close has generally been good, though not totally consistent. She treads a fine line, having problems if she gets out front too fast, and also has problems if the early pace is too fast. She will need things to set up just right to win this one.

PP 2) Poison Pines Sired by Pine Bluff, Trained by persuader. Poison Pines makes the fifth start of her three year old season, and her tenth start over all. She has notched one prior stakes win. For her career, she has put together a record of 4-1-1-0-1 in her nine starts, with a best speed of 86.3, earned two starts back. Her last effort was a six furlong stakes in Louisiana, where she went wire to wire to earn her first victory at this level. Like many others here, she started her career on dirt, switching to turf in her third start. She did passingly well on dirt, but responded well to the switch to turf, speed jumping considerably her first time out. This filly is a pure sprinter, doing a quick fade when faced with seven or more furlongs, but conversely, 4-1-0 in five turf starts in the six to six and a half range. She’s a speedball, giving her all from gate to wire. She has gotten used to opening up big cushions and then just riding them out, and she has been successful doing it, with all four victories coming in wire to wire fashion. She has really blossomed recently, with wins in her last three and very consistent speeds. She should definitely be considered a threat here.

PP 3) Barb’s Just Desert Sired by Green Desert, Trained by jakematt3. Barb’s Just Desert runs for the eleventh time here, and makes her fifth run of her three year old season. This is her second stakes run and she is looking for her first victory at this level. Her first ten starts have earned her a 2-1-2-3-0 record, with a best speed of 84.2 earned in her last run. That race was a seven furlong open allowance right here in Virginia, where she finished a very close third in a blanket finish. She debuted on turf, but switched over to dirt for her next four, with mixed results. The switch back to turf late in her two year old season and stayed there for all of her three year old runs. She has been steadily improving in speed over this season. Her best speeds have been at seven furlongs, but both victories have been in the six to six and a half range, and the drop back in distance should benefit her here. She is a deep closer, and her turf close has been quite consistent, always keeping her close in the mix. She should have a fast early pace to set her up here, but she needs to be careful not to fall too far back in the early going. If she survives the early pace she could be a late threat here.

PP 4) Eternal Spark Sired by Toccet, Trained by bargbabes. Eternal Spark takes to the track for the ninth time in this race, and the fourth trip of her three year old season. This is her second career stakes run, and she is sill looking for her first stakes win. Her first eight runs have resulted in a 3-2-1-1-0 record, with a best speed of 88.8 earned two starts back. Her last race was a A3L in Jamaica at six and a half furlongs, where she owned the second half to win by a length and a quarter. Her first run was on a dirt off track, where she had a disappointing finish, but since switching to turf in her second start, she hasn’t finished worse than fourth, and has five top two finishes in seven starts. She only has one run in this distance range, that being her last start. Most of her runs have been slightly longer, but she more than capapble in this range. She likes running just off the pace, and her optimum striking distance is about three to three and a half furlongs. Her close has been good for the most part, and the shorter distance should benefit her here. She is on a two race winning streak, and if she can stay close in the first half she could threaten in the stretch.

PP 5) Ucame Home Sired by Came Home, Trained by simarticle. Ucame Home goes for career start number ten here, and the fourth of her three year old campaign. Four of her nine starts have been in stakes, but that first stakes win has been elusive to her. Her record after her first nine is 1-2-2-1-0 and she has a best speed of 82.4 earned in her race before last. Her last race was a stakes in Illinois at the same distance she faces here, and she a well out sixth in a short field. This is another filly in this field that followed up a rather disappointing dirt debut with a switch to turf. She responded well and hasn’t ever made the switch back to dirt. Her best speed comes in a slightly longer race, but her only career victory has come in this distance range. She runs a stalker’s race, and hasn’t had much luck in that role here in her three year old campaign. Her speeds have been improving race by race, and she might benefit from starting a bit more off the pace to conserve her energy. She will need a career best and then some to take this one with the field she faces.

PP 6) Inflection(GB) Sired by Pivotal(GB), Trained by sanatarium. Inflection(GB) gets the oddsmaker’s nod in this race, the ninth of her career. This will be the sixth start of her three year old season, and she has one stakes win on her resume coming in here. Over the course of her first eight, she boasts a 2-3-2-0-0 record, with a best speed of 94.5 earned three starts back. Her last race was a stakes at this distance in Illinois, where she finished second by a length and a quarter after fighting an early speed duel. She made a token start on dirt in her second career run, and her speed was quite good. She opted to stay on turf though, where the winning speeds are generally slower historically. This is her strongest distance, with both career wins, and her best speeds coming in the six to six and a half furlong range. She is a fast starter, looking for a piece of the early lead right from the gate. If she gets to dictate the pace, she can be hard to beat, and she is the only horse in this field to have broken the 90 speed mark. She is going to have a very strong early challenge in this one though, and is going to expend a lot of energy keeping pace. She should be in the mix down the stretch here, but it is going to be a tall order to hold off the closers here.