These babies look classy, lets see what happens

There are some nice two year old fillies lined up here for the Pine Pine Handicap stakes, and it will be interesting to see if any of them, progress to get near the upper echelon come the end of the year. Obviously there is little form to go on this early in the season and we all know how much of a minefield choosing from a breeding point can be, but since I happen to be the local reporter in this wild neck of the Suffolk woods, lets see if we can sort them out.

The ten little beauties line up here on the perfect firm going of the Rowley mile to try to take the lioness’ share of the $65,000 on offer for this 6 furlong dash.

Victorious’s Girlie Stuff has the plumb inside draw from stall 1. Although the comment about breeding made earlier certainly rings true, if you had to pick one of these babies on breeding, she would have to be it. While her dam Naomi and Laurence wasn’t exactly a world beater, she had two of the best Northern Hemisphere sires and managed to win 25% of her lifetime starts. Breed a Saddlers Wells x Sir Ivor mare with Storm Cat and you are looking at almost ultra-violet blood rather than blue. She may not have set the world alight in terms of speeds in her two runs to date, but she has performed admirably in easily winning her maiden and then running a nice second behind the number one rated turf filly, Mixed up contender in her first allowance run. If the speeds improve as they would be expected to, jockey B Fly could be looking to unleash a winning run from mid pack on the 7/2 shot and may take a bit of beating.

Meadowbank Bad comes out of stall 2 and if she wins here, she could be the claim of the season. She’s far less fashionably bred than some of these, which might explain why her breeder felt safe to run her in a 35k maiden claimer first time out, but her current owner vrcomp2 obviously saw something of interest. She won that race very comfortably with a decent enough speed of 63 and although stepping up considerably in class here, she could be anything and it would be no massive surprise f she defied her odds of 12/1. L Anderson is one of the better jocks in this neck of the woods, and should be able to take the rails, which could see the pair setting the pace, but there are plenty of trail blazers in the race. With the limited amount of racecourse form on offer, it’s a bit of a lottery to choose which will strike the front, but her draw could prove decisive.

Ere I go comes next and is also a 12/1 shot. Simlady’s filly is another from a less high profile sire, but has shown decent form so far in her three races. She ran well in her maiden races finishing a close up second before winning very comfortably over course and distance, but struggled a little in her last allowance race. Her speeds have been decent without being earth shattering, but one thing she does have is consistency. I Jones will keep her on or near the pace, but she may have to settle for taking a lead from her rival inside. She will certainly not give up, however, and may be able to keep tabs on the leaders but unless she has a lot of improvement to come, may find a few of these a little too tough.

Next up in stall 4 is landen4’s Galileo’s desert, a nice daughter of Green Desert out of Galileo the golden (Galileo x Seeking the Gold). She has only run the once, but in doing so she won her maiden very nicely over five and a half furlongs. The two behind her that day have won since which has franked the form, and she must have a leading chance here if showing any improvement on the speed of 64 posted that day. She came with a storming late run on that occasion, and similar tactics could pay off for her and her jockey H Welborne.  They will certainly get a good lead here, with the amount of front runners in the field and the extra half a furlong could prove decisive in terms of her wet sail finish. Providing her lack of experience doesn’t undo her, she looks to be right at the front of the shortlist.

Stall 5 is home to grade1win’s Ireland Forever(IRE) and 8/1 looks a massive price here. She is a progressive filly who took a couple of runs to break her duck, but then thrashed a nice field of winners in her first allowance run. She posted a 76 speed there which puts her comfortably in front of these in terms of actual form posted. Her breeding is not quite as impressive as some of these, but that is only in terms of her sire…Ela Mana Mou and Theatrical are right up there with the top turf combinations, especially over a stratch of ground when she could really impress. K Grimes is certain to make plenty of use of her, and if she can keep close to these speedier types, her undoubted stamina will see her break some big reputations here.

I shall return, was a famous catch phrase of Muhammad Ali, and this daughter of Motivator could prove to be a real champ. Her sire won the Derby in a very impressive style and could turn out to be a top class European sire. If you send that sort of pedigree to a mare that boasts Seeking the Gold, Storm Bird and Mill Reef in her lines, then you deserve to get a real racehorse which was obviously super 28’s plan. She has only beaten maidens so far, but put up a decent 69 ‘gnarff gnarff’ speed rating and could really be anything. She deserves to win a nice race, and from a local point of view, this one could hopefully be it. Tommy Cooper could really have the last laugh here if this promising starlet delivers her customary late punch. Obviously a lot of punters agree as she is 9/2  fourth best here.

Anabaa Prospect comes next from stall 7 and while her times are nothing to write home about, she boasts a 100% record with a maiden and stakes win so far. Her dam is the useful racemare Pharaoh’s curse who included a nice record in listed stakes among her races. She would appear to be outclassed here on times, but sometimes horses only do what they need to do to beat the opposition put in front of them. A Craig is the top local jockey here, and hadrada’s filly could well prove to be value at 12/1 here. Another who will race close to the pace, she will need to express her ability early in the race if she is to beat these. Or wili she? Her stakes form is miles above anything here on paper, but miles behind on time.

Surely Hail from the Lonrho stable comes next from stall 8 and looks completely outclassed here. However, she has won with a 61 speed rating, albeit in a maiden claimer and although bred way behind these, could prove to be one of those missing link types. That said, she was beaten over ten lengths when stepped up to allowance company and looks to have more than enough on her plate here. Ri Williams would appear to need a miracle here as their price of 96/1 shows, but stranger things did happen once, a couple of thousand years ago, with fishes and loaves involved.

Danzig Theatre is next from stall 9 and is the favourite at 5/2 and while her single race was impressive, it hardly justifies that sort of price. The fact that she is a half sister to 1.1 million dollar earner Lam Scheming, which mean she has a pedigree of Theatrical x Forty Niner x Danzig, suddenly 5/2 looks like value. That said, she has a lot to prove on the track, and top local jock, J Bradley wil have to keep her up to her work to deal with more proven competition.

The final runner will burst from stall 10 and try to make an impression on the outside of the field. Calipso’s Ten Grooms is bred from unfashionable sire Tenby, who just happened to be one of Henry Cecil’s best derby types for years and seems to be making a name for himself as a bargain sire. While there is a bit to prove class wise, it must be a bit of an advantage to eat up your breakfast in your home box before riding down to the racetrack stables in an easy canter. A Holohan is a decent local up and coming Jockey and will certainly thank the trainer for a chance in this race. While there is a bit to find form wise, the pair will certainly not fail for lack of preparation.

A nice group of 2yo fillies, without being earth shattering, and your reporter will take a chance with Ireland Forever to beat I Shall Return with Danzig Theatre for third. Whatever the result, expect some nice fillies to come out of this race.

Good luck all involved.