Three year old fillies line up for Bright Account Stakes

The three year old fillies are back in Virginia this week to run in the Bright Account Stakes. Last year was the inaugural running of the event, won by Sunday Brake(JPN) in wire to wire fashion. The race runs over seven and a half furlongs of firm turf for a $45000 purse. This year’s edition drew six fillies, and the field appears to be extremely well matched. Oddsmakers chose a 3/2 favorite, and a 7/2 second choice. The other four horses in the field all go off at 5/1 odds. In a year of exciting stakes racing in Virginia, this one looks to be one of the most thrilling to date.

PP 1) Western Cat BG Sired by Mountain Cat, Trained by bobg9. Western Cat BG makes her eighteenth career start in this race, and her eighth of her three year old campaign. This is her third career stakes start and she has one stakes victory to her credit. Her last ten starts have netted her a 3-1-3-3-0 with a best speed of 91.2, earned earlier this year. Her last run was a six and a half furlong stakes in Maine, where she finished a relatively close third place. She seems to have some surface versatility, with her speed numbers on both surfaces being quite close. With the generally slower pace on turf though, she has found the bulk of her success there. This has been her distance range of choice, with eight starts in this range resulting in six top three finishes. Her stakes win came significantly shorter at six furlongs, though. She likes to start from just off the pace, biding her time just behind the leaders until she is ready to move. She seems to show a tendency to start her move a bit early, usually right on the lead by third call, and this makes her somewhat vunerable to the later closers. She is in a field of closers here, and she will most likely grab an early lead here. She should have plenty left for the stretch if she runs her race, and could conceivably take this one wire to wire.

PP 2) Duel Spin Turbo Sired by Elusive Quality, Trained by brandt. Duel Spin Turbo makes her seventeenth start here, and this will be her eighth as a three year old. She has six stakes starts under her belt, with one victory on her resume. She has collected a check in all sixteen starts. Over the course of her last ten she has finished 4-0-2-1-3 with a best speed of 92.9 earned in her last start. That race was an A4x outing in Florida, where she powered down the stretch to win in a thriller by a quarter length. She made her first two starts on dirt, but after breaking her maiden on turf in her third outing, she never looked back. She cruised to five wins in her next fourteen. She shows indications of wanting to stretch out a bit more now that she has matured, and this long sprint should be just the ticket for her. Her last race was at this distance, and she ran a career best. She is a mid pack closer, and her close has been the very picture of consistenty this year. She has also shown she can handle a field of closers like she is in here, going wire to wire last time she found herself in this position. With this field, look for her to press early, hoping to tire the leader and then lead the rest of the closers to the wire.

PP 3) Brahms Diner Sired by Brahms, Trained by epcotlen2. Brahms Diner takes to the track for her fifteenth start here, and her eighth of her sophomore season. She is no stranger to stakes competition and she has performed well, but she is still seeking that elusive first win at this level. Her last ten starts have earned her a 1-4-0-2-1 record, with a best speed of 90.7 earned toward the beginning of this year. Her last outing was a stake at this distance in Arkansas, where she finished a heartbreaking second by a head, after a sterling second half run. Turf has been her home, and it only took one dirt start to convince here. She has begun to blossom this year, finding her first career nineties speeds. Both career victories came at eight furlongs, but this distance is a good fit for her. Her last victory was late in her two year old season, but she has had near misses all season and should be primed for a breakout run one of these starts. She is a deep closer, and her close has been quite consistent, though she hasn’t quite been able to bring it home. One thing that stands out in two races at this distance this year she has lost just over a quarter length all together. She’s not going to have much early speed to set her up here, and she faces some good closers. Look for her to be barreling down the stretch with plenty of energy.

PP 4) Check Into Cash Sired by Bertrando, Trained by burn1downs. Check Into Cash runs for her fifteenth career time here. This will be her seventh run as a three year old. This will be her tenth straight stakes run, and she has two previous victories at this level. Her last ten starts have seen her go 3-1-3-0-1, with best speed of 90.3, earned in her final race of last season. Her last start was a seven furlong stakes in New Hampshire, where she stalked her way to a near miss second place by a quarter length. She has never been off the grass, and has rewarded her trainer with eleven top three finishes in her fourteen starts. Two of three career victories have come at this distance, with the other coming at eight furlongs, so the distance here shouldn’t be an issue for her. She generally runs as a midpack closer/stalker, and other than a few stumbles at longer distances, her close has been good. She should be close on the early pace here, and the question is how she will deal with the deeper closers without much early pace to set her up. Look for her to start a drive at the half, but be looking over her shoulder down the stretch.

PP 5) Embargo(IRE) Sired by Fasliyev(IRE), Trained by super14. Embargo(IRE) makes a twelvth career start here, and her fifth of this season. This will be her second consecutive stakes start, and she has the bragging rights to one win at this level. Her first eleven starts have gained her a 3-3-1-0-0 record, with a best speed of 87.5, earned in her last start. That race was a seven furlong stakes outing in Indiana, where she eked out a quarter length win behind a powerful second half close. She has split her career between dirt and turf, and while her dirt speeds have been adequate, her big scores have all been on turf. The bulk of her success has come in shorter races, but she posted a career best in her last start which was at seven furlongs. She runs as a midpack to deep closer, but with the exception of her last, her close has been somewhat inconsistent beyond six furlongs. Her last, however, shows that she may have the inclination to close from a bit deeper than she has shown before. She had some early pace to set her up in that one though, something she will lack here. She will need a career best to crack this field.

PP 6) High Drama(IRE) Sired by High Chaparral(IRE), Trained by spglitter. High Drama(IRE) is making her thirteenth career start here and her fourth of this season. This will be here seventh straight stakes run, and she has on win at this level. Twelve career starts have netted her a 3-4-3-0-0 record, with a best speed of 89.7, earned in her last start. That last start was an eight and a half furlong stakes in Washington, where she settled for second place after leading a good protion of the race. She debuted on dirt, but switched to turf in her second start, and has been steadily improving as she matures. She has to wins and two places in this distance range, though her career best speed by over five points came in a race another furlong longer. Her wins have come running at the head of mid pack, but she shows signs of perhaps wanting a faster start. While her close has been spotty, she has shown a tendency to open up generous cushions between the second and third calls. With no early speed here, this might be the opportunity to open it up out of that gate and she how big a cushion she can build. If she tries to close with this field, she will end up on the short end of the stick unless she fires off another career best and then some.