Somebody Knocked my Bicker!

In a related story, no word yet if anyone’s knickers were alternatively bocked.

But I digress.

Here’s your New York feature, for 3yo and older fillies & mares 1 1/8 miles on the firm turf course. A purse of $150,000 is available to the contestants, but I suspect the “GP” or “GSW” in the pedigree is what most trainers are aiming for. We’ve got a field of 8 with no sophomores (3yo) and only a couple of mares who weren’t scratch-bred.

The runners:


DREAMING OF LOVE 5yo mare Sadler’s Wells x Mr. Prospector x Unbridled
PP 6 N.Lawton Morning Line Odds: 5/2 db’s odds: 7/5

The superstar from snowchief land got back to the big-time in her last start, taking down the Grade I Yellow Submarine in a field that contained three other millionaires (she’s banked over 1.5 mil herself.) The final time of 2:03 1/5 wasn’t all that impressive, but hey, it’s a Grade I victory, which also finally earned her the coveted “Grade A” historical ranking. Chalk-lovers need not worry; she’s most proficient at this distance with a stellar 17 5-4-2 record, all in stakes company. If she runs her race, the others will be Dreaming of Place money as her biggest obstacles figure to be Father Time and an unfamiliar New York turf course. I wouldn’t bet against her, even with Lenny’s money!


BUCK WILD 4yo filly Kingmambo x Northern Dancer x Buckpasser
PP4 C. Tool ML odds: 5/1 db’s odds: 9/2

“Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear.” Well, maybe I’m being a little harsh, but uber-trainer Lenny sends out another one of his impeccably bred-minions here in the form of a speedy Graded Stakes winner. With 10 wins from 25 starts it’s easy to figure out that this one likes to get in front and go buck wild on the competition – her speed figures are not world class but she’s dangerous on or just off the pace. Consider her well-rested for this event (6 week hiatus) and capable of a minor upset. Probably prefers a slightly shorter race, but even Lenny can’t always get what he wants! Don’t ask me to prove that one, though.


CAROLINA DREAMING 4yo filly Point Given – Minski (Deputy Minister) x Nijinsky II
PP8 B. Child ML odds: 8/1 db’s odds: 5/1

You know things are going well when a monster filly like this is the 2nd string female turf horse in the barn. High-class trainer congie5 scores well above the 20% win / 50% ITM threshold, diligently putting this girl through all her allowance conditions before tackling tougher company. Her momma won the 2000 edition of the Breeder’s Bowl Juvenile Fillies on dirt, but Carolina Dreaming is more talented on the lawn. Recent efforts have earned her a listed stakes win and a couple G III placings, but not enough to supplant stablemate and division leader Thirteenth Date. Should appreciate the drop out of recent Grade I company, but needs to improve a bit to earn a winner’s circle photo against this crowd…and she’s got the pedigree and the trainer to do it.


STAGE MAGIC 4yo filly Tale of the Cat x Norcliffe x Exclusive Native
PP 2 A. Sailor ML odds: 7/2 db’s odds: 6/1

Scratch-bred theodore4 star has humble origins – she was claimed for a mere $20,000 before settling in as a solid routing prospect on turf or dirt. Looked ready to go center stage on the stakes scene this spring with a string of triple-digit speed figure results, but has developed a serious case of seconditis. At one point she finished 2nd in 5 out of 6 starts, all stakes. Can’t complain one bit considering how she was acquired, but didn’t appear to take to the NY surface in her last start. Throw in the layoff question (last raced 10 weeks ago) and the lack of Graded experience and you’ve got yourself quite a puzzle if you’re placing bets on her performance today. If I were using clichéd tag lines this week, I’d consider her the “DB Darkhorse” play-of-the-day.


SAPPHIRE ROSE(GB) 5yo mare Diesis(GB) x Riverman x Busted(GB)
PP 7 N. Painter ML odds: 8/1 db’s odds: 6/1

Lightly-raced annex8 charge is interesting in that she made her first start at 4, won her first race while racing against the boys, and only recently had her first win on the turf. She’s now 4 2-0-2 on the green stuff and makes the jump from allowances right up to Graded Stakes company. Granted, the older filly & mare division is not as deep as it could be, but the SIM gods and their class levels must be respected! We know she’s still got juice in the tank with only 15 lifetime starts, however, and she’s got plenty of tactical speed which is always a plus. A threat to earn a placing in a well-balanced field.


STEAL EMPIRES 4yo filly Empire Maker – Lady’s Dancer(Dodge) x Western Miner
PP1 S. Schauer ML odds: 21/1 db’s odds: 25/1

Congaree3 takes a shot and enters his homebred hopeful into a relatively small field, at least for a race of this magnitude. She’s definitely come a long way, being out of the sparsely-used DamSire Dodge (32% turf and 34% route production), and a DDS that I’ve honestly never heard of (Western Miner – the sire of SIM Turf sprinter Metallic Sheryl). Morning line odds are reflective of past performances, in this case, as she perked right up with 2 wins on the dirt-to-turf move, but has been struggling against similar of late. A lifetime best could earn her a check, but we have to consider her an outsider for the win spot.


HONOR PROSPECT 6yo mare Ecton Park x Honor Grades x Northern Prospect
PP5 B. Dirks ML odds: 7/1 db’s odds: 15/1

Grand-old-dame is a wonder of longevity with 62 lifetime starts, 30 ITM finishes and almost $300k in the coffers for original owner/breeder gowand5. She flirted with this level way back in 2003 with a couple nice efforts at 8 ½ furlongs before developing into a “long sprint on the turf” specialist. She hasn’t slowed down much at all over the years, but a quick glance at her PP’s indicates that she doesn’t like to run much father than 1600 meters. With the lack of such races in the SIM condition book, it’s likely that gowand is looking for one last crack at Graded status before shipping her off to broodmare-land.


MASAI(IRE) 4yo filly Orpen(IRE) x Celtic Swing(GB) x Danzatore
PP3 P. Davis ML odds: 5/1 db’s odds: 9/2

Obscurely-bred aotearoa pupil has really come to hand in recent weeks, most recently 2nd to BUCK WILD in a Grade III event in Spain. Her late kick was compromised by the lack of early speed in that contest and she essentially chased the winner all the way around. It appears that she should love this distance and should have decent fractions up front to set up a nice late charge coming for home. The ride will be key with 11% jockey Davis calling the shots in the irons. A soggy track certainly wouldn’t hurt her chances, either (2 for 2 in good/yielding turf routes). Weatherman says there’s a 5% chance of rain, so it’s not enough to get all -excited- about yet. Notice how I refrained from using the word ‘wet’ in a sentence that absolutely screamed for it. 🙂 Cliché-o-tron says that she’s the “longshot special”.


The picks:

DREAMING OF LOVE has these over the proverbial “barrel” on class alone. Any reasonable effort by the #12 ranked mare should put her on top today.
CAROLINA DREAMING is still on her way up and has finally found a field that she can do some damage in.
MASAI(IRE) is also a work-in-progress who could benefit from a timely ride and some help from the heavens (precipitation, not divine intervention. But that’s cool, too.)
BUCK WILD will move up if one of the others fails to fire, and her “win or run out” mentality lends itself to boom or bust results at the mutuel windows.

Good luck and thanks for reading!