Five Classy Fillies Stretch Out to a Mile in Ohio

This article is dedicated to Desperado, who requested it – nice to know one person will be reading!!  J

We have a small but intriguing field for this weekend’s Nijinsky Western Challenge this weekend.  Five fillies will be running a mile on the good dirt and as always happens early in the 2yo season, there are more questions than answers about these girls.  Of the five, one is a stakes winner, one has one on an off track, one has never raced before, and not one of them has run a route before. It’s a wide-open, classy field that should provide viewers with a fun, unpredictable race.

Sweetchildofmine       Cheadle           2/1       Mineshaft filly is two-for-two, including a win on an off track.  She’s the only one in the field to have tried the mud and she liked it just fine; a big point in her favor.    Sadly, her jockey is abysmal, which will diminish her chances.  It’ll be interesting to see whether she can get a mile; this race will be an excellent test for her.  Expect a solid performance from her, though I like others better for the win.

A.P. Sadler                 Lostcode          6/5       One of three  fillies in the field to earn an 80 fig already, which was in her debut.  She won that 7-furlong race comfortably and with her breeding, she should be very happy to stretch out.  Has the best jock by far in this contest.  Put that all together and I expect a big effort from this promising girl.

Four Roses                 Soho                9/2       Debut for Touch Gold filly.  Should be happy enough miling, but there’s not much we can say about her until she gets a race or two under her belt.

Wally’s Dehere          Doa                 4/1       Only stakes-winner in the field, she’s also part of a three-way tie for highest speed fig.  On top of that, she’s come closer than anyone else here to running a mile, and she did it with style.  She’s won two of three with nice speed figs in both races, so expect her to run well here as well.  Lousy jock to overcome, though.

Pretty Palace              Ladypd            6/1       Has two good races under her belt, with a debut win and a strong third in stakes company.  Stretching out a fair amount here, so this will be a big question for her to answer.  Also has to overcome a rotten rider.

I love A.P. Sadler and Wally’s Dehere in this race, both of whom have run as fast as anyone here and both of whom has run at least 7 furlongs successfully.  But this race isn’t out of anyone’s grasp and a lot of surprising things can happen as the juvies stretch out.  Should be a fun race!