The ESR Silver Bullet Stakes
The ESR Silver Bullet Stakes is a race for three-year old fillies to be run on the dirt course over a mile and one sixteen for a purse of $100,000. The ESR feature is the first Residency Stakes race of the year for Empire State Racing community. The race features the top three finishers in the ESR Young Lady Stakes run back in November, RARELY SEEN, KARMA CADET, and COMPLETE PACKAGE respectively, and newcomer ELLA’S FORTE, installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite.
1 – RULING WITH WANDO – the three-year old Roman Ruler filly racing for the mrawesome stables started off her career in fine fashion finishing first or second, albeit suspect competition, in her first four starts but has since struggled in her next three outings as the level competition improved. Lone stakes try came against similar in the ESR Filly Mile where she lost ground at every call. Last out was a dirt sprint prep against the boys where she finished 7th of eight. Longest shot on the board at 37-1…must show more
2 – MAYSON – the pointblank trained filly out of Smart Strike makes her dirt debut after breaking her maiden last time out over a yielding turf course around two turns. Ordinarily I would dismiss a horse with this past performance for a dirt stakes; however closer examination reveals this filly is from the Stakes placed mare SCARLET RED, Dam of G2 winners RED ROOM and SANCTIONS, as well as the graded placed THE LADY IN RED. Although the family line is strictly turf, there is enough class in this pedigree to make this talented filly a threat in the ESR feature…your call
3 – PHAROAH’S CAT – the hawkz trained Pioneerof The Nile filly makes her two-turn debut on Saturday after exiting the 6-furlong Fleet Of Four Dirt Juvenile Fillies where she finished a hard fought third place in her stakes debut. The promising young filly has displayed progressive speed figures in every start and appears to be sitting on a new top. Pedigree suggests that she can handle the distance and should give a good account of herself in this start…eligible to improve
4 – RARELY SEEN – the mnmracing stables must have seen something special about this Ghostzapper filly when they plunked down $150k in a West Virginia claiming race back in July. The clever connections were immediately rewarded when entered her in a two turn event for the first time where she drew off to win by two convincing lengths. The next start was another first for this impressive filly when she entered the Homecoming Dance Dirt Juvenile Fillies and although she finished off the board, her performance was good enough to earn her a start in the ESR Young Lady Stakes where she once again drew away from a promising field of two-year olds. Third choice in the betting is quite an overlay for the reigning queen of the ESR three-year old fillies…one to beat
5 – COMPLETE PACKAGE – the casino trained Blame filly looked like the winner in her last start in the ESR Young Lady Stakes when she took command of the lead after a hard fought battle on the front end but was unable to hold off the late charges of MAYSON and KARMA CADET. The lightly raced filly was making her two-turn debut in only her 4th career start and is likely to benefit greatly from that effort. Patient handling might be the key to her success in the Saturday feature as is likely to meet a similar fate if she presses in the early going…needs strong handling
6 – ELLA’S FORTE – the trotter1 trained Scat Daddy filly enters the field as the 2-1 morning line favorite after recording three victories in her last four starts all around two-turns. Preferring to control the pace, the presence of other early speed and the added half a furlong will present a challenge to the talented young three-year old. Lone start at this distance came in the G3 Margarine Stakes where she pressed early for the lead but found herself falling back to the G3 level of competition. While she should be able to grab control of the pace with these, it is still unsure if it was the class of the competition or the distance that was her undoing in the G3 Margarine…must not falter
7 – KARMA CADET – the cadet trained Tapit filly utilized a furious rally in her last start to finish the second place finisher in the ESR Young Lady Stakes. The auspicious young filly entered that race after making her two-turn debut in the G3 Margarine Stakes where she closed modestly to finish a non-threatening sixth, 10 ½ behind the leader and only 1 ½ lengths behind ELLA’S FORTE. The regally bred Light Grey filly improved greatly off that effort for the ESR Young Lady and should be a stretch factor once again as they turn for home…dangerous