Sophomore Fillies Route on Turf in Michigan Invitational
This week’s feature race at Michigan is the 8th running of The Grade II Michigan Sophomore Turf Invitational for 3 Year old fillies. A field of 12 have passed the entry box in this 9 furlong race to be run on the Outer Turf course which has been listed as Good. The purse for this race is $250,000 and previous editions of this historic stakes have been won by millionaire fillies such as Cold Storage, Kiki Cotton Candy, Faintly Not Jove and Flat World. Will today’s winner end up as a multi millionaire heiress.
Let’s take a look at today’s field:
1)AND JESUS WEPT(IRE)—8/1—theprofit7 sends this filly out of REFUSE TO BEND(IRE) with a record of 12-6-2-0 and lifetime earnings of $298,350. She is out of the mare REALPROFITSDONTCRY(IRE) who was 2/27 at the track and has 2 foals of record with this filly being the only winner to date. This 22nd divisional ranked filly started her career last year on a 5 race winning streak including 3 stakes victories but has only found the winners circle one time in her last 6 starts. She finished 8th in last years Breeders Bowl Juvenile Turf filly race. She has 4 stakes under her belt but has yet to be victorious in a Graded stakes event. She enters this race off a 5th place finish in the Grade III Haley’s Comet Stakes in Montana where she posted her lifetime best 92 speed rating. Wilkinson(13.5%) gets the call to ride this filly today and he hopes to have her place back early to take advantage of her excellent closing speed.
2)SLINGING ROCK(IRE)—8/1—lenny13 sends this filly out of ROCK OF GIBRALTER(IRE) with a record of 7-4-1-2 and lifetime earnings of $129,576. This 59th divisional ranked filly won her lifetime debut at 2 year old and displayed a health 10+ speed rating boost in her progression to a 3 year old from her 2006 campaign. She has finished in the top 3 in all of her career starts but has displayed a pattern of winning every other start and she will need to break that pattern to be a winner here today. She is 2/3 in stakes races, all overnite added money events, and has 2 wins already at todays 9 furlong distance. She comes into this race off her victory in The Her Storms Handicap Stakes where she posted a lifetime best 92 speed rating. She has shipped from overseas and will be making her first career start in North Amercia today. Cox (11.6%) will have this speedster gunning out of the gate quickly today and will be on or hard pressing the early pace today.
3)STRAWBERRYDAIQUIRI(IRE)—23/1—jdawg10 sends this filly out of INDIAN DANEHILL(IRE) with a record of 10-2-0-2 and lifetime earnings of $35,592. This unranked divisional filly started her career on the dirt with little success and switched to the turf in her 2nd start this year. Since the change to the turf she has earned a cheque in all of her starts. She comes into this race off a win in an 8 furlong NW3L allowance in Northern California where she wired a field earning her lifetime best 83 speed rating. She will be making her stakes debut today and this may be a little to tough a field for her first ever black type event. She is a speed horse but has yet to prove that she can go the whole 9 furlong distance. Ervins (5.3%) will be looking for his 4th win of the season in the saddle with this filly today.
4)WANG CHUNG(GB)—5/1—super3 sends this filly out of BEAT HOLLOW(GB) with a record of 11-3-0-5 and lifetime earnings of $184,504. She is out of the mare DELIVERY who was 6/41 at the track with 4 stakes wins, 2 Graded wins and over $500K in earnings. This is the first recorded foal out of this mare. This 17th divisional ranked filly runs for the ever powerful conglomorate of the super stables and is the co-early morning favorite as listed by the track handicapper. She earned a cheque in all of her starts at 2 year old with the exception of a lone dirt surface start. In her last 2 races in 2006 she showed remarkable improvement in her speed ratings. This year she has 1 win and 3 thirds while posting 90+ speed ratings in all of her starts. In her last she posted a lifetime best 97 speed rating while finishing 3rd in The Grade III Haley’s Comet Stakes in Montana. She did win a Grade III event in her 2007 debut. She is a stalker who seems to prefer the 8-8.5 furlong distance and Eger (15.6%) will have to time her move perfectly in order to have her get up first at the wire today.
5)THE SELFISH SINN(IRE)—15/1—cthomas sends this filly out of SINNDAR(IRE) with a record of 14-1-3-3 and lifetime earnings of $50,595. She is out of the mare THE SELFISH ROLL(AUS) who was winless in 11 starts at the track and has 2 foals on record with 1 winner. This filly had a busy 2 year old season in winning 1 of 10 starts that being a turf MSW race which was on of 2 turf races she ran last year. She started this year with 3 dirt route races and switched to the turf for her last start. In that race she finished 2nd in The Best Alice Handicap in South Dakota where she posted a lifetime best 89 speed rating in the 8 furlong contest. She is a closer who did perform well in a 9 furlong contest on the dirt in her 2007 debut this year and hopefully she can duplicate that style in this turf race today. Way (6.6%) will be in the irons of this longshot filly today.
6)MASPERO(NZ)—5/1—ausracing sends this filly out of ZABEEL(NZ) with a record of 7-3-3-0 and lifetime earnings of $150,960. She is out of the mare DANEHILL DANCER who was 11/36 at the track with 8 stakes wins, 1 Graded, and over 1 Million in career earnings. She has 2 foals of record of which 1 is a stakes winner and the other stakes placed. This 56th divisional ranked filly won her first 2 starts of her career at 2 years old. She picked up her 1st stakes victory in her 3 year old debut this year. She tried the top flite divisional fillies 2 starts back in the Grade I How Are You Gentleman Cup where she finished 9th in the 14 horse field but she did rebound by finishing 2nd last time out in the 8 furlong Grade III Nell Gwyn Stakes overseas. She returns to North America after 2 starts in the EAAA divsion and did post her lifetime best 95 speed rating earlier this year in an 8.5 furlong overnite stakes in Arkansas. This midpack closer is always gaining ground at the wire so the extra distance should not pose a problem for her today. Race (14.3%) will be in charge of getting this co-morning line favorite to cross the wire first in today’s race.
7)BLINKIN'(KY)—9/1—nasrullah sends this filly out of CAT THIEF with a record of 12-6-2-2 and lifetime earnings of $115,064. She is out of the mare OUR PROJECTS who was 6/32 at the track, no stake wins. She has 4 foals on record of which all are winners with 1 stakes winner and another Graded placed. This 204th divisional ranked filly has yet to be beaten on the green surface. She ran exclusively on the dirt as a 2 year old posting 1 win and 5 top three finishes in 7 starts. This year she has raced exclusively on the turf and is a perfect 5/5 with all of her races being against allowance company. She has posted her lifetime best speed rating of 90 twice so far this year. One thing to note in her racing style since the change of surfaces is that she races much closer to the pace on the turf where she was always further back in her dirt starts at 2. This will be her stakes race debut and she has already won at this distance so we will have to watch to see how she will handle the class rise today. Dillin (6.2%) should have this one near the frontrunners for today’s race.
8)SEEING THE RANSOM(ENG)—9/1—amybab send this filly out of RED RANSOM with a record of 10-5-2-3 and lifetime earnings of $136,440. She is out of the mare SEEKING SADLER who was 8/31 at the track with no stakes wins and this is her only foal to date. This 45th divisional ranked filly has finished in the money on all of her lifetime starts to date. She won her lifetime debut on the dirt and later in her 2 year old season took back to back 8 furlong turf allowance races. She has raced exclusively on the turf this year in 4 stakes races where she has 2 wins and 2 third place finishes. She posted her lifetime best 90 speed rating in her last start where she won The Ransome Smuggle Challenge stakes in Connecticut over 8.5 furlongs. This closer will be ridden by Castillo (8.3%) today who will try to give her a clear path down the stretch for the late run.
9)ABSOLUT EGO(JPN)—8/1—steelers sends this filly out of SILVER CHARM with a record of 14-5-2-2 and lifetime earnings of $223,605. She is out of the mare ARAGON STORM who was 2/19 at the track with no stakes winners, and who has 5 foals to date with 2 stakes winners and 2 claiming race winners. This 23rd divisional ranked filly has 2 wins as a 2 year old last year including an overnite stakes race at Virginia. After a so-so turf debut race at 3 she tried the dirt with poor results and has raced in 5 turf stakes races since. She enters this race on a 3 race overnite stakes winning streak, all with mid 80’s speed ratings but it should be noted that all of these wins have been wire to wire efforts against 4 horse fields. With today’s larger field of established fillies, this race should give an indication of this girl’s abilities as there are others here today who will be out gunning for the lead along with this one. Young (12%) will be the jockey for today’s race.
10)WISHING WELL G(IRE)—7/1—zz sends this filly out of SADLER’S WELLS with a record of 11-5-1-1 and lifetime earnings of $166,960. She is out of the mare LURE’S KRIS who was 3/21 at the track with no stakes wins and has 2 stake winners of her 3 foals of record to date. This 24th divisional ranked filly had 6 starts as a 2 year old with 3 being on the dirt where she had no top 3 finishes and 3 being on the turf where she won all three starts. She posted a 91 speed rating in her 2 year old finale winning an overnite stakes race in Arkansas. She has 2 wins in 5 stakes starts in 2007 but has yet to be able to match the speed rating of her 2006 final race. She did post a 90 speed rating a few starts back in finishing 2nd in a 9.5 furlong stakes in Wyoming and she has proven she can handle the distance but is another who takes advantage of short 4 horse fields so today’s competitive field shoud prove to be an interesting test for this filly. Hein (3.5%) will be looking for his 3rd win of the season with this closer in today’s race.
11)GLOBAL CURRENCY(IRE)—6/1—dreaming sends this filly out of MONT JEU(IRE) with a record of 11-5-4-2 and lifetime earnings of $133,887. She is out of the mare BUGSY who was 4/31 at the track with no stakes wins and this is the only foal of record to date. This 235th divisional ranked filly has finished in the top 3 in all of her lifetime starts. She had 2 wins at 2 and 2 of her 3 wins this year have come on the dirt. Her only stakes start prior to today was on the dirt in Hong Kong in the 9 furlong The Favallu Stakes where she posted her lifetime best 91 speed rating. In her last start she prepped for this race with a 9 furlong turf allowance score in Ireland stalking the pace and going on to win and posting a 90 speed rating enroute. She crosses the pond for her North American debut in todays race and will be in the hands of Mustoe(1.3%) who is looking for his 2nd win of the season aboard this filly.
12)WASTED CREDITS(DEN)—17/1—blinkers sends this filly out of DEXTERITY with a record of 8-3-1-1 and lifetime earnings of $53,701. She is out of the mare THONGSNBONGS who was 10/38 at the track with 1 stakes win and almost $300K in earnings and has 2 winning foals on record. This 345th divisional ranked filly debut as a 2 year old on the dirt and then won her MSW when debuting on turf in her 3rd lifetime start. She has 2 wins in 3 turf allowances this year and posted her lifetime best 91 speed rating in an 8 furlong NW4L allowance last time out. She makes her stakes debut here today and seems to race best when stalking and pushing the early pace setters. Genron (4.3%) will be looking for his 3rd win of the season aboard this filly from the outside post today.
A fine field of 12 three year old fillies for this Grade II Invitational today. I am going to go on the Super Band Wagon today and back #4 WANG CHUNG who has a Graded victory already under a belt and barring a bounce of her last has the best speed rating to shoot for today.
GOOD LUCK AND GOOD RACING
THEO