Fantastic Ollie Handicap draws nine

Three year old fillies face a mile this week in Virginia in the third annual running of the Fantastic Ollie Handicap. Running over a mile of firm turf, the race carries a $45000 purse. Last year’s edition was won by Buckland Manor, who grabbed her first career stakes win in that race. She ran as a co-favorite in the race, and oddsmakers have been fairly close with there picks in both runnings of the race. This year’s race has drawn a tightly matched field of nine. Behind the 2/1 favorite, seven of the remaining eight entries are going off between 4/1 and 9/1 odds. The longshot here is a relatively short 14/1 odds, and this shows every indication of being a close one. Virginia race fans could see some decent payouts at the betting window, if they choose carefully.

PP 1) PJ Budejovicky P(LA) Sired by Bierstadt, Trained by tarepjff. PJ Budejovicky P(LA) makes her twelfth career start here. This will be her first stakes starts, a big jump in class as she comes off her first non-MCOS win. Her first eleven have seen her run to a 2-1-1-3-2 record, with a best speed of 92.0 earned in her last outing. That race was an A1x outing in Argentina, where she ran away from a field of six for a three and a quarter length victory. She started racing route distance as soon as her trainer could find it for her, and this has been the distance where she has experienced her best success. The turf has been her home since her second start. Her speeds seem to take a downturn as she stretches out beyond a mile, and she may be at the outside of her range here. She generally likes to stalk the leaders from the head of mid pack. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there is going to be much of a mid pack in this one. There is a lot of speed up front, and she has some good deep closers behind her. Her best chance is to take over just past the half and open a big cushion. Surviving the early speed will be key for her here.

PP 2) Liberty Rain(IRE) Sired by Statue Of Liberty(IRE), Trained by foxon. Liberty Rain(IRE) takes the gate for her twelfth career start here. She is no stranger to stakes competition, though, and has two wins to show for it. Over the course of her first eleven she has put together a record of 4-1-1-0-2, with a best speed of 93.6 earned in her first start of this season. Her last outing was a Grade 3 try at eight and a half furlongs on dirt, where she couldn’t find the handle, finishing seventh in a full field. This filly has been primarily a dirt runner, though she has acquitted herself well in both of her previous turf tries, with no appreciable difference in speed figures. She also seems to improve with every step up in distance, so this shouldn’t be any problem for her. She is a deep closer and her close has been very consistent. The only problem is that she has also consistently found herself out too deep at the half to bring it all the way home. She could possibly benefit from a slightly faster break from the gate. She has lots of early speed to set her up here, and if she is inside ten lengths at the half, she should be dangerous.

PP 3) Mr Dictaphone(KY) Sired by Smoke Glacken, Trained by wjobradio. Mr Dictaphone(KY) is making her fourteenth career run in this race. She has had one previous stakes start, and is seeking her first win at this level of competition. In her last ten starts, she has cobbled together a 3-1-1-3-0 record, with a best speed figure of 87.0, which she earned in her last race. That race was an A2x run at this distance in Eastern Kentucky, where she led a field of eight from gate to wire to win by a length. She indicated a definite preference for turf early in her career. As her three year old season began, she started having problems in sprint allowances, but as she stretched out she seemed to turn things around, with a win and a place in two starts in this distance range. She is a fast starter with no inclination to close at all. She wants to take things wire to wire. She seems to work best when she is challenged, but she has to at least have a piece of the early lead. She takes a big step up in class, and will need more speed than she has shown so far to carry a lead in this field.

PP 4) Cover Of Night(KY) Sired by Awesome Again, Trained by avalanche3. Cover Of Night(KY) sees action for her tenth career time here. She has plenty of stakes experience, but she is still looking for her first stakes win. In her first nine, she has earned a record of 2-3-0-1-0, with a best speed of 94.1 earned earlier this season. Her last run was in the GR Simster’s Kentucky Oaks race at nine furlongs on dirt in Florida, where she finished a long out eighth in a field of ten. This will be her first career turf start, and she doesn’t even have an off track start to act as an indicator of how she might react to a softer surface. Her breeding has a turf upside, but that will be a big question mark in this race. She’s never run under eight furlongs, and the distance is neither a problem or a question here. She is a stalker, and she is at her best when she stays close on the lead. She’s had very little luck at stakes level, and she is on an unfamiliar surface here. Her posiiton at first call should tell the story of her race here.

PP 5) Rubinia Soulsinger(KY) Sired by Silver Deputy, Trained by warchyld. Rubinia Soulsinger(KY) is looking at her tenth career outing here. This will be her first try at stakes level, earned by winning her last two in higher level conditioned allowances. Overall in her first nine, she boasts a record of 3-4-1-1-0 with a best posted speed of 88.4 which she has duplicated in her last two starts. Her last run was an A3y at this distance right here in Virginia, where she showed excellent closing power to best a field of six by a length and a half. She’s run turf since her second start, and has never finished worse than third in her next eight. Seven to eight furlongs looks to be her best distance so far in her career. She has four top two finishes in four starts in this distance range. She is a deep closer and her close has been the picture of consistency. Her speeds have not been the best in this field, but her last two starts have been career bests, and she may have more to show yet. She should have an excellent setup here. Definitely should be part of the exotic boxes here, even with the step up in class.

PP 6) Around Here(KY) Sired by Saint Liam, Trained by jonesz. Around Here(KY) is facing her tenth career trip to the gate here. This will be her third consecutive stakes try, and she is still seeking her first win at this level. She has come out of her first nine starts with a 3-1-1-1-0 record, and a best speed figure of 87.6 earned two starts back. Her last outing was a nine and a half furlong stakes on a tough Indiana track where she finished seventh out of eight, dropping anchor in the second half. She has split her caeer fairly evenly between dirt and turf, but the majority of her success has been on the grass. She’s had about the same speeds and placements anywhere between six and nine furlongs, so distance should be a problem here. She is a fast starter, but has had trouble holding on to them much past the half post. Things won’t get any easier for her in this one. She’ll have a lot of competition up front early, and the closers breathing down their necks late. She’s going to need to step it up a notched to figure into this one.

PP 7) Booyah For You(KY) Sired by Brahms, Trained by cwjonesz. Booyah For You(KY) will make her tenth career start in this race. She takes a big jump in class here for her first stakes start, stepping up from the C3L level. Her first nine starts have seen her crank out a record of 2-2-2-1-1 with a best speed of 90.9, which she earned in her last outing. That race was a C3L at this distance in Arkansas, where she finished a hard closing second in a field of six. This is her best race, and she has a first and a second in two starts in this distance range on turf. She is a deep closer, and her close has been quite good in the claiming ranks. She has not fared quite as well on the big stage, though. Her speed in her last start was enough to help her measure up here, but that was against a lower clas of horse. The early speed will help her here, but being able to close it up late at this level is going to be a real trial for her.

PP 8) Barb’s Bankers(IRE) Sired by Alberto Giacometti(IRE), Trained by lukebarn. Barb’s Bankers(IRE) is the rookie of this field, making only her sixth career start. This will be her first stakes starts, coming on the heels of her first non-MCOS win. Her first five starts have netted her a record of 2-1-2-0-0 with a best speed number of of 87.9 earned two starts back. Her last run was all the way across the world in Hong Kong, an A2L at this distance, where she took a field of seven from gate to wire to win by two and a quarter lengths. Four of five starts have been in this distance range on turf, and she has two wins and two shows. She generally likes to run from the head of mid pack, but she doesn’t seem inclined to close more than about a two length gap at the half. She also has a tendency to get into trouble if she lets herself get involved in the early speed duel. Her speeds are not the best here, but she is relatively untried, and may not have shown her best yet. She will have to walk a tightrope here to have success in this field.

PP 9) Racer’s Pride(AUS) Sired by Racer’s Edge(AUS), Trained by divisional. Racer’s Pride(AUS) comes into her thirteenth start here as the long shot. Outside of one allowance race late in her two year old season, this will be her first start outside the claim and starter allowance ranks. Over her last ten she has put together a 4-1-1-2-0 record, posting a best speed of 89.1 in a starter allowance earlier this season. Her last start was a starter allowance at nine furlongs in Connecticut where she appeared to stumble out coming out of the gate, ending ninth well behind the rest of the field. The last half of her career has been spent on turf, and she really seemed to wake up on the grass, dramatically increasing her speeds. She run equally well from seven to nine furlongs on turf, and this one is right up the center, so there should be no distance issues. She is a fast starter, working her best from the front of the pack. She’s shown the ability to open up some big cushions early, but has not fared well when faced with early pressure. There will be lots of early speed here, and this is a big jump in class for her. Can’t recommend her until I see how she performs in the big leagues.