Ultra Cat Narrow Choice on So Cal Undercard

The FORTY SIX GROOM Special
Stakes
A mile and one quarter
Firm Turf
$85,000
Fillies and mares, 4 years old and up

 

PP   Horse       Owner          Jockey       Odds 
1  SLEEPING BEAUTY  moreready  L Brock  9/2 
2  ULTRA CAT  pinerivers  E Land  8/5 
3  LILY MANSFIELD  bigmoose2  O Brim  2/1 
4  DYNAHIGH(IRE)  burnin  M Staples  9/5

 

 

A quartet of well bred five year old mares will square off in So Cal’s The FORTY SIX GROOM Special.  Let’s meet the ladies in post position order.

 

 

Royally bred Sleeping Beauty (EMPIRE MAKER x SEATTLE SLEW x NORTHERN DANCER) is seeking her first career stakes win.  Moreready’s flashy chestnut has been knocking at the door for quite a while.  Last December she led the Rhode Island Dyna Page Stakes field until deep stretch before settling for the place.  Three back she stalked the leader in a North Dakota stake, took command close to home, but was caught late.  Two weeks later she raced in North Dakota again.  Sleeping Beauty employed similar tactics and looked to be a sure winner.  But she hung a bit late and dropped a head decision to the fast closing Slammin Sov.  Last time out, right here in So Cal, she broke slowly and never got involved.  Certainly capable of kicking that door down with her best effort. 

 

 

Ultra Cat didn’t start racing until November of her three year old year.  Then the big Fu Peg x Storm Cat mare spent the majority of her four year old season sprinting.  She was stakes placed early on, but didn’t look like a real added money type until recently.  Pinerivers stretched her out to nine furlongs on the grass in January and, all of a sudden, she became a different horse.  Ultra Cat now has three wins, a second and a third from five turf routes.  She got her first stakes win two starts back over a wet Lombardi Turf Course in Wisconsin under talented jockette Linda Cihak.  Her most recent outing found her charging hard late but running out of ground and settling for third as the favorite in The Grade II Barbara Bush.  Excellent chance to make amends on Saturday.

 

 

Tracy’s Bigmoose2  barn sends out speedy Lily Mansfield for this test.  Lily may be best remembered for her sterling silver medal performance in Winter Equinics 2006.  The blue blooded mare (DEPUTY MINISTER x SECRETARIAT x NIJINSKY II) has enjoyed a great deal of success sprinting, but is untested beyond a mile and a sixteenth.  The comely Squirrel Stables homebred ended a long losing streak last time out in British Columbia when she dusted a short field at short odds in the six and a half furlong Sound And Fury Special.  It would be no surprise to find Lily in the winners circle again if she handles the distance.

 

 

Rounding out the compact but classy field is Burnin’s Dynahigh(IRE).  The swift daughter of High Chaparral(IRE) and the stakes winning Dynaformer mare, Dry Rain, is seeking her second successive So Cal success.  Last time out, Randy L.’s homebred turned in a sparkling front running score in the Grade II Barbara Bush at ten panels on the grass.  That was the second Grade II mile and a quarter turf win of her career.  As a sophomore, she won the I’m Lost Handicap at Woodbine.  A victory on Saturday would push the ONEWORLD Stables star over the million dollar mark in career earnings.  Big shot to do so.