NO UGLY BETTY’S IN SO-CAL

NO UGLY BETTY’S IN SO-CAL – Just a lot of sunshine!

It’s going to be a beautiful Saturday of racing down in Southern California, and we have 10 amazing fillies & mares gracing the track with their presence.  These “Betties” (refer back to Alicia Silverstone in the mighty 90’s teenage epic Clueless) are making my job a bit difficult trying to sort ‘em out. 

By Odds…

We have the lukewarm 4-1 morning line favorite, Empire Reef, who’s been making waves as of late on the grass.  She’s very closely followed by 2^nd-choice Dreaming of Love, the flower child of the punch – the happy-go-lucky 6yo put some questions to rest with her easy romp last time out in the Hannah Barbara (G3).  Junk Collector, a big impressive import from Ireland, is training brilliantly and has rightly earned the 3^rd co-pick with juicy 6/1 odds, sharing that title with Cvbear’s Better Than Heaven, the top money maker from her sire’s crop of ’03 who is untested over the grass. 

Now, least we forget, we still have 4 more fillies listed at 7/1… Tenacious V is always a strong opponent, but hasn’t been running as competitively with these ladies lately… then again, I’m sure if they give her a swift pace on the front end she’d thoroughly enjoy running them down.  And there’s nothing like a little Latina flair to spice things up around here and that’s where Adios Amigo comes in.  The 5yo may be slight in frame, but this lady brings the fiesta (voted Ms. Congeniality in the stable rows) with her incredible closing kick.  Golden-girl Miswaki’s Last is new to this division’s top company, but she’s made herself more than at home bringing a 14 for 17 ITM turf record (10 of those being wins) and laying claim to 2^nd place in both the OK Bayou (G3) & the Black Betty (G2).  Then we have A Perfect Sunday… this little lady has some real jets on her, whipping out a 109sp three races back and still barely breaking a sweat.  She’s running very well right now and is definitely a great bet.

At 8/1 Boston’s Clam Chowdah floats into the picture as a new face on the turf scene.  She’s another who ran a blistering 109sp just two back.  To round out the field of odds we have the longshot youngster at 26/1… Prayer Vindication, a Kentucky-bred, is merely a sophomore, but she proved herself last out winning the Filly Turf Bonanza (G1).

By Past Performances…

So how about an even closer look… here’s how the fillies line-up against one another over the past 6 months.  As you can see there’s been a lot of bantering back and forth between the 9 “older” mares.

• 05/19: 8f-T Filly Turf Bonanza (G1), 3yoF only, 1:36-
• 1^st Prayer Vindication (nose, 94sp)

• 05/05: 10f-T Virgin Mary (G1)
• 3^rd Empire Reef
• 4^th Junk Collector
• 8^th A Perfect Sunday (uncharacteristic run)
• 9^th Miswaki’s Last (uncharacteristic run)

• 04/28: 8.5f-T (gd) Frank’s Love (G2), 1:42-
• 4^th Tenacious V

• 04/14: 10f-T Hannah Barbara (G3), 2:02.2
• 1^st Dreaming of Love (3-1/4, 102sp)
• 9^th Clam Chowdah (possible injury)

• 04/07: 10f-T Dodge This (G3), 2:02-
• 2^nd Junk Collector

• 04/07: 9f-T (gd) Black Betty (G2), 1:48.6
• 2^nd Miswaki’s Last
• 8^th Adios Amigos (disliked off track)

• 03/31: 9f-T Misfired Bogie (G3)
• 1^st A Perfect Sunday (1-3/4, 102sp)

• 03/10: 9f-T OK Bayou BB (G3), 1:48.2
• 2^nd Miswaki’s Last
• 7^th Dreaming of Love (never fired)

• 02/24: 9f-T Good Vista Hcp (G3), 1:48-
• 2^nd Junk Collector
• 4^th Tenacious V

• 02/10: 9f-T Shawnee River Hcp (G3), 1:48.2
• 2^nd Dreaming of Love

• 01/27: 8f-T Sexy Muffins Classic (G1), 1:35-
• 4^th Junk Collector

• 01/20: 9.5f-T Exploding Outhouse (G3), 1:55.2
• 1^st A Perfect Sunday (head, 102sp)

• 01/06: 10f-T Eloquent Lady Hcp (G3), 2:02.4
• 5^th Dreaming of Love (caught daydreaming)

• 01/06: 9f-T Remember Stk (G3), 1:49-
• 3^rd Adios Amigos

• 12/23: 10f-T (gd) Funkyfarm Special (G1) 3yoF only, 2:02-
• 2^nd Junk Collector
• 3^rd Tenacious V

By Post Positions…

TENACIOUS V, 4yo by Vindication X Lear Fan X Buckpasser

            T.V. is trained by peeps4 out of the Cobra Kai Stables.  The 2006 1000 Guineas (G1) winner hasn’t seen the winners circle since August of last year.  But she is still showing consistency as a 4yo, bringing home a paycheck in her four starts of 2007.  Besides her lack of wins lately the other big question is whether or not she still has the competitive edge needed to run in graded company having finished far back in 4^th in both graded starts this year.

DREAMING OF LOVE, 6yo by Sadler’s Wells X Mr. Prospector X Unbridled

            With that pedigree who wouldn’t be happy-go-lucky?  And the great thing is the mare has lived up to her royal bloodlines running ITM 27 of 39 turf starts (including 13 wins).  Snowchief’s trainee had started showing a little bit of that dreading wear and tear this past winter, but it looks like she may have found a little bit of that elusive fountain of youth winning very handedly in the 10 furlong G2 Hannah Barbara.  She was given a long 7 weeks R&R so we’ll see what kind of an effect that has on the mare.

PRAYER VINDICATION, 3yo by Vindication X Roar X Irish River

            Reigning from the Pazjazz Music City Stables, trainer bongo has a gem-in-the-making.  The young filly has been training like a machine this past winter/spring running every 2 or 3 weeks and just plain flourishing.  Paz’s training techniques are paying off, too, as the 3yo won the G3 Filly Turf Bonanza in a huge closing kick just two weeks ago.  A couple of big questions loom, however.  Can the filly make the jump in class to take on the warriors of the older mare division?  Can she keep holding up with that grueling training schedule?  And lastly, who will she handle the added furlong in distance?

CLAM CHOWDAH, 4yo by Boston Harbor X Alphabet Soup X Gate Dancer

            Acote4’s gorgeous dark grey filly is one of the newest faces to this division.  She debuted on the turf just 3 starts back leading an allowance field around 8F’s before being passed in the lane (finished 2^nd).  Two back she served a whooper of a run dueling on the lead of a 9F open stakes event and then kicking it up a notch more to open up distance and win with an incredible 109sp and by nearly 2 lengths.  The race appeared to take a bit out of her, however, and she floundered home 9^th in the G2 Hannah Barbera after leading the first half mile.  She may be a great bet at 8/1.  I’m sure she has much more to show us and as one of only two horses with front-end speed she could have a bit of an advantage on Saturday amongst all these deep closers.

BETTER THAN HEAVEN, 5yo by Skip Away X Chief’s Crown X Silver Hawk

            Trained & bred by Cvbear this is one big mystery horse.  Better Than Heaven has never raced on the turf course.  Her sire (dirt superstar Skip Away) doesn’t provide much hope having sired only 3% turf winners of starters.  But this is the Sim and anything can (and usually does) happen.  The mare is coming into this off of a nice 5 week rest.  She prefers racing fairly close to the pace, which, if she decides to like the grass, she will have an added edge over the deep closers.  She has shown she can handle the classic distances.

ADIOS AMIGOS, 5yo by El Corredor X Lyphard X Pleasant Colony

            Devil01 has this mare training very well right now.  She has yet to win this season, however, she is bringing a 3 of 5 ITM record into this race.  I’m tossing out that run she gave over the off track in the Black Betty.  With that discarded her next best run was a fast closing 3^rd (running out of ground) in the 9F Remember Stakes (G3) in January.

EMPIRE REEF, 5yo by Empire Maker X Mill Reef X Halo

            The “Evil Empire” looms very very strong with this front-running mare.  Trainer lenny13 knows a thing or two about training his charges for the races.  This mare is coming into this race off a 4 week hiatus and a 3^rd place finish in the G1 10F Virgin Mary Stakes, besting Junk Collector, Miswaki’s Last, & A Perfect Sunday.  She will most likely open up a very big lead on this field.  However, looking back over her races to the Penn Turf Distaff she proved very good coming from the back to nearly steal the win…. It’s a running style she hasn’t demonstrated since, but could prove tactful.

MISWAKI’S LAST, 5yo by Miswaki X Kris S. X Artaius

            Xanthu3’s mare is probably my pick to finish top 3 if not come away with the win.  She has been a picture of consistency throughout her career and this season is not any different.  I am disregarded her race in the Virgin Mary Stakes last out as apparently she was off her feed the morning of the race and was running a slight fever.  I’m expecting great things from her on Saturday.  She has probably the best racing position of the field and with her competitive drive added to that she probably has the biggest edge.

A PERFECT SUNDAY, 5yo by Sadler’s Wells X Sunday Silence X Devil His Due

            Another amazing mare who will definitely be a top contender for the win, unshaded99 has this girl in a perfect spot!  She won 3 of her last 4.  Last time out is a head-scratcher so I’m just going to pretend it never happened.  She will be sitting slightly behind Miswaki’s Last.  The two will most likely move at the same time on the two front-runners.  If three back has anything to say (109sp) then A Perfect Sunday could pull an upset on some very nice fillies.

JUNK COLLECTOR, 4yo by Perfect Soul X Spinning World X Dynaformer

            Trained by runshilohb, Junk Collector has all the right moves.  Like many others in the field JC is a deep closer, but of those deep closers, this one has some real afterburners on her.  Last time out she closed on the winner from 13 lengths back to just miss out by 2-3/4 lengths.  Prior to that race she ran a bit closer to the pace (which may be the way to go on Saturday) and lost the photo by a head.  She is definitely a gritty one & I won’t count her out.