SMACKDOWN III — 2yo turf fillies

It’s time to see what the juvenile fillies have to offer on the lawn.

First, TEAM GR SIMSTERS:

Fit to Romp is an interesting little filly, trained by Desimster5, who will break from the four slot. Undefeated in two starts, the daughter of Cryptoclearance will have 12%-winning R Rama in the irons. She hasn’t really been tested yet, though, having run only in five-horse fields and producing speed figures in the mid-60s. A big step up here for this gal and a great chance to see what she has in the tank.

Lenny271’s Thedreamisdead has a similar record to Fit to Romp – undefeated in two easy races The Montjeu daughter has come from off the pace to win by daylight against weak four-horse fields. She has the strong advantage of a jockey with a 17% strike rate.

She’s only raced once, but Reman12000’s Razzler is one of the more interesting fillies here. A regally-bred daughter of El Prado, she won her five-furlong debut comfortably with a respectable 74 fig. With distance, distance, distance in her pedigree, she’s just going to get better over the long run. Definitely one to keep an eye on. Bettors agree, placing her at 7/2.

Stickem’s Impressive Oil will probably sit a few lengths back after breaking from the ten hole. Then she’ll try to overwhelm the field with a strong stretch drive. The talented daughter of Sakhee whipped up a 76 fig in her last race, so she’s capable of some dangerous speed. That last race was a tough maiden field, now we’ll see how she does against stakes winners.

Tesio’s Crossroad is a Street Cry daughter who ran a strong 75 to break her maiden last time out. It was a nice improvement over her previous race, where she ran a not-so-speedy second. She likes to sit just off the pace and seems to be improving nicely over time. Solid enough jockey will help as he can.

It’s a very solid crew for GR Simsters, with several undefeated horses and some of the strongest speed figures in the field (Impressive Oil has the second highest fig in the race, Crossroad is tied for second, Razzler has the third). None of them has won a stakes (yet), but any one of them has a realistic chance to do very well here.

Next come some challengers, hungry to defeat the reigning champs.

TEAM NWRC

Lawyerron’s Reward Niner will break from the inside. She’s a tough gal who has a win and two seconds in four starts. Her only stumble (if you can call it that) was a graded race in which she finished sixth, but she was only 2 lengths behind the winner. May get a boost from switching back to turf after trying the dirt last time out. There’s every reason to think she’ll be competitive.

The NWRC team has a very strong contender in Triska’s lovely Monlinera, a stakes-winning powerhouse at the bargain price of 12/1. She’s very experienced for this point of the year, having four races under her belt. Only in her debut was she worse than second. She has won an overnight stakes (against a short field, but beating another competitor here), finished second in another, and has earned the highest speed figure of this bunch, a 78. I wish her jockey won at more than a 78% clip, but other than that she looks stellar.

Caliracing’s Native Mambo is coming off a strong maiden win in her third start. She probably got a boost from switching back to turf, so she may not look quite as good here. On the other hand, she’s improving with each race and should get much better with added distance. Not the easiest horse to figure out, but a strong race coud put her in contention. She won’t be at her best until she gets to go even longer.

Bradyboy’s Fast ‘N’ Loose is another strong contender, with a 3, 2-1-0 record. Two of those races were stakes with four-horse fields, but her debut was a win against a tough field of 16, so she clearly has grit. The Shamardal daughter’s mid-70s speed figs will put her in the mix (though she’ll need to step it up to win) and a 23%winning jock is a big boost.

Deputysam’s Positive Feedback will break from the outside. Mr. Greeley’s daughter has won her last two against middling fields and is now stepping up to stakes competition. There’s not a lot of speed in this race, so she has a shot at stealing it from the front. She’ll need to speed up to compete with the best here, but she has been improving steadily and should continue to do so as she stretches out.

NWRC is fielding a fast, experienced, accomplished team and should be very, very tough in this race.

TEAM DUR

Last but not least comes the team from Down Under. I have to admit to a little favoritism here because: a) my dear grandma is an expat and b) wombats are the cutest critters ever. So, yay Team Aussie!

First up is Senorita Hanaa, Mrrx7’s Fantastic Light filly. She has a win and a second in three races and has improved her speed nicely with each start. She’ll need to improve again to run with the fastest here, but she looks like a totally solid competitor. She’s at a pretty appropriate 11/1 in the betting.

Next door in the three hole will be Mambo’s Choice, Stevesutto’s Aussie-bred filly with a win and two seconds. She’ll try to take the lead early and will have only a little competition for it. She ought to appreciate stretching out here and has improved with each start. Another step up will give her a strong opportunity here.

Jockeymax7’s Bernardini’s Hill was a stakes winner against a tough field, but subsequently finished third to Molinera and failed to fire in graded company. She’s taking a small step back here to what is probably a more appropriate race. She’s a consistent gal with two wins and a third, generally running in the low 70s. That’ll put her in striking position, but she’ll need just a little extra to run with the best of the best in this race.

How will it end up? I think DUR is hurting just a bit from having fewer entries. NWRC has a couple of very serious contenders, including the awesome-looking Molinera. GR Simsters may not have the top horse in the field, but they have a ton of depth. Tune in Saturday to find out who gets the Smackdown!