Judo Chop! Jujitsu Attack! Grade One!
With the vaunted Breeders Bowl just around the corner, the best horses from all around the Sim are gearing up to make their championship runs. This week, the dirt distaff division takes center stage in sunny
1) Winning Season, 4yo filly, 7/1, Lemon Drop Kid x Private Account x The Minstrel, trained by twoofus
Here’s a filly looking for her tenth win in start number 26. Her career high speed figure of 107 came in a mile allowance on the dirt five starts back. She’s a G1 winner as a 2yo and a G2 winner as a 3yo so the class is there. Two starts back she dominated an 8.5f stakes with a 105 SF, and a repeat of that performance puts her right there. She’s been inconsistent this year so some might be tempted to look elsewhere for your winner, but a huge performance would come as no surprise.
2) A Fire Inside, 4yo filly, 13/1, A.P. Indy x Mr. Prospector x Foolish Pleasure, trained by topicount
Like many from the A.P. Indy line this filly is a late developer, putting her first stakes win on the board this year. That was her first start of 2007, seven races ago, and came with a 100 speed figure crushing a 9.5f stakes by nearly four lengths. She’s winless since that race, but two back she ran second in the Steadhemp Handicap (G1) run at the same conditions as this week’s race. She looks a cut below the top ones in here, but given her career path an improvement isn’t out of the question.
3) Man On Fire, 5yo mare, 8/1, Woodman x Ajdal x Riverman, trained by lenny
What an absolute beauty of a filly! She’s got seven stakes wins, including three on dirt and four on turf, and has career earnings in excess of $900,000. She’s a graded winner sprinting on the turf, and hasn’t seen the 8.5f distance on dirt since her 2yo season. However, those runs as a juvenile were very impressive, including a narrow second in the 2004 GR Simsters Juvy Dirt Fillies. She won a stakes this year at a mile on the dirt with a 101 speed figure, and owner lenny is quite bullish on her chances this week. In fact, despite the fact that he has eleven G1 runners spanning the globe this week, lenny has decided to come to
4) Arawaza, 4yo filly, 5/1, A.P. Indy x Deputy Minister x Mr. Prospector, trained by given
It took this filly four starts to break her maiden and five more to clear her first allowance condition, but she’s made up for lost time in a big way this year. The switch flipped on four races back as she smoked a mile allowance with a 102 speed figure, because she followed that up with a smoking 105 stakes win at 8.5f and then even more impressively detonated the Steadhemp Handicap (G1) by nearly three lengths with a 108. In her last race she contested the Smackdown at 9f and finished a good second with a 106, and the half-furlong drop should be very much to her liking. If this filly can keep her form, she has a great chance to win this week and could cause some major noise in the distaff division from here on out.
5) Irreversible, 5yo mare, 4/1, Giant’s Causeway x Mr. Prospector x Never
The race favorite has won half of her 24 career starts and comes into this race in absolute top form. She’s won an amazing six of her last seven starts culminating in a masterful victory in the Smackdown at 9f with a 109 speed figure. With a record of 4 (3 1 0) in races run at this week’s 8.5f distance, there really isn’t much not to like about this beautiful filly. She’s a deserved favorite and the most likely winner.
6) Wondergirl Extasy, 14/1, 4yo filly, Rahy x Geri x Riverman, trained by pilgrim
When the longest shot on the board in a G1 is 14/1 it tells you all you need to know about the depth in the race. This filly was a very astute claim for pilgrim, as she has finished top three in 14 of 20 races since the claim. She’s yet to win a stakes, but ran a career high 105 speed figure in her last race, a 9f allowance. She does look a bit overmatched in this race, but if she can maintain the 105 with the jump in class she could have a say at the finish.
7) Impossible Girl, 4yo filly, 10/1, Forty Niner x Sadler’s Wells x Graustark, trained by timmn
With five wins from eleven starts, it isn’t hard to tell that this is one talented filly. She’s won four of her last five races including a devastating win two back in the Poor Mona Lisa Handicap (G3) at 9f with a 105 speed figure. She may have bounced off that effort as she ran a distant ninth in her most recent start, a G2 at 8.5f, but with such a talented and lightly-raced filly it would be a huge surprise if she doesn’t bounce back in a big way. While she might not be at the level of the top few in here yet, it won’t be long, and a win would certainly not come as a shock.
8) Case By Case, 4yo filly, 7/1, In Case x With Approval x Caerleon, trained by fabman
The beat marches on as we have yet another very talented filly set to take a spot in the starting gate. This dark beauty has eleven wins from 25 starts and like Arawaza, took a while to come into her own. Her first stakes appearance was three races back, and she sure made it count, annihilating a field at 8.5f by nearly three lengths with a 109 speed figure. She followed that up with another stakes win at 9f before finishing a decent fifth in the Steadhemp Handicap (G1) with a 103. Two fillies in here beat her in that race, but it was her first graded effort and improvement should be expected. This bomber will be coming late and I’d be surprised if she doesn’t figure in a tight finish.
9) Air Thunderess, 5yo mare, 7/1, Thunder Gulch x Kris S. x Green Dancer, trained by Kingman
An older mare with great credentials, this bountiful mare shows two brilliant stakes wins at the 8.5f distance, including a smashing 109 speed figure last October demolishing the field by 2-1/2 lengths. She had a few rough starts after that but has rebounded nicely of late with another stakes win three back and last time out she ran a good 107 in a stakes at this distance, finishing third. Class is an issue as she was soundly thumped in her lone G1 try, but with a mare of this talent it’s certainly worth another try.
10) Rarju’s Empire, 4yo filly, 7/1, Empire Maker x Red Ransom x Search For Gold, trained by fortune500
Who would have thought that one of the top speed figures in this field would have come in an allowance loss? Well, three races back this regal looking filly lost an 8.5f allowance with a 111! Fortune500 is her fifth owner and has really seen this filly blossom for him. She earned her first stakes win last time out, crushing an 8.5f stakes in the slop by two lengths with a 106. This being her first stab at graded, class will surely be an issue, but for a former claimer, just being 7/1 in a G1 is a tremendous achievement.
11) Big Ugly, 5yo mare, 13/1, Summer Squall x Graustark x Spectacular Bid, trained by jrogue
A multiple graded winner, there can be absolutely no doubting the class of this girl. Four back she ran her eyeballs out to win the My Girl Handicap (G1) at 8.5f with a ridiculous 113 speed figure. That race may have taken something out of her, because she’s run poorly in her subsequent three starts. That being said, she won the My Girl off two horrid outings, so she’s been known to fire off massive shots out of nowhere. She absolutely must be respected and is a great win bet at 13/1.
Well, that’s the field for the Jujitsu, and it’s shaping up to be one of the better dirt distaff races of the year. Good luck to all the trainers involved, and may the best filly win!