A Field of Ten Outstanding New York Bred Three Year Old Fillies are on Display in the $100,000 ESR Fourstars Allstar Tribute Stakes

A field of Ten Three Year Old New York-bred Fillies enter the Big Apple starting gate for the $100,000 ESR Fourstars Allstar Stakes.  The race will be run at Seven Furlongs over the Dirt Course.

Fourstars Allstar won seven graded stakes in North America and was New York-bred Horse of the Year in 1991 and ’93. His biggest claim to fame, however, came when he became the first American-trained horse to win a European classic, the G1 Airlie Coolmore Irish Two Thousand Guineas.

At Saratoga Fourstars Allstar captured the G2 Bernard Baruch Handicap twice, and the Saratoga G3 Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Handicap. Fourstars Allstar ended his career in 1995 with 14 wins from 59 races and earnings of $1,596,760.

MONROE COUNTY – the trotter1 trained 3 Year Old scratch-bred Bay Filly by Effinex out of a Summer Squall x Roberto mare returns to the ESR Stakes circuit where she has experienced her most success, recording victories during her 2yo campaign in the ESR Asylum of the Daleks Stakes and the ESR End of Time Stakes respectively; the one time Bluegrass Oaks hopeful is making her second start off a layoff after a somewhat disappointing second place finish in her last start…chance off best

AFROBEATNIK – the itch trained 3 Year Old Bay Filly by Big Brown, out of LET IT BE ME (Pulpit), winner of more than $380k in career earnings, has really taken off since switching racing surfaces in January, winning three of five of her Dirt starts including a victory in the ESR Naughty New Yorker Stakes; perhaps her most impressive start came in May when she finished 3^rd against Open-Bred rivals in the Ladyjinsky Dirt Filly Mile while recording the first triple digit speed figure of her career; drew off in her last start, an Allowance prep, and appears razor sharp for this ESR showdown on Saturday…one to beat

GO BALLISTIC – the casino trained 3 Year Old Bay Filly by Golden Missile out of the multi-stakes producing mare SUSAGEP (Mr. Prospector) demonstrated that she might be the next filly to dominate the ESR Local Division after her a convincing victory in the ESR Daleks in Manhattan in the second start of her career, but the promising NY-bred struggled going forward recording just a second place finish in her next four ESR Local Stakes appearances; makes her second start off a layoff, her last a second place finish over the poly surface…eligible to improve

CAPARCH – using a Turf sprint as a stepping stone to the ESR feature, the pointblank trained 3 Year Old Bay Filly by Al Khali, out of the stakes winning mare RAPID REPLY (Arch), second place finisher in the G1 Players Club National Oaks, hopes to repeat her victory in the ESR Stranger Things Stakes in February; similar to MONROE COUNTY, the promising New York-bred’s passage to the Bluegrass Oaks was derailed after her 5^th place finish in the G3 Lady Bourbon and the fillies focus has re-shifted to the Local scene, where she has never been off the board in seven career starts…dangerous

ALL PEARLS – winner of four of eight career starts, the kingab trained 3 Year Old Bay Filly by Big Brown out of the G3 winning / multi graded stakes producing mare GEORGIA PEARL (Fusaichi Pegasus), winner of the 7-furlong G3 Natural Spring Stakes, looks to reverse the order of finish with AFROBEATNIK in the ESR Naughty New Yorker Stakes; entering this field off a convincing Local Allowance victory, the talented New York-bred looks most adept at turning back in distance in her quest for her first stakes victory…main threat

PUNKIN SUIT – the ace trained 3 Year Old Roan Filly by Mission Impazible, out of the stakes winning mare, WALLY’S WARRIOR (A.P. Warrior), 3^rd place finisher in the G2 Midsoil Stakes, is making her first stakes appearance of her lightly raced career; turning back from a mile, the local product should welcome a return to seven panels, a distance where she produced perhaps the best start of her career; all indications suggest a filly that prefers sprinting on the dirt, so an improved effort is expected here…must show more

MALI KHALI – privately purchased by the irisharse racing stables from the beisbol connections is the 3 Year Old Brown Filly by Al Khali out of the stakes placed mare MALIBU MIST (Malibu Moon); never been off the board in five career starts, this will be the first start for the filly that for her new connections, however appears to be in tough against her Stakes experienced rivals; likely a once over for a filly that has been away from the races since March, from connections well-noted to bring their horses along slowly…add to watch list

BISCUITS CADET – the lightly raced, cadet trained 3 Year Old scratch-bred Bay Filly by Posse out of a Scat Daddy x Halo mare is making only her 5^th career start and first stakes appearance; the promising NY-bred has run well at this distance, recording her lone victory in a 7-furlong Local MSW race against boys, where she recorded a 94-speed figure, the fastest speed figure recorded at this distance on the dirt than any of her race rivals; regressed in her last start, but looks poised for a top effort in her second start in 18 days…might surprise

EFFINEX ENCORE – the lbailey racing stables demonstrated a keen eye for talent when they went all in on this $150k /300BP claim of this 3 Year Old scratch-bred Bay Filly by Effinex out of a Danzig x Unbridled mare in her racing the debut, and what a debut it was; the expensive claim looked like a bargain as she crushed a field on Local Breds in New York in a Turf Route while posting a 75-speed figure in her debut…might be this good

SOFT LIKE SILK – the ambitiously placed 3 Year Old Light Grey Filly by Mission Impazible, out of a Galileo mare, makes only the 4^th start of her racing career; the gate to wire winner in her racing debut has faltered badly in her last two starts, beating only one horse one horse to the wire, while the beisbol connections remain baffled by her recent form…does not figure

Handicapping the Field

When I put together a schedule I try not to duplicate races in an effort cover the vast variety of racing conditions available to the racing community.  I must admit, the fact that this race brings together some past ESR Race rivals, and some worthy newcomers, gives this race its own personality and the promise of some very good New York-breds going forward in the New York circuit.

AFROBEATNIK has been pretty much unstoppable since switching to the Dirt Course, is a perfect 2-2 racing at 7-furlongs, holds a victory over ALL PEARLS and easily qualifies as the horse to beat here on Saturday.

ALL PEARLS is getting better with every start and hails from the white-hot kingab racing stables…made some late gain against AFROBEATNIK in the ESR Naughty New Yorker Stakes and has her best races in front of her.

CAPARCH and MONROE COUNTY are mirror images of each other and might have put their best races behind them.  Both horses are certainly capable of winning this race, but my racing sense tells me they are just a notch below the top two at this point of their careers.

BISCUITS CADET is probably the most interesting play in this race.  Sure, she has only one victory, and spots this field a huge advantage based on experience, but that 94-speed figure draws me in, and a suspicion that her last start was more of a work as she returns 18 days later.

GO BALLISTIC certainly has the experience to get the job done in this field, but I get the impression that her connections are at a loss right now on what to do with this horse, and for that reason I pass.

PUNKIN SUIT, MALI KHALI, EFFINEX ENCORE, and SOFT LIKE SILK all face the toughest challenge of the day and would surprise with victories here on Saturday.

The Picks

ALL PEARLS – hard to pick against a filly going forward conditioned by the top training outfit

AFROBEATNIK – certainly the horse to beat and impossible to separate with top choice

BISCUITS CADET – like I suggested…I smell a rat