Newcomer K’s Special Agent Favored in Group I Filly Grand Prix

SURREY, ENGLAND – A full field of fourteen two-year-old fillies will take to the firm turf on Saturday afternoon for the Group I Filly Grand Prix, which will be run at a mile over the firm turf course. Twelve out of the fourteen are looking for their first graded stakes win, and many are trying a route distance for the first time.

(1) DISHING IT UP (owner mtk2014, 9/1) is one of the two graded stakes winners in this field, fresh off a win in the Group II Young Lady in Ireland last month. This is the first time she has left Irish soil and comes over here to the U.K. to attempt to get another graded victory. She’s won three in a row leading into this, and has the pedigree for this – she’s a daughter of Frankel, out of stakes-winning mare SERVING IT UP. Her consistent improvement over the past few races is impressive, and if she comes ready to run again, she has a big chance in here.

(2) BED TIMER (owner deeprock, 34/1) may have her work cut out for her in this loaded field. She has yet to crack the 70 SP barrier yet, and she was soundly beaten in her first graded-stakes effort last time out. She finished 11th out of 14 in the Group II Lowdown. She does have an allowance win on the tab two starts back over in the States, and was pretty consistent leading into that last race. She is a daughter of Zebedee, whose offspring have been more successful on the sprinting side, so she may not enjoy this stretchout.

(3) BLESS YOU CADET (owner horizons, 9/1) hit her peak stride so far in her career last time out in a NW2L allowance race, where she put up an SP of 86 en route to a two-length victory. After finishing off the board in her previous two starts against ungraded stakes company, she really liked the stretchout to a mile last time out. She has improved steadily from her maiden start back in April, and will look to take another step up here. She is by top Australian sire Snitzel and is out of G1-winning mare HOMESTYLES. She looms a danger in this field.

(4) BLOOMFIELD (owner lenny24, 9/1) is 2 for 2 in her short career, but has looked good in both of her starts, winning her last race by a length and a half. That race was at the one mile distance, so she clearly is comfortable at 8 furlongs. These kinds of horses are not the easiest to gauge heading into a race like this, and there are two other fillies in the field just like her. She has moved up the class ladder, looking good in both of her starts, but this is a tall jump up the class ladder. Even so, these sorts of fillies can be dangerous in a spot like this.

(5) DREAM RIDGE (owner nycowboy13, 20/1) will make her sixth career start in this race, fresh off a win against NW2L over in Ireland last time out. She’s had a nice start to her career, finishing in the money in her past four starts against maiden and allowance company. While a step up gets her closer to the top fillies in here, she hasn’t made much of an advance in her past few starts. I’ll have to see a race before I can believe she can run at this level of competition.

(6) SHE’S SLEEPING (owner kaner3, 8/1) is like BLOOMFIELD, having won a maiden and subsequent allowance race and now moving to Group I competition. She’s only been up against Irish-breds so far, but has two decisive wins to show for it, with SP numbers of 81 and 85. She is out of stakes-winning mare OTTO OVERMATCHED, and despite her lack of stakes experience, looks like she could easily compete for the win in this field. A finish in the money here would likely make her the most successful offspring of first-year sire Ribchester.

(7) OTTO BENNY (owner merrychristmas, 7/1) won her first two races in the U.S., then followed that up with a very good second in the Group III Premie Champion Stakes down in South Africa back in July. Not only was that a graded race, but she was the lone filly in that race, up against thirteen colts. She ships up here to the U.K., where she seems to be really good form. She is by one of the top SIM turf sires, Dubawi, and out of stakes-winning mare BENAROYA HALL. That last race was very impressive, and that makes her dangerous in here.

(8) LIGHT SO BRIGHT (owner valesa1, 11/1) will go off at a bit of a price considering she is the only Group-I winning filly in here. She won the Group I Wet Bikini Stakes down in South Africa last month, putting up an SP of 88, which is tied for the best in the field. She hasn’t been kidding around, winning 4 of 5 lifetime starts. Her first three starts were on the dirt, but she seems to have hit another gear since moving to the grass. While her bloodline is a mix of some turf and dirt, she is a daughter of Siyouni, whose offspring seem to prefer the turf. Despite the price, she looms a major presence in this field.

(9) TOTAL NEWB (owner walmtk, 9/1) is yet another filly that comes into this race in really good form. After rattling off three wins through the spring and early summer, including an ungraded stakes win, she finished a close third in the Group I More Glare Stakes earlier this month. She comes back on just three weeks rest off that great effort, which is something to think about here. That being said, I doubt it will be a major hindrance on her chances. I suspect she’ll like the extra furlong in here, so if she is well-rested, she should be ready to be competitive in this race.

(10) K’S SPECIAL AGENT (owner xledwith4, 5/1) will go off as the favorite in this race, despite never facing stakes company. The favoritism is a combination of her impeccable pedigree (Sea the Stars x Dansili x Storm Cat) and her results so far. She cruised in her maiden win and the put up an SP of 88 last time out in a NW2L allowance race, which is tied for the best SP number in the field. She is far from the most experienced in this field, but she definitely has the raw talent to win this race easily if she wants to.

(11) GO BUY TUMBLE (owner stablechampion4, 14/1) already has six races under her belt, and has been steadily improving in her past few starts while racing against NW2L allowance company. The Chilean-bred is a daughter of Tumblebrutus (who is a son of Storm Cat). Despite his price of 36 credits/BPs at the time of this writing, Tumblebrutus has produced three offspring that have placed in graded races. Back to GO BUY TUMBLE…she hasn’t quite been able to get up for the win in her past two starts, so the extra distance may help. She has the talent to be competitive, but I’m not sure she’ll be good enough to win.

(12) LAND NOW (owner wyndaway, 18/1) is the lone maiden in the race, starting her career off in a stakes race over in the U.S. back in April, where she finished third. She then put up a very good second-place effort in June in the Group III Capital Stakes out in Berkshire, where she ran an SP of 80. She took another step up last time out, racing in the Group II Young Lady in Ireland, where she wasn’t much of a factor, finishing sixth. Here, she takes another step up, and I’m not sure she’ll fare much better than her last race.

(13) CRYING ZOU (owner rickybobby3, 9/1) sniffed a Group I win last time out earlier in the month, finishing a very good second in the More Glare Stakes, just ahead of TOTAL NEWB. Before that race, she pulled off three straight wins, including two allowance races over the summer. The one concern to me in this spot is the distance. She’ll be stretching out an additional furlong, which may be a little more than she prefers. She is by the Australian-based Zoustar, who did most of his damage in sprints. While I think she will be up with the leaders for a time, can she hang with them by the end with the added distance?

(14) CRYING LINES (owner deeprock1a, 10/1) is a tough filly to gauge, as she’s been racing on dirt for the vast majority of her short career, racking up a win in an overnight stakes race late in the spring over in the U.S. After a decent fourth in a Grade III race on the dirt in Kentucky, she came over to Ireland and switched over to the turf. This change let her find another gear, and she finished a very close second in the Group II Young Lady last month. It’s hard to tell whether this was a fluke or if she will take to the turf, but she could be a sneaky filly to include here.

My Picks:
(10) K’S SPECIAL AGENT, 5/1 – Cruising in an allowance race with an impressive SP of 88 tells me that she’s capable of 90+ in this spot. Combined with the awesome pedigree, I like her chances.

(7) OTTO BENNY, 7/1 – That last race was sensational. She beat 12 out of 13 colts in a graded race, which is no small feat. Wouldn’t be shocked at all if she ends up in the winner’s circle.

(8) LIGHT SO BRIGHT, 11/1 – Getting ignored on the morning line despite being the lone Group I winner in the field. She liked the stretchout last time, and should be ready to roll for this race.

(1) DISHING IT UP, 9/1 – Beat some nice fillies last time out in a Group II, several of which have come back to run pretty good races since. Should like the stretchout to 8 furlongs here.

Good luck to all!